Free West Virginia Quitclaim Deed Form

What Does a Quitclaim Deed in West Virginia Do?

Are you surprised at how fast your friend/ acquaintance transferred property to their sibling? Did they mention using some property deed you cannot recall? Well, here’s something we’re willing to put our money on – that they used a quitclaim. Why? Quitclaims deeds are super-fast, affordable and common in real property transfers between families.

A quitclaim deed, also known as a quitclaim or a non-warranty deed is a legal instrument used in real estate to facilitate property transfers from property owners or grantors to the recipients of the property rights (title). This deed is efficient, and mistakenly called a quick claim deed, but it doesn’t provide any protection to the grantee if title issues arise. The reason for this is that despite its efficiency, it doesn’t offer any warranties on the title. In the case of your friend above, the use of the quitclaim means that if someone comes later to claim that the property didn’t belong to your friend or that their sibling has to pay some past liens on the property, they (grantee) cannot take any legal action against the grantor. Despite this, the use of the quitclaim is popular among families because it’s assumed that the family member transferring the property knows the property’s title history and they’re also the actual legal property owners.

Less Risky Deeds

But, if this risk is not one you wish to take because you are actually selling your home (not gifting) to a stranger, even your neighbor, then we recommend that you use the warranty deeds. Unlike the non-warranty deed, the warranty deed protects a buyer ad they can sue you if an issue arises. Warranty deeds provide warranties/ guarantees on the ownership of the property, as well as the title. The warranty deeds are, however, of two types, and one offers more protection than the other – general and special warranty deeds. With the general deed, the grantor gives a guarantee for a title without any issues, throughout its lifetime. On the other hand, you have the special warranty deed which limits the warranty on the property to the duration the grantor owned the property.

When to use the quitclaim

Despite having little protection to grantees, quitclaims remain the most common property deeds used in real property conveyances. Some of the top uses of the deed are in estate planning where parents use the deed to quitclaim their property interests to their loved ones (children) and trusts. The deed also facilities property rights conveyances in marriages or divorces. For example, soon after getting married a spouse might add their spouse’s name into the deed, giving then joint ownership, and after (or during) a divorce, a husband or wife could quitclaim their interests in the real property, making the person with the rights go to the sole owner of the property. In business settings, the quitclaim would be used when transferring interests in property to a corporation or even an LLC.

But, that is not all; your insurance company might have you prepare a quitclaim to fix an issue causing a break in the chain of title. And if you change your name after getting the property, you could use a quitclaim to effectuate the change in name.

Legal Requirements for the validity of quitclaims

If you’re preparing a quitclaim deed form in West Virginia, you have to make sure that your deed has everything needed for its validity and certification or recording. And you need a free deed form to point you in the right direction. We recommend the state-specific free West Virginia quitclaim deed form as your template. This form comes in a printable pdf format and is easy to use.

• The requirements to be met include:

• • Valid legal names of both the grantor and the grantee

  • The deed must have the term conveyance

  • Identification of the property – the required legal description of the property will include the district that the parcel of land is located

  • The grantor has to sign the deed at the notary public

  • If the grantor is married, the deed must have the signature of the spouse showing that they’re releasing their marital right, whether they hold direct interests in that property, or not.

  • The state deems quitclaims as void if subsequent creditors or bona fide purchasers pay a valuable consideration for that property, without notice of the change in ownership. The only way to prevent this from happening is by recording the quitclaim with the county public records office in the county that the property under conveyance is located.

  • During recordation, your quitclaim must meet all the county requirements for recording a quitclaim. Once you’re sure that the deed meets the set requirements, you must submit the deed accompanied by the Sales Listing Form.

  • Also, all the deeds recorded in the state of West Virginia are subjected to a transfer tax which is calculated based on the consideration paid for the title transfer. If there is no consideration indicated, then the transfer tax is calculated based on the fair value of the property. So, if you are certain that your deed has no consideration or its exempted from the transfer tax, you should provide a Declaration of Value or Consideration.

Are you ready to transfer your rights in rental real property to your loved one, trust, or an entity? Download our free quitclaim deed form online in Charleston, Morgantown, Huntington, Beckley, Parkersburg, Martinsburg, Wheeling and every other city in West Virginia.