Question: My husband and I bought a house together last year before we got married. We just got married this month. Do I have to file a quitclaim deed for my name change only?

Question: I was recently married, and now I am the homemaker of the family, so I have no income. My wife, however, does and we would like to get the home in her name. We have inquired about refinancing, but her credit is not as good as mine so our interest rates would go up. Would a quitclaim be right for us? How do I go about this? I have found online copies of forms, but where do I take it?

Answer: I get a lot of questions about quitclaim deeds. They are often misunderstood and these questions illustrate some of that confusion.

First, let me explain quitclaim deeds and how they work. As its name implies, when you give somebody a quitclaim deed on real property, you are giving up (quitting) all legal ownership interests in that property. However, a quitclaim deed does not guarantee that you ever had an ownership interest. For example, I could give you a quitclaim deed to the Space Needle. You could then take it to the King County courthouse and record it. It would become a legal record, but you would not gain any ownership interest in the Space Needle because I had none to give you. That’s why those deeds are typically used only between family members where there is no question as to who owns the property. When property is sold in this state, it is usually sold using a warranty deed that includes a guarantee that the seller actually owns the property.

Now, let me address the first question. When you buy a property and later get married and change your last name, there is no legal reason or necessity to file a deed or any other legal document to change your name on the title. When you were married, your name was legally changed and any documents you signed under your maiden name prior to the marriage are still legal. Typically, you won’t record any new documents unless you refinance the property with a new mortgage. The lender will then want to have your legal name on the title when the new loan closes. Other than that, you could keep the title as is forever with no legal risks at all.

For the second question, related to adding the wife’s name to the title after marriage, that is exactly the kind of situation in which a quitclaim deed would typically be used. But don’t confuse getting a quitclaim deed with getting a mortgage. They are two different things. As you pointed out, if your wife has poor credit, you will not be able to get a new mortgage at a reasonable interest rate, if you can get one at all. But you don’t have to refinance the property in order to execute a quitclaim deed. You can add your wife to the property title any time you want.

I do not recommend using online legal forms and doing this yourself. It is relatively inexpensive to have a local title company’s escrow department prepare the proper documents for you and make sure they are recorded correctly.

You don’t have to provide copies of the quitclaim deed to anybody. That is why documents are recorded at the county recorder’s office. Once the quitclaim deed is recorded, it becomes a public record, and anybody doing a title search on your property will be able to see that it is now owned by you and your wife.

Just keep in mind that if you want to refinance, and your wife’s credit is still poor, you may have to quitclaim her off of the title, get a new mortgage in your name only, and then quitclaim your wife back onto the title. Also, because Washington state is a community property state, when a married man gets a mortgage just in his name, the lender typically requires the wife to sign a quitclaim deed to show that she knew and approved of the mortgage. The same thing happens when a married woman buys or refinances a home in her name only. The lender would require the husband to sign a quitclaim deed.

I hope this clears up a couple more questions about quitclaim deeds and how they are commonly used.

Mail your real estate questions to Steve Tytler, The Herald, P.O. Box, Everett, WA 98206, or e-mail him at economy@heraldnet.com.