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My husband passed away in 2010. How do I remove his name from the property title of our home in Maricopa Cty, Sun City, AZ?
Anonymous8 views6 answers
Chase Bank who holds the mortgage has been of no help for the 3 years I have tried to put the mortgage in my name (3 Death Certificates so far). I recently received an offer (in my name only!) to refinance the small mortgage on the home, but when I responded, I was told that because my husband's name was still on the title, I did not qualify for that loan, and instead I was offered a higher rate with additional charges. Please tell me how/where to get the information I need. Thank you.
Let me make an educated guess: your late husband's name is still on both the mortgage (deed of trust, actually) and the title. Although people often get those things confused, they are actually two separate things. So the answer to your problem might in fact be really easy:
1. Record (with the County Recorder's office) a certified copy of your husband's death certificate. If the way in which he was on the title with you was as joint tenants with right of survivorship OR community property with right of survivorship, then the Recorder's office will take care of putting the property in your name alone. That will have no effect on the mortgage, but will allow you to refinance. If the way in which his name and yours were on together is not one of the two listed, then see #3 below.
2. Chase will not take his name off the mortgage, no matter what you do. That's not as outrageous as it sounds -- they obviously can't sue him, and they won't do anything about it. But they will point out that there's no need to take his name off the mortgage, and there's the at-least-theoretical possibility that he could have a probate estate filed some day, in which case they will want to still be a creditor. So all the times you've given them a death certificate have been misdirected energy. BUT if you refinance, one part of that will be to pay off that mortgage, and his name will not be on the new mortgage. So that'll accomplish cleaning up your records. You just have to have title in your name.
3. I'm guessing here, but I'll bet that your husband's name on the title is not listed as "right of survivorship" with you. That means you'll have to do a probate proceeding to transfer title to your name alone. That also means that if, for example, his will left everything to someone other than you, you might not in fact own the entire house unrestricted. You'll need to talk with a local probate lawyer to figure that out, but also know that there is a simplified probate proceeding for this kind of circumstance, which allows a single court filing to take care of real property worth up to $75,000 (net) value. So this might not be a very big or expensive deal to take care of. Talk to a lawyer and it'll get done quickly, I'll bet.
Robert B. Fleming
Fleming & Curti, PLC
Tucson, Arizona
www.FlemingAndCurti.com
You should get with an estates attorney to help you resolve this matter. After 3 years this should be obvious to you. Do this now to get this matter resolved. It should not be that costly to get it done. There are many fine AZ estates attorneys who regularly contribute here at . You can also use the Find A Lawyer tab above.
I agree with my colleagues. There are a number of possibilities, depending on HOW title is held. It might be simply a matter of recording your husband's death certificate with the register of deeds. A probate attorney should be able to give you the answer, perhaps even with a free initial consultation. It seems to me that you would also need to make sure that YOUR estate planning is up to date, in light of your husband's death. This could make things far simpler, in the event that something happens to you. The same attorney could likely advise you in that regard, as well.
James Frederick
You should consult with a probate attorney. The process to resolve your situation is not difficult, in fact if the propety was held in joint tenancy with right of surviorship or community property with right of survivorship you need only record a certified copy of his death certificate with the county recorder and your problem is solved. If the title is held in some other way it still should not be difficult.
While I am only qualified to specifically answer your question in New York or New Jersey, the two (2) jurisdictions in which I am licensed to practice law, if the law in Arizona mirrors that in these other jurisdictions, if you and your deceased husband owned the real estate as "tenants by the entirety" which simplistically means that you owned it as "husband and wife" this is referred to as a unity of interest whereby you both owned the whole of the real estate and upon his death, provided that at the time of his death you and your husband were legally married, then and in such event, upon his demise you are now the sole owner of the real estate without having to prepare and record a new Deed. All you will need to have handy is an original Death Certificate for your pre-deceased husband which should identify thereon that you are his surviving spouse.
