Found an issue on this page? Let us know and we will look into it as soon as possible.
Lady Bird Deed
Anonymous2 views3 answers
My husband (before we were married) had a Lady Bird Deed on his house reserving himself a life estate with full powers, to sell, convey, without joinder of the remainderman and he named a sibling as the remainderman. Now he recorded a Quit Claim Deed from himself to both of us as a married couple. In this new deed it's not specified that the entire fee simple is conveyed. Did he transfer the entire fee simple to both of us, or just the enhanced life estate? Thank you!
The Lady Bird deed would need to be revoked. I always tell clients not to use quit claim deeds because it only transfers any interest that you may have in the property. In your husband's case, that would just be the life estate interest. Plus, if he ever wanted to sell the property, title companies are hesitant to rely on quit claim deeds. He should speak with an estate planning attorney about preparing a special warranty deed or warranty deed that would specifically revoke the Lady Bird Deed and transfer all the interest back to him. Since the issue is dealing with rights to real property, you want to make sure that the conveyance is done correctly and I would highly recommend having an attorney prepare the documents. Good luck to you.
To obtain a meaningful answer to your question, an experienced estate planning attorney or real estate attorney needs to review both of the deeds. I think that you should expect that you and your husband will need to be signing a correction deed to clean up the mess that has been created.
I agree with my colleagues. Both deeds need to be reviewed to get proper guidance. Go see an attorney to have a correction deed prepared instead of making matters even more unclear... As Ms. Key suggested, title companies do not like quitclaim deeds. Pay an attorney for an hour or two of his or her time.
