What is the difference between a deed and a title on property?

Question

My father passed away with the title only in his name and mother says she has a deed that shows her name on it, however the lawyers claim that they have no proof after looking for 2 months that mother is the sole owner. Since dad died with no will then it has to go through probate and be divided 1/2 to her the the remainder to the heirs (their children). What is the difference between deed and title, mother thinks they are one in the same and lawyers disagree, saying it depends on what kind of deed and they find nothing in records at court house to show she is sole owner.

Another thing the lawyers are stating since the property was homestead type property that she not only gets 1/2 and 25% of the other half for her life estate... Help on this would be appreciated.

No probate can be done until title is amended to show all on it and we are in process of selling the property... any suggestions on how to resolve this smoothly... mother will not budge and neither will attorneys...

Answer 1

If your mother has an un-recorded deed, then she is not on the property as the title holder. In order for a person to be on title the deed must be recorded.

Without a will and your mother's deed not being recorded you will have a problem selling the property. If your father is still the legal owner who will sign on his behalf? Does your real estate agent know that there might be a problem with the title and the deed. You should inform this real estate agent if you have engaged one to sell this property.

So until the probate has been accomplished, the property will not have a salable deed to convey to someone else.

Tell you mother to talk to a title company. You will be able to find one in your local telephone book. They can perhaps show her who is currently on title to the property and perhaps explain that a deed that is not recorded can not be enforced.

I hope this has been of some use to you, good luck.

"FIGHT ON"

Answer 2

The deed to a property shows who in in title, in other words, who the legal owner is. For a deed to reflect ownership it has to be recorded in the county in which the property is located.

If you mother has an unrecorded deed that is one issue and a legal one that will have to be decided by the courts. It appears that the lawyers are unable to find any recorded of such a deed being recorded in the county records.

Your mother is either going to have to produce the deed or the issue will have to be decided by the courts.

Answer 3

The deed is the piece of paper. Title refers to the legal claim on the property. If you are financing, the bank holds title until you pay off the mortgage. That also means they keep the deed filed somewhere. My grandparents paid off their mortgage, and then the bank mailed them the deed to their house. They hadn't seen it in 30 years.

Answer 4

A deed is a legal instrument used to transfer title. A deed does NOT have to be recorded to be valid.

The record title holder is not necessarily the actual owner of the land if there are previous unrecorded deeds to it to others. The theory is once a person has conveyed the title to his or her property (or some aspect of it) to someone, he or she has nothing left to transfer to any subsequent person.

However, as a result of the various state recording laws, the courts will protect a purchaser who pays valuable consideration and doesn't have knowledge of the prior unrecorded deed from the claims of a prior grantee under that deed. The same is true respecting most types of unrecorded liens or encumbrances. For example, purchasers of the land from the record title holder who pay valuable consideration and have no knowledge of unrecorded mortgages will be protected against those mortgages by the courts. All of this flows from the statement in most recording statutes that the unrecorded instruments are void against such purchasers. So, it behooves purchasers and mortgage lenders to record their deeds or mortgages, respectively, to prevent this outcome.

There are limitations to the protection of most recording laws. Persons who don't pay valuable consideration for their interest in the property are not protected against unrecorded interests. Examples are persons getting the property as a gift and heirs. Neither are persons who purchase ownership interests in the owners of the property, e.g., shares of stock in a corporation owning the land, because they haven't purchased an interest in the property itself. Also, the recording laws generally do not protect purchasers against real estate taxes because notice of them is usually not required to be recorded for them to be effective. Finally, certain classes of nongovernmental liens such as mechanic's liens are often made effective for a certain period of time even though unrecorded. And this list is not exhaustive.