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Warranty Deed with Enhanced Life Estate Guide - Berrien County
Fill in the blank form formatted to comply with all recording and content requirements.
Included document last updated 9/24/2020
Warranty Deed with Enhanced Life Estate Guide - Berrien County
Line by line guide explaining every blank on the form.
Included document last updated 9/17/2020
Completed Example of the Warranty Deed with Enhanced Life Estate Document - Berrien County
Example of a properly completed form for reference.
Included document last updated 9/15/2020
*The Following Michigan and Berrien County supplemental forms are included as a courtesy with your order.
Property Transfer Affidavit
This form must be filed whenever real estate or certain types of personal property are transferred (even if the deed is not recorded) in order to ensure correct assessment for tax purposes. The new owner must file within 45 days of transfer in the city or township where the property is located. If the form is not filed on time, a penalty of $5/day (maximum $200) applies.
Real Estate Transfer Tax
This form must be filed with the Register of Deeds when the amount paid for the property is not stated on the deed. The form is not required when the amount paid is entered on the deed. The form must be completed and signed by either the seller or his/her authorized agent and submitted in the county where the property is located.
Transfer Tax Exemptions
Certain conveyances are exempt from transfer tax. These pages list the county and state exemptions. If the document is transfer tax exempt, the exemption must be stated on the deed. Note that both lists are in content identical until subparagraph (j).
Transfer Tax
This file contains the tax rates as well as a table listing state and county tax by consideration amount.
Certificate of Trust Existence and Authority
A certificate of trust existence and authority contains specific information about an existing trust agreement. According to 565.435 of the Michigan Compiled Laws, a purchaser or other party relying upon the information contained in a recorded certificate of trust existence and authority shall be afforded the same protection as is provided to a subsequent purchaser in good faith. Note that under 565.433, only settlor or grantor; an attorney for the settlor, grantor, or trustee; or an officer of a banking institution or an attorney if then acting as a trustee may sign the form if it pertains to real property. Sign the completed form in the presence of a notary, then submit it to the county register of deeds office for recording.
Notary Certificates
The supplemental forms in this section can be used as loose certificates by notaries in the state.
Principal Residence Exemption
If the property is your principal residence you may qualify for a tax exemption. These forms will help you navigate and apply for a (PRE) exemption.
Including:
A warranty deed with enhanced life estate is sometimes referred to as a ladybird deed. When correctly executed and recorded, this deed provides the structure for a non-testamentary transfer of real property. Leaving the real property out of a will allows the transfer to occur without the need for probate.
The grantor conveys the real estate back to herself, but reserves a life estate with full power to sell, mortgage, change the beneficiary, or otherwise use the property with no penalty for waste or obligation to inform the beneficiary. When the grantor dies, the property rights, if still available, transfer to the default beneficiary.
To finalize the conveyance, the beneficiary must file a property transfer affidavit within 45 days of the grantor's death. Submit the form to the assessor's office located in the same county as the real estate.
Get your Berrien County Warranty Deed with Enhanced Life Estate form done right the first time with Deeds.com Uniform Conveyancing Blanks. At Deeds.com, we understand that your time and money are valuable resources, and we don't want you to face a penalty fee or rejection imposed by a county recorder for submitting nonstandard documents. We constantly review and update our forms to meet rapidly changing state and county recording requirements for roughly 3,500 counties.
The documents you receive here will meet, or exceed, the Berrien County recording requirements for formatting. If there's an issue caused by our formatting, we'll make it right and refund your payment.
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