When using trusts in estate planning, a key element includes transferring the trustmaker’s real estate into the trust by recording a deed with the local recording authority. This step is crucial for ensuring that the trustee has the authority to manage and ultimately sell or transfer the property should the trustmaker become incapacitated or die.
If the trustmaker were to die without retitling the property in the trust’s name, the property may have to pass through the probate process even if the trustmaker had a will. Probate is a state court process that often involves significant expenditures of time and money and causes complications that many people would rather avoid.
However, an important question arises regarding the type of deed that should be used for transferring real property into the trust’s name. There are several types of deeds that can be used, one of which is a general warranty deed. The other types of deeds commonly used in the United States for transferring property are quitclaim deeds and special warranty deeds.
Although a full discussion of the differences among the types of deeds is not possible in an article of this length, the following information briefly explains each type of deed and why someone might want to use it when transferring ownership of real property.
Quitclaim Deeds
When someone (grantor) wants to transfer whatever property rights they have in a parcel of property, they can use a quitclaim deed. When an individual drafts and signs a quitclaim deed, they are, in effect, making a statement that whatever they own regarding the property described in the deed is now transferred to the grantee.
What makes quitclaim deeds unique, however, is that the grantor who creates and signs the quitclaim deed is also putting the grantee on notice that they make no promises whatsoever that they actually own the property. If they do own the property, it is effectively transferred using the quitclaim deed after it has been recorded with the local recording authority. But if it turns out that the grantor did not, in fact, own the property, the grantee cannot bring a claim against the grantor unless they can prove that the grantor knowingly intended to defraud the grantee. However, if the grantor thought they owned the property but in fact did not own it because of some problem with the title, the grantee would have no ability to make the grantor legally liable for the error.
However, it is still common for individuals to use quitclaim deeds when transferring real property into a family trust for estate planning purposes. They (or their attorneys) reason that a quitclaim deed transfers any ownership interest that you may have in the property to your trust so that your trust can hold and manage it if you become incapacitated or die. Then, when the time comes to sell the property, the purchaser will, presumably, buy title insurance to cover any past defects in the title when they take the property.
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