Tag: deed transfer
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Your Child Will Be Your Successor in Interest. What Does This Mean?
A successor in interest may be the person who inherits your home or otherwise receives an ownership interest from you. It’s a person who takes on the rights and responsibilities connected with the deed. In short: A “successor in interest” is someone who acquires an ownership interest from another party. Your child would also be…
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Power of Attorney Between Joint Owners
If you hold a deed jointly, you might wonder what would happen if one joint owner becomes incapacitated. Can just one of you carry out refinancing or a sale on behalf of both of you? With a power of attorney (POA), one co-owner—called an agent—can sign legal agreements for the co-owner—called the principal—who loses the…
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Which Is Better: Warranty of Title, or Title Insurance?
Great question! First, a warranty of title is stated in a warranty deed. And most any buyer in a regular home sale gets a warranty deed. So your question could also be posed as: “I’m getting a warranty deed. Do I still need an owner’s title insurance policy?” Let’s break this down.
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Mental Health in Question: Was the Deed Transfer Valid?
The farmhouse that inspired a 2013 horror film called The Conjuring has attracted visitors to Round Top Road in Burrillville, Rhode Island for years. Then, officials closed the site. There were concerns that the place had become a fire hazard, and the owner was acting strangely. Meanwhile, an actor decided to buy the famous house.…
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Home Buyers Need Title Companies. Agents Shouldn’t Be Getting Paid to Select Them.
In a recently settled case, Maryland sued one of its title companies. The claim? That the company, together with a few affiliates, made kickbacks to agents. It’s a sad story of greed. It also offers some insights for our readers, and gives us a reason to talk about insuring our home titles—a precaution that should…
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Can I Sell My Home With Unpaid Property Taxes or Tax Liens?
Any deed holder who’s struggling with the cost of living would understand: meeting property tax deadlines can be stressful. Sometimes, tax deadlines bring impossible burdens to a household. Those who need to sell their homes may wonder what can be done about the back taxes. The city or county government may have recorded a property…
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Consider This Before Creating a Life Estate Deed
Say you decide you’d like to stay in your home for life. After all, with the costs for assisted living going through the roof, holding your deed might be the best senior living plan! You can certainly draw up a life estate deed, and convey your property into a co-ownership with someone — a friend,…
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On the Deed: Mental Wellness and Capacity to Transfer Real Estate
Capacity to exercise the rights of a deed holder can mean different things for adult homeowners. Perhaps an owner is experiencing age-related cognitive decline. Or perhaps mental health issues are impacting the ability of a deed holder to make decisions with clarity of purpose. Let’s take a look at some common scenarios, and get to…
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Should I Remove My Deceased Spouse’s Name From Our Deed?
You probably don’t have to. That said, the best answer to your question should take into account the way your deed was vested, and whether a lawyer recommends that you carry out a formal name removal for a specific reason.
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Philadelphia’s New Title Clearance Unit Is on a Roll
The new Title Clearance Unit is fast becoming an essential element of Philadelphia’s office of the Register of Wills. Its mission and focus? Helping Philadelphians who inherited family homes, but never formally transferred the deeds. John P. Sabatina, who accepted the Register of Wills post in January 2024, promptly unveiled the new division, supported…
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Conservatorship? Guardianship? What Do They Mean for Senior Deed Transfers?
For a lifelong couple, the day comes when one partner starts to focus intently on the well-being of the other. Before then, it’s important for a couple to document their plans and wishes. But how will they transfer the jointly held deed to their home, when one of them loses the capacity to do so?…
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Will Congress Expand the Capital Gains Exemption to Help People Sell Their Homes?
Property values keep going up. Why doesn’t the capital gains exemption do the same? Taxes on home sales can make deed holders hold their homes when they might otherwise sell. When current deed holders don’t want to sell their properties, inventory suffers. Meanwhile, there are young people looking for homes to buy.
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The Bulk of U.S. Home Deeds Are About to Be Passed Along. Millennials, Are You Really Ready?
A Realtor.com survey is out, showing 23% of millennials feeling ready to buy a home in the next six months. This is an interesting turn in attitudes. And it only appears with millennials. Just 15% of their generation felt ready in late 2024. If you happen to be a millennial getting ready to buy —…
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Married, and Not on the Deed. What Are My Rights?
Sometimes, only one spouse is named on the deed. This can be because one person already owned the home before marriage, or because one spouse inherited a deed. Or perhaps there are financial or tax advantages to having only one person on the deed and not the other. Or the sole named deed holder simply…
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Quitclaim Deeds and Senior Homeowners: Convenience with Caution
When someone wants to know which kind of document makes it easy to pass real estate ownership, the quitclaim deed comes to mind. Convenient? You bet. And quite often, this convenient document is the senior’s deed of choice. This is because so many seniors decide, at some point in their lives, to transfer their homeownership…
