Quitclaim: Difference between revisions
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[[File:Quit claim deed signed William S. Reefe and Alice L. Reefe of Washington County, July 10, 1871.jpg|thumb|Quitclaim deed, Washington County, July 10, 1871]] |
[[File:Quit claim deed signed William S. Reefe and Alice L. Reefe of Washington County, July 10, 1871.jpg|thumb|Quitclaim deed, Washington County, July 10, 1871]] |
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Generally, a '''quitclaim''' is a formal renunciation of a legal claim against some other person, or of a right to land.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/495599124|title=Collins English Dictionary|date=2010|publisher=Collins|isbn=978-0-00-738233-0|edition=10th|location=London|oclc=495599124| at="quitclaim"}}</ref> A person who quitclaims renounces or relinquishes a claim to some legal right, or transfers a legal interest in land.<ref name="OEDv">{{Cite OED | quitclaim, ''v.'' | access-date= 29 December 2021 }}</ref> Originally a [[common law]] concept dating back to Medieval England, the expression is in modern times mostly restricted to North American law, where it often refers specifically to a transfer of interest in [[real property]].<ref name="OEDn">{{Cite OED | quitclaim, ''n. (and adv.)'' | access-date= 29 December 2021 }}</ref> |
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| ⚫ | The [[legal instrument]] by which the transfer is effected may be known as a '''quitclaim deed''' or '''quitclaim agreement'''.<ref name="OEDn" /> The person transferring their interest is called the ''[[conveyancing|grantor]],'' and the quitclaim deed acts to transfer any interest the grantor has in the property to a recipient, known as the ''[[grantee]].''<ref name="deeds">{{cite web|title=The Complete Guide to Quit Claim Deeds|url=https://www.deeds.com/quit-claim-deed/|website=Deeds.com Inc.|access-date=12 February 2018}}</ref> |
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==Overview== |
==Overview== |
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Revision as of 15:43, 29 December 2021
| Property law |
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| Part of the common law series |
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Higher category: Law and Common law |
Generally, a quitclaim is a formal renunciation of a legal claim against some other person, or of a right to land.[1] A person who quitclaims renounces or relinquishes a claim to some legal right, or transfers a legal interest in land.[2] Originally a common law concept dating back to Medieval England, the expression is in modern times mostly restricted to North American law, where it often refers specifically to a transfer of interest in real property.[3]
The legal instrument by which the transfer is effected may be known as a quitclaim deed or quitclaim agreement.[3] The person transferring their interest is called the grantor, and the quitclaim deed acts to transfer any interest the grantor has in the property to a recipient, known as the grantee.[4]
Overview
Unlike most other property deeds, a quitclaim deed contains no title covenant and thus offers the grantee no warranty as to the status of the property title;[5] the grantee is entitled only to whatever interest the grantor actually possesses at the time the transfer occurs.[6] This means that the grantor does not guarantee that it actually owns any interest in the property at the time of the transfer,[7] or if it does own an interest, that the title is free and clear. It is, therefore, possible for a grantee to receive no actual interest, and—because a quitclaim deed offers no warranty—have no legal recourse to recover any losses. Further, if the grantor should acquire the property at a later date, the grantee is not entitled to take possession, because the grantee can receive only the interest that the grantor held at the time the transfer occurred. In contrast, other deeds often used for real estate sales (called grant deeds or warranty deeds, depending on the jurisdiction) contain warranties from the grantor to the grantee that the title is clear or that the grantor has not placed any encumbrance against the title.
Because of this lack of warranty, quitclaim deeds are most often used to transfer property between family members, as gifts, placing personal property into a business entity (and vice versa) or in other special or unique circumstances.[6] For example, when one spouse acquires the marital home in a divorce settlement, the other spouse could execute a quitclaim deed eliminating his or her interest in the property and transferring full claim to the other spouse, quickly and inexpensively.[8]
In some jurisdictions, quitclaim deeds are used in tax deed sales (in those cases, the term "tax deed" or "sheriff's deed" may be used to describe the actual document), where a property is sold in a public auction to recover the original homeowner's outstanding tax debt. The auctioning body is usually the local government, which claims no interest to the property whatsoever, but is selling only to recover the unpaid taxes without extending any warranty for the property title. The purchaser then may need to initiate a quiet title action to remove any clouds to the title.
In many jurisdictions, quitclaim deeds are rarely used to transfer property from seller to buyer in a traditional property sale. But in others, such as Massachusetts, quitclaim deeds are the norm.[9]
Execution of a quitclaim deed is relatively simple, and requires little more than both parties signing the deed and, if required in the state where it is executed, having the deed notarized, acknowledged before a notary or with a jurat signed before a notary.[4] A jurat, also known as a verification upon oath or affirmation, is a form of notarization in which the affiant appears before a notary, swears to the truth of the contents of the document, and signs the document in front of the notary.[10]
History
The common law concept of quitclaim dates back to medieval England.[12] Its purpose was provide a straighforward way for a tenant or other person in actual possession of some land to acquire additional rights in it from some other person.[12] For example, a tenant in possession might acquire a fee simple in the land from a superior landowner such as a freeholder. In such a case, the use of quitclaim circumvented the multistep process of the tenant having to formally give up possession to the original freeholder, merely in order to be re-granted possession by feoffment as freeholder in his or her own right.[12]
Quitclaim may originally have been an oral transaction, but by the thirteenth century a formal sealed document or court record had become necessary.[12] A famous early example is the Quitclaim of Canterbury of 1189, by which Richard I of England reversed the Treaty of Falaise, transferring his claims on Scotland to William I of Scotland.
See also
References
- ^ Collins English Dictionary (10th ed.). London: Collins. 2010. "quitclaim". ISBN 978-0-00-738233-0. OCLC 495599124.
- ^ "quitclaim, v.". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. Retrieved 29 December 2021. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
- ^ a b "quitclaim, n. (and adv.)". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. Retrieved 29 December 2021. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
- ^ a b "The Complete Guide to Quit Claim Deeds". Deeds.com Inc. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
- ^ Black, Henry Campbell; Bryan A. Garner; Black Artemis (1999). Quitclaim deed (7th ed.). West Group. p. 1126. ISBN 978-0314228642.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - ^ a b Fogler, Jean (17 November 2017). "Top 5 Facts About Quitclaim Deeds". Investopedia, LLC. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
- ^ See generally Barron's Law Dictionary, pp. 381-382 (2d ed. 1984).
- ^ Dukeminier, Jesse; James Krier; Gregory Alexander; Michael Schill (November 22, 2017). Property (9th ed.). Aspen Publishers. p. 595, 599. ISBN 978-1454896500.
- ^ Vetstein, Richard D. (6 June 2011). "The Anatomy of a Massachusetts Quitclaim Deed". The Massachusetts Real Estate law Blog. Retrieved 13 Jan 2017.
- ^ "Jurat vs. Acknowledgments - Which One?". Michigan Secretary of State. Retrieved 12 February 2018.[dead link]
- ^ Wyther, William. "British Quitclaim, 1409". University of Toronto Libraries. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
- ^ a b c d Pollock, Frederick (1898). The history of English law before the time of Edward I. Vol. II. Frederic William Maitland. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund. pp. 94–95. ISBN 978-1-61487-849-0. OCLC 820841850. Republication in ?2010 of the second edition.