Tag: quitclaim deed
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Second Thoughts After Deeding Your Home to Your Child? Why and How to Fix It
You had the very best of intentions: helping your adult child get the deed to a home in a housing market stacked against young buyers. So you transferred the deed to your home into the name of your child. Why wouldn’t you? Now, your child will be able to enjoy the home. The transfer is…
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Unlimited Marital Deduction: Tax-Free Spouse Asset Transfers
Where there’s a deed, there must be an estate plan. Every deed holder must decide where that ownership interest will go when they’re no longer around. Good planning takes into account how a property transfer will be taxed upon death. For spouses, there are tax advantages to know about. A key example? The unlimited marital…
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Texas Quitclaim Deed vs. Deed Without Warranty: Facts, History, Uses, Warnings, and Traps
Few Texas real-estate phrases cause more confusion than quitclaim deed and deed without warranty. They sound similar because both are commonly associated with “no warranty.” But in Texas, they are not the same tool. A deed without warranty generally purports to convey the property itself while disclaiming warranties of title. A quitclaim deed generally releases whatever right, title,…
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Struggling With Your Mortgage Payments in a Harsh Economy? Not All Promises of Help Are Legit.
There are deep problems in the U.S. housing economy—including for deed holders. And today, for many households coping with inflation, oil price surges may be the last straw. This financial pressure will likely create many more targets for the grotesque business of promising mortgage relief in order to snatch equity from homes. You might have…
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Elements of a Deed: What Is Consideration?
Consideration is the legal term used to describe the money or other thing of value exchanged for the title to a home in a real estate sale. A legally valid contract must have mutual consideration. That is, something that has value must be exchanged by each party. The things exchanged can be a promise of…
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Does a Quitclaim Deed Remove You From the Mortgage?
No. A quitclaim deed transfers your interest in the property’s title. It does not change who is responsible for paying the loan. Those are two separate legal instruments, and signing one has no automatic effect on the other. This distinction trips up a lot of people — especially during divorce, family transfers, or buyouts between…
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Quitclaim Deeds, Gift Deeds, and Transfer on Death Deeds
Transferring real property between family members is one of the most common estate planning activities in the United States. Whether parents want to pass a family home to adult children, siblings need to resolve inherited property ownership, or grandparents wish to gift vacation property to the next generation, understanding the available deed options is essential…
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For Passing a Home Along, Is My Will Enough?
A will can be enough to distribute a simple estate after you’re gone. In many people’s lives, a deed is the key asset. It can be passed along to your chosen beneficiary through a will. And no matter what other instruments you might use, you absolutely do need a will. In short, the will can…
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A First in the Nation: Cuyahoga County to Install Two-Factor Authentication for Recorded Documents
Could the party be over for deed thieves in Cuyahoga County, Ohio? Home to the beautiful city of Cleveland, it will soon be the first U.S. county to offer two-factor authentication for the recording of legal documents. This is a milestone in the effort to stop fraudulent deed transfers. To explain the forthcoming change, we…
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Game Plan: Negotiating the Best Price for the FSBO Home
The home you want is marketed as for sale by owner. But the price is not right. What’s the best way to buy the home for a better price? Many deed holders have an exaggerated idea of what their property is worth. And those who opt to sell their homes themselves can be especially likely…
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Only My Name Is on the Deed. Will My Spouse Inherit It?
If you share a home, you might figure your marriage means the home deed will belong to your spouse when you pass away. And if you own the home jointly with survivorship rights, then yes, your home will go to the surviving spouse whenever one of you passes on. But not all spouses vest their…
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Questions and Answers: Quitclaimed Property With Unpaid Taxes
As you might imagine, an unpaid property tax debt does survive a transfer by quitclaim. Transferring ownership to a family member, to a company, or to any other party can be done even with a tax balance attached to the property. The transfer will not remove a tax lien. The lien runs with the title…
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Q&A: Cash Offers and Quitclaim Deeds
Quitclaim deeds are typically used within families, between spouses or ex-spouses, or from individual owners into businesses. A quitclaim is a useful tool to transfer real estate when no payment’s expected. What we rarely talk about is a quitclaim combined with a cash transaction. There may be times, though, when a quitclaim and cash come…
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Seniors Lose Billions Each Year to Scammers: 5 Quick Tips to Protect Yourself
According to the FBI, scammers take advantage of seniors to the tune of billions annually. A lot of this happens because seniors own a massive amount of U.S. real estate, a hard and valuable asset. To avoid enriching the wrong people, keep our five tips in mind. Consider sharing this column with friends who need…
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Ohio Cancer Survivor Recovers Home After Quitclaim Fraud
A Dayton homeowner finally got her deed back. The title to Robin M’s home was swiped out from under her while she was undergoing cancer treatments two years ago. Last year, she proved that her property was taken from her by deed theft. The Common Pleas Court of Montgomery County, Ohio determined that her Dayton…
