How to Add a Name to a General Warranty Deed
If you have acquired title to real property, it was probably through the use of a general warranty deed, sometimes called a grant deed. It is not unusual you to have a need to add another person on title to the property, in effect needing to add a new name to the general warranty deed. In order to accomplish this, a new general warranty deed will have to be prepared and recorded with the county. The new warranty deed will transfer title to the property from your name solely to your name and the name of the person you wanted added to title.
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Instructions
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Find the original general warranty deed. A copy can be used in lieu of the original, if it cannot be located. The copy needs to be reliable because you will be using information from the copy to prepare the new general warranty deed.
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Get a standard form general warranty deed. The form may be titled simply "warranty deed" or even "grant deed," both of which are acceptable for use. You can readily find these forms online, for free, or in a local library or stationary store that carries legal documents.
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Prepare the new general warranty deed using your original deed, or copy of it, as your guide. Insert the legal description for your property into the new deed exactly as it is written in the original deed. Carefully recheck the description to make certain it is exactly the same. If you make a mistake, you may not be describing the entire property in the new deed and, at some future time, you may have problems with title to your property.
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Insert your name into that part of the new deed for "grantor" or “transferor.” For that part of the new deed where you insert the name of the "grantee" or "transferee," insert your name exactly as it appears on the “grantee” part of the original deed, plus the name of the person you want added to title. Do not sign the new deed until you are in the presence of a notary public, who will notarize the new deed for you.
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File the notarized general warranty deed with the local government office where property transfer documents are recorded, typically the county recorder's office or county courthouse.
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Tips & Warnings
If the property has a mortgage against it, you can be certain that the mortgage agreement contains a "due on sale" clause, which means that any transfer of title to the property without the lender's consent gives the lender the right to call the entire mortgage immediately due. As a practical matter, most lenders do not become aware of a title transfer unless there is a delinquency in mortgage payments and, in most cases, the lender takes no action under the due on sale clause. However, if you transfer title without the lender's consent, the risk of having the mortgage called due is real.
