Does A Quick Claim Deed Absolve A Spouse From Financial Responsibility If They Are Not on the Title or Loan?
February 5, 2011 in Mortgage Loan by admin
I am married (living apart) and am buying a house separate from my husband. He will sign a Quick Claim Deed but wants assurance that he is released from financial responsibility. If he is not on the loan / promissory note then is he financially liable if anything were to go wrong? Does the Quick Claim and absence from the mortgage loan absolve him? Is there anything else we should do?
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You mean a QUIT claim deed.
Definition: Quitclaim deeds transfer or “quit” any interest in real property. The grantor may not be in title at all, so the grantee cannot assume that the grantor has any real interest to convey. However, if the grantor were, say, married to the owner of the property, signing and recording a quitclaim deed in favor of the spouse would transfer any interest the grantor may have in the property to the spouse.
The purpose of a quit claim deed in this situation is for the grantor–the husband in this case–to formally abandon any rights to the property. He would not have any responsibility for a mortgage and no interest in the property.
The term is QUIT claim deed. The ONLY thing it does is GIVE UP any ownership interest the person has in the property. It CAN’T release anyone from financial responsibility.
That said, if he is not involved in the purchase of the home, he was NEVER responsible in the first place. The only possible exception would be in some community property states. If that applies, the quit claim deed is legally useless.
He would only sign a quit claim deed if he already owned part of the house and wanted to turn it over to you and not have any interest or obligation in the property. I’ve never heard of anyone signing a quit claim deed for something they don’t already own (at least partly.)
I’d say what you need to do is buy and put the house in your name, and in your will put a statement that your spouse would neither inherit nor be responsible for the loan in case of your death.