How to Remove a Name From a Real Estate Deed After Divorce
Many divorces involve the dissolution of ownership and transfer of the spousal property or home from one spouse to the other spouse. In order to remove a spouse from a property deed following a divorce, you must file a quit claim deed. A quit claim deed is a legal document that releases a individual's interest from deeded possessions. According to James Karp and Elliot Klayman, authors the book "Real Estate Law," quit claim deeds are most often used during divorce property settlements where one spouse seeks to transfer their interest in the marital property to the other spouse. Your spouse must willfully participate in the transfer process; you cannot simply remove them from the property deed yourself.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Include the removal of your spouse from the marital property deed as provision in your divorce settlement. Adding this prerequisite in your divorce settlement will legally bind your spouse to remove her interest in the marital property after the divorce. If she lags in signing over her interest in the property, you can file a petition or motion for a court order which forces her to dissolve her interest in the property per the divorce settlement.
-
2
Ask your attorney or a local real estate agent for a quit claim deed. A quit claim deed will release your spouse from responsibility and interest in the marital property. Quit claim deeds are most frequently used during divorce settlements in which one spouse requests or is ordered to transfer their interest in the marital property to the other spouse, according to Karp and Klayman in "Real Estate Law."
-
-
3
Set up a meeting with your attorney and ask that your spouse attend to sign the quit claim deed. Your attorney will record the meeting and notarize the form, which will complete the transfer of ownership and absolve your spouse's interest in the property.
-
1
References
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Comstock/Getty Images
