Once one of the listed owners on an existing Deed dies, the ability to transfer ownership of the property by creating and executing a new Quitclaim Deed depends upon the format of the existing Deed.
If the existing Deed is a general warranty deed, a transfer by Quitclaim Deed is possible — after following the proper procedures (detailed generally below) with the county recorder.
If the existing Deed is a survivorship deed, then in most likelihood ownership cannot transfer by the execution of a Quitclaim Deed.
In most cases, a general warranty deed does NOT provide the right of survivorship, and thus does not automatically allow a surviving owner to simply transfer the asset. But a thorough review of the existing deed is required to know for certain.
Merely using a quitclaim deed — especially without verifying whether survivorship rights were created in the warranty deed and without knowing if the appropriate affidavit or other evidence of death has been filed with the appropriate governmental office — may not suffice.
In most jurisdictions, if a deed containing survivorship rights has been executed, the surviving owner must file an affidavit or other suitable evidence (e.g. certified death certificate) with the office of the county deed records verifying the death of the one owner thereby vesting ownership to the survivor.
As such, we suggest you contact your county recorder for a complete review of the existing deed prior to creating any new deed.
Get complete details and instructions for executing Deeds within Standard Legal’s Quitclaim Deeds legal forms software package.