How to Correct Quitclaim Deeds

A quitclaim deed is used to discharge your ownership rights to property. To work, the quitclaim deed should include a valid description of the property you’re releasing, identify the individual to whom you’re releasing your rightscalled the grantee–and also include your notarized signature. Once the quitclaim deed is sent to the grantee and registered with the county recorder’s office, then you do not have any ownership rights to the property. If the deed is incorrect whatsoever, your alternatives for adjusting the error will depend on if you have delivered it into the grantee and if you need the grantee’s cooperation.

Obliterate that the quitclaim deed by defacing the wording, shred it and dispose of it. Until you deliver the quitclaim to the grantee and it is registered with the county recorder’s office, you still have control over its legal impact. If it is crushed before being sent and recorded, it is possible to take whatever actions you need to prepare a correct quitclaim deed.

Inform the grantee that you made an error in the quitclaim deed and ask that it be returned to you. If you sent the notarized quitclaim deed to the grantee and it has not yet been registered with the county recorder’s office, it’s still true that you can ruin it and prepare a correct quitclaim deed. If the grantee already recorded the quitclaim deed, then a fresh quitclaim deed is going to need to be prepared like the incorrect quitclaim deed, except that the grantee will be quitclaiming the property back to you. Once the new quitclaim deed is registered with the county recorder’s office, the effect of the incorrect quitclaim deed will have been reversed. After that you can prepare a corrected quitclaim deed.

Consult with an attorney if the grantee refuses to collaborate with you concerning your desire to correct the quitclaim deed. Without the grantee’s cooperation, you’ll need to file a lawsuit and obtain a court order voiding the incorrect quitclaim deed. In most states, this type of lawsuit is called a quiet title actions, also due to its complexity, a lawyer’s advice is necessary to determine whether you have a legal basis to void the incorrect quitclaim deed.

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Sherarcon