Occasionally, we have a seller and buyer where there is really no money being exchanged but only a change of ownership. In this instance we draft and file a quit claim deed which transfers all the interest of the seller to the buyer. In this case the seller is called the “GRANTOR” and the buyer is called the “GRANTEE”. This often happens when a family member is wanting to transfer ownership of a property to another family member, or in a divorce situation, or in a case where someone is wanting to be added as an additional owner on the deed or someone is wanting to be taken off as an owner on the deed. No sale is technically occurring, however, a change of ownership does occur. Obviously in this case there are no banks involved or title companies or any of the costs associated with these services. There are also no realtors or commissions involved since the change in ownership is not technically pursuant to a sale. If you wish to retain ownership of the property until you die and then have ownership change automatically at death, then we would want to prepare a Beneficiary Deed instead of a Quit Claim Deed. The fees to our office are the same.
Although we are a FSBO law firm, we do offer Quit Claim Deed services in cases where a change of ownership is all that is occurring. Our charge for a Quit Claim Deed is $275.00 flat fee paid in advance of the deed being prepared. Quit Claim Deeds must be notarized, therefore, the deed is prepared by our office, and e-mailed to you. You print the Quit Claim Deed out, take to a Notary and have signed, and then mail our office the original for filing with the Recorder of Deeds office. Once the Deed if filed, we e-mail you a copy of the filed Deed for your records.