A property title can be transferred during the sale of the property, if the property has been gifted to someone or upon the death of the property owner. In order to transfer a property, you need to use the proper form of deed to fit your situation. Once you have the right deed format, you can then prepare the deed and have it filed with the proper government authorities. When discussing a deed, the grantee is the one receiving the property while the grantor is transferring ownership.
What Is A Deed?
A deed is the official piece of paperwork that is used to transfer ownership of a piece of real estate. There are different types of deeds to choose from depending on who is getting ownership of the property and how much protection the current property owner wants to offer the new owner.
General Warranty Deed
A general warranty deed offers protections for the grantee against any information the grantor might leave out when completing the deed. The general warranty deed guarantees the grantee that there are no liens or other problems with the property deed, and that the grantor will do whatever needs to be done to make the process as smooth as possible.
Special Warranty Deed
A general warranty deed is a broad document that offers a wide range of protections, while a special warranty deed only offers protections that the grantor can guarantee. In other words, the special warranty deed guarantees that the information about the property is accurate based only on the time the grantor has owned the property. if there was an issue with the deed before the grantor bought the property, the special warranty deed does not cover that problem.
Quitclaim Deed
A quitclaim deed can be used to add a spouse to a property title, or it can be used as a quick way of transferring property between two parties. There are no protections offered in the quitclaim deed, which is one reason why it is not used as often as the general warranty deed.
The Property Description
The information required to fill out a deed of any kind is usually self-explanatory. One area that can get confusing is the property description. For this part of the deed, it is necessary to use the type of description a surveyor or title insurance company would use. The best way to get an accurate description of the property in question is to use the description from the current title. You can copy the existing information verbatim into the new deed to provide an accurate description.
It is best to have an attorney help with actually filing a deed because there might be some legal information that needs to be included. But the deed itself will give you the detailed instructions you need to fill it out completely and successfully transfer property ownership from the grantor to the grantee.
Jim Treebold is a North Carolina based writer. He lives by the mantra of “Learn 1 new thing each day”! Jim loves to write, read, pedal around on his electric bike and dream of big things. Drop him a line if you like his writing, he loves hearing from his readers!