Sometimes a person can gain full ownership rights to a home from a Separation Agreement or a Divorce proceeding. But what if the Deed to that home still shows both names of the divorced couple on it, and the newly single owner wishes to sell it?
For the buyer, such a situation could become a “title nightmare” — especially if the claim of sole ownership is not true.
Every buyer should ensure a clear title exists to a home under purchase consideration. The names listed on the Deed with the county recorder reflect ownership, and as such the Deed should reflect the current ownership situation before any person gets involved in a purchase. Such an issue could become the buyer’s problem later if it is not addressed in advance.
A potential buyer might suggest to the divorced home owner that he or she create a Quitclaim Deed and have it signed by the ex-spouse to clean the title of the home prior to continuing the sales process.
Details on this very inexpensive solution can be found at Standard Legal’s Quitclaim Deeds legal forms software page.