ONCE UPON A TITLE: D.I.Y. Deeds

Life happens after you purchase your property.  You might get married or divorced.  You might get married, divorced and remarried. 

So, how do you add your new spouse to the title of your home? 

a.  Go online, get a deed, fill in the blanks and take it to the recorder's office?

b.  Go to the office supply store buy a deed, fill in the blanks, sign it in front of a notary and take it to the recorder's office?

c.  Call your real estate agent or Title Company and ask them to prepare a deed for you?

d.  None of the above.

 ( answer ) NONE OF THE ABOVE! 

In my travels through the real estate records, I've seen hundreds of hand written do it yourself deeds. 

Some people were lucky and did them correctly but others caused themselves or their survivors a huge headache!

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THE CORRECT ANSWER IS:  Consult an attorney. (Your real estate agent and your title agent are not allowed to practice law.  In some states they can prepare legal documents for a closing, but they cannot prepare any documents without a contract.)

What will happen to the property if one of you should die?  Do you want title to pass immediately to your surviving spouse or do you want your portion to go to your children?  Your attorney will ask and can advise you on these matters.

SOMETIMES, PEOPLE REALLY GOOF UP when they decide to prepare deeds on their own, for instance:

Once, a woman decided she would deed her property to all 5 of her minor children.  Well, I guess that's fine, except she would have to wait until all of those children reached the age of majority (18 in Colorado) before the property could have been sold or mortgaged.  Guess what?  Later, she wanted to borrow money on the property and incurred huge attorney's fees to undo what she had done.

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Another time, an elderly lady decided she would execute a deed to her pet rabbit. 

I presume to be sure that her loving pet would be taken care of after her death.  Her heirs were not amused!

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Tracking down an angry ex-spouse to sign a correction deed because you didn't fill in the legal description properly is not too much fun either.

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Suppose you die?    

"OH,   ?/*-#!!"   Excuse my language, but that's what your surviving spouse might say when he/she realizes that the deed you decided to do yourself  (you know the one you were too cheap to hire an attorney for)  put you in title as tenants in common instead of  joint tenants!

Now your grieving spouse gets to pay a lot more for an attorney to probate your estate than it would have cost to get the simple deed prepared correctly in the first place.

I am only familiar with Colorado.  Operation of law may differ, depending on the state in which you reside.  

If you have any doubts as to what will happen to your property when you die, or want to add someone to the title on your property please schedule an appointment with your attorney. You can pay them now, or pay for it later.

Remember: Don't put you finger in a light socket and don't try to prepare your own deeds!

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Mary Douglas, your Mountain Broker-Associate and REALTOR®

United Country  Ponderosa Realty, Red Feather Lakes, CO

www.redfeatherlakes.com ---800-531-2195

"A Day in the Mountains will always soothe your city soul"

The information contained in Mary's blog is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed, and the opinions and    views expressed in these articles are solely those of the author.

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