QUITCLAIM, WARRANTY & SURVIVORSHIP DEEDS
If you need to transfer the ownership of real property from one person to another, you will need to create a Quit Claim Deed (a document that states the seller no longer has a claim to the property) or a Warranty Deed (a document that states that the property is clear of liens and other title issues). A deed can also contain rights of survivorship, meaning that ownership automatically transfers to the other person or persons listed on the deed upon the death of the other person or persons named in the deed.
A deed acts as the document showing the transfer of a piece of property from one person or party to another. Upon the closing of a real estate transaction, the purchaser will tender the purchase price to the seller, who then tenders this deed to the purchaser - who will then file the deed with the recorder's office or real estate office in the county where the property is located. There is usually a fee for filing the deed and transferring the property.
The seller/grantor must sign the deed in the presence of two witnesses. The witnesses must both sign and print their names. The purchaser does not have to sign the deed.
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> Warranty Deed
A Warranty Deed, by definition, is a deed that conveys the title to property whereby the seller guarantees the title to be good and unencumbered except as stated and agrees to defend and protect the purchaser against any loss that may arise in the future from any defect in the title at the time of conveyance.
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The warranty deed is the most common deed used to transfer property from one individual or business to another.
Warranty deeds usually require a title search to ensure that the property is free and clear of liens or encumbrances. Any lien or encumbrance discovered would effectively "cloud" the property title and make warranting the property risky or impossible.
This deed can be used to convey property from a seller to a purchaser in a variety of situations (for example, but not limited to, when a person or couple purchases a house from a homeowner and needs to transfer title or when a relative desires to name another person as the co-owner of a house or parcel of property that he or she currently owns by him or herself).
> Quitclaim Deed
This quitclaim deed can be used to convey property from a seller to a purchaser in a variety of situations (for example, but not limited to, when a person or couple purchases a house from a homeowner and needs to transfer title or when a relative desires to name another person as the co-owner of a house or parcel of property that he or she currently owns by him or herself). This deed contains no “warranties” that the property is being transferred with a good title (without encumbrances except those filed on record), nor is any joint tenancy or right of survivorship created.
This deed can be used to convey property from a seller to a purchaser in a variety of situations (for example, but not limited to, when a person or couple purchases a house from a homeowner and needs to transfer title or when a relative desires to name another person as the co-owner of a house or parcel of property that he or she currently owns by him or herself).
> Survivorship Deeds
This deed is a warranty deed with “survivorship” rights created. A Warranty Deed, by definition, is a deed that conveys the title to property whereby the seller guarantees the title to be good and unencumbered except as stated and agrees to defend and protect the purchaser against any loss that may arise in the future from any defect in the title at the time of conveyance.
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This deed also creates a joint tenancy (sometimes called a survivorship tenancy) between two or more Grantees, with the Grantees each typically owning an undivided interest in the whole property. Upon the death of one joint tenant, his/her interest passes in equal shares to the surviving joint tenant(s), and an Affidavit is filed in the County Deed Records to evidence the transfer. Since the property transfers to the other Grantee, the deceased grantee’s prior interest in the property is not a probate asset but is included in the estate for state estate tax purposes. Where husband and wife are in the title in survivorship, divorce terminates the survivorship tenancy and creates a tenancy in common between ex-spouses unless the divorce decree specifically provides otherwise.