{"id":3270,"date":"2023-09-20T07:32:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-20T11:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/?p=3270"},"modified":"2024-04-25T23:17:32","modified_gmt":"2024-04-26T03:17:32","slug":"i-deeded-my-property-to-someone-else-can-i-revoke-my-gift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/i-deeded-my-property-to-someone-else-can-i-revoke-my-gift\/","title":{"rendered":"I Deeded My Property to Someone Else. Can I Revoke My Gift?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Giver\u2019s regret isn\u2019t unusual. A desire to void the gift of a home<\/a> after transferring the deed could happen for various reasons. Perhaps you recovered from a serious illness and could really use that home after all. Or maybe your tax expert told you that letting someone wait to inherit your home would be better for the beneficiary, or for you. Perhaps you just don\u2019t like the way your recipient is behaving, and now feel you made a mistake by giving your home away to an irresponsible person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And now you need answers. Can you take back the deed that you transferred?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

No Take-Backs! Unless Your Recipient Will Deed It Back<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Transferring your home to a new homeowner is a simple matter. Dig up your current deed, get the correct deed form<\/a> to create the transfer to your chosen recipient (\u201cgrantee\u201d), and make an appointment with the local notary public. Then your signature can be notarized and the deed can be filed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once it\u2019s delivered to and accepted by the other person, your properly created gift is not <\/em>revocable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like a contract, a properly conveyed deed is binding. This ensures societal trust in the validity and reliability of legal agreements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are there exceptions? Could some gift deeds be undone? Yes, but they involve a mistake (and people don\u2019t usually transfer homes by mistake) or some connivance which would make the recipient\u2019s ownership unconscionable (like fraud or undue influence).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In rare cases, people may transfer deeds as gift causa mortis<\/em>. A gift causa mortis<\/em> is a gift given because the giver thinks they are about to die, and they want to pass an asset to another person who will live to enjoy it. In some circumstances, these gifts can be, and have been, revoked under state law provisions. The IRS, too, has held certain gifts causa mortis were not completed gifts. So, they were revocable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you were pressured into giving your home away, or if you made a mistake which, if allowed to stand, would shock the conscience, rescission could be possible. We cannot offer case-specific advice or predictions. Generally speaking, for a lawyer to prove there\u2019s a legal reason to rescind a deed transfer would be very difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, absent truly unusual circumstances, you would need to ask the other person to transfer the deed back into your name. If the recipient isn\u2019t willing to give you the home back, you\u2019ll need to live with your decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What If the Deed Was Improperly Created?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A gift of a home is covered by the Statute of Frauds. This means giving real estate away has to be done in writing. The giver (a.k.a. the donor or grantor) must produce a written document naming the donor and the recipient (a.k.a. grantee). It has to include an accurate legal description of the property given.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A properly written deed has legal language showing the granting of your interest in the property to the grantee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What makes a gift deed unlike other real estate deeds? It represents a conveyance of the home to a new owner with no consideration given to you in return. As it is a gift, you may receive no actual money and nothing of value in return for giving away the home. (Don\u2019t \u201csell\u201d it for a dollar; the tax authorities will still look upon the deed transfer as a taxable gift.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You must sign it, and deliver it to the grantee. And the grantee must accept the deed. This means if your chosen recipient says \u201cWell, thank you, but not yet!\u201d and refuses to accept your home at this time, then there is no completed gift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u261b<\/em> <\/em>To be valid a deed must follow up-to-date statutory requirements in the home\u2019s state and county. Find updated <\/em><\/strong>deed forms, including gift deeds<\/em><\/a>, on Deeds.com.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What If the Deed Is Not Recorded?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Going back to the example of a recipient who says \u201cnot yet,\u201d are you hoping to live in the home yet give the deed to someone else? Before creating a deed, learn how the applicable laws might treat this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Per the Internal Revenue Code<\/a>, you\u2019re trying to hold a life interest in the property. So the home will go into probate. Even if you actually conveyed the deed, the IRS could decide you haven\u2019t made a completed gift!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you quitclaim your home to a recipient who holds onto the quitclaim to record \u201cwhen the time comes,\u201d that\u2019s not a completed gift. The probate court will come into the picture later to make a determination as to whether your deed was legally delivered and accepted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u261b<\/em> Unrecorded deeds get lost or even forgotten. Don\u2019t leave that monster under the bed! Read up on <\/em><\/strong>unrecorded deeds and the law<\/em><\/a>. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Live and Learn: Other Estate Planning Tools May Serve Homeowners Better  <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As for alternatives, consider wills, trusts, or the transfer on death deed<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n