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Deeding Property to yourself
Posted by Mike Lacey on July 8, 2021 at 2:23 pmDoing a survey where the property to the south overlaps my clients property, which is to the north. Both properties have been in there respective families for about 100 years, and the descriptions in the deeds are vague. There is an old wire fence going along what my client believes to be the property line, and I agree based on measurements and other evidence I found. The people to the south believe they own to another newer fence to the north of the old fence, creating the overlap. In 2013 the they had a quitclaim deed made by an attorney from themselves to themselves for the area between the two fences. This is going to end up in court.
The question I have is can a person prepare a quitclaim deed from themselves to themselves?
bill93 replied 2 years, 9 months ago 24 Members · 56 Replies- 56 Replies
I see lots of deeds from married couples to themselves changing the type of holding for estate planning purposes.
IANAL but I don’t see how a deed to yourself has any effect on improving title or legitimizing a disputed boundary.
.Love that acronym!
I’m no authority but I would argue anyone can quit claim anything. It does not convey anything it only relinquishes whatever claim they may have had. The only value I perceive in a quit claim deed is that it offers some assurance that the quit claiming party will not make a future claim to the described property.
- Posted by: @lurker
The only value I perceive in a quit claim deed is that it offers some assurance that the quit claiming party will not make a future claim to the described property.
I agree with you in this case. But quitclaim deeds are used quite a bit to convey property where I live and work, with no issues.
They did it to get it into the record. This is going to court which “should” clean that up.
Had they wanted to do it I would have suggested quit claiming the entire property to a trust or maybe husband to wife, wife to husband, something like that.
Is it worth fighting over? Many times the area involved has a value far less than the fight to claim it.
That said, I could quit claim to myself the entire State of Alaska, less any Federal holdings.
The neighbors’ QCD could be used against them as it puts a cloud on your client’s title. That should be a winnable suit.
I have bridge in Brooklyn I could sell you.
As my old professor said, buy with a warrantee deed and sell with a quit claim.
As for recording deeds with the grantor & grantee being the same, it happens quite often. I currently have one open on my second screen. The owner is doing a property line adjustment between two properties they own. As for the quitclaim, I’m not sure how that logic works. You give any interest you have in the property you have to yourself. If that is all it takes then you could own anything you want.
Such a quitclaim would put a date certain in the public record of the beginning of the hostility element of adverse possession.
They are trying to meet the color of title requirement and notice the assertion. Using a quit claim is common, but it’s usually the wrong tool.
- Posted by: @mike-lacey
In 2013 the they had a quitclaim deed made by an attorney from themselves to themselves
This isn’t some sort of malpractice for the attorney?
It conveys or transfers any interest the grantor has without any guarantee that the title is free of defects or encumbrances. If they owned it you now own it. Kinda like buying an expensive used car from a private party. Caveat Emptor.
A monkey can quitclaim Fort Knox to his Brother-in-Law. Getting something on the public record, paying taxes on it and occupation, all have considerations if it goes to court.
@jph NOTHING is malpractice for an attorney. They can lie to everyone except their client. They are not even required to tell the truth in court. I think they are only required to be truthful to the judge in ‘bench’ conversations.
I wish I could lie to my clients neighbors, it would make thing a lot easier.
In case I am not the only one living under a rock; per Google:
IANAL is a Usenet and chat abbreviation (initialism) for the expansion “I am not a lawyer”. The expansion may be used by non-lawyers who are seeking to avoid accusations of unauthorized practice of law and are not making any recommendation to the particular addressee of their remarks.
Will this conveyance allow for any kind of of regulatory freeze? In MA filing certain plans allows for a zoning freeze for a number of years. Or should I have said do these people believe this slight of hand accomplishes anything, starting or stopping the clock?
Did the neighbor get a survey? I’m curious how the property between the two fences was described.
@mark-mayer
That would be the case if you gave notice to the adjacent property owner. I doubt it could be considered hostile just filing a document that nobody knows about. I think there are fraud laws on the books to stop this kind of thing.
I read thousands (yes, what can I say, it was compelled by the intrigue…) Of quit claim deeds drawn up to transfer to new corporate officers, lien holders, new members of an LLC and then see them loop through every officer of that corporation or members of the LLCs to obfuscate the true ownership and possession of and liability due to their shady dealings, usually and highly suspicious Loan for deed scams.
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