Deeds Lawyer

Protecting Your Real Estate 

For many of us, real estate is the most valuable asset we own. To protect our property, we may want to add or remove someone from ownership. We might want to move the property into a trust to avoid probate or to protect a home from Medicaid Estate Recovery.

Making this kind of change seems like it should be a simple task, but it is not.

If you need to make any changes that affect ownership of real estate, Iowa law requires you to meet certain requirements, and one of those requirements is creation of a new deed. The deed must comply with the law, and it will need to be recorded properly. If there’s a problem with the deed, ownership of your property could be at risk.

We’re Ready to Help

At Huizenga Law, we not only create estate plans to provide for the current and future needs of families, but we can also help with the legal tasks you need to complete to put those plans into action. We can prepare the right deed to accomplish your goals and protect your home, farm, or other real estate.

Iowa law provides for different types of deeds, but we can take the mystery out of the process and prepare the right type of deed for your situation without unnecessary complexity and expense. We can also ensure that the deed is properly recorded and any other requirements are fulfilled.

Meeting Your Needs

We focus on protecting your interests as efficiently as possible. That means assessing your deed requirements and preparing the right deed to secure your interests.

Huizenga Law can prepare a new deed to:

  • Add a co-owner to the property
  • Remove an owner from the property
  • Complete a sale or other real estate transaction for families or businesses
  • Transfer ownership to a trust
  • Assist with mortgage transactions

Understanding Deeds in Iowa

A deed is the legal document used to transfer ownership of real estate from one person to another. Ownership in real estate is generally referred to as “title.” Whether the transfer involves individuals, a business or other organization, or an entity such as a trust, a new deed is required to make the change.

Depending on the situation, we might recommend one of three main types of deeds.

General Warranty Deed

Often referred to simply as a warranty deed, this type of deed comes with a series of promises. The seller is warranting that:

  • They have full ownership interests in the property (Complete ownership is referred to ownership in “fee simple.”)
  • They have clear title to sell the property
  • If there are any liens or encumbrances on the property, they are described in the deed
  • The property is free from any other liens and encumbrances not described in the deed
  • They will defend the real estate against lawful claims except as stated in the deed

Because of these comprehensive promises, a general warranty deed offers the most protection for the buyer. This type of deed is most commonly used in real estate sales transactions.

Limited Warranty Deed

When a seller can’t or doesn’t want to make full guarantees of the ownership interest they are transferring, they might use a special or limited warranty deed. This type of deed only warrants that there have been no title defects during the time they have owned the property.

Quit Claim Deed

When family members are transferring property between them, or a former spouse is giving up their interest after a divorce, a quit claim deed is usually used to complete the transaction. With this type of deed, the person transferring their interest doesn’t make any promises about their ownership interests. They merely specify that whatever ownership interests they do have are being transferred in the deed.

If you are transferring ownership of real estate into a revocable living trust, you might use a quit claim deed, for instance, because you do not need to make a warranty to yourself about the validity of the title.

Let Huizenga Law Create the Right Deed for Your Situation

The experienced team at Huizenga Law can advise you about when you need to create a new deed and the type of deed that best fits the transaction. If you don’t need the full protection of a warranty deed, a quit claim deed can save time and money.

We can tailor the degree of protection to your specific situation. Contact us today to get started.