Community Chat

[CalminHeart]

When you sign a Quit Claim form, you sign away your home/property. My ex signed one after our divorce. I filed it with the state and the house became mine.

[4kitties]

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@patbz wrote:

Over the last couple of years there have been several extensive discussions about how to get around giving your house up to pay nursing home costs.  DH and I have tried to plan for this contingency by spending about $4000 yrly in Long Term Care Insurance.  We firmly believe that there is no free ride and that definitely includes nursing homes.  My parents structured their finances so that they were able to pay for 13 years of 24/7 in home nursing care as well as an additional 3 years for my Mom in a home ( what they did is called "self insuring"). A lot of what I've read on these threads is robbing others so you can avoid paying your fair share.

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I agree!

[Boehm Collector]

A quitclaim deed is a legal instrument that is used to transfer interest in real property. The entity transferring its interest is called the grantor, and when the quitclaim deed is properly completed and executed, it transfers any interest the grantor has in the property to a recipient, called the grantor.  The owner/grantor terminates ("quits") any right and claim to the property, thereby allowing the right or claim to transfer to the recipient/grantee.

Unlike most other property deeds, a quitclaim deed contains no title covenant and therefore offers the grantee no warranty as to the status of the property title; the grantee is entitled only to whatever interest the grantor actually possesses at the time the transfer occurs. This means that the grantor does not guarantee that it actually owns any interest in the property at the time of the transfer 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.  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.

[Linda0215]

@goldensrbest @No, it depends on your State's law.   I live in CT and the look back time period is seven years.  However, if you can prove that you were your parents primary caregiver, that law doesn't apply.  This was our case and my mom was able to quit claim her home to me in order to protect it in case she needed to go into a nursing home.  Each State is different and you need to consult a good estate planning attorney.   

[Linda0215]

@moonandthestars That is correct, but each state has a different look back period.   As we age, we really need to make a plan as to how you want your estate handled otherwise you risk losing everything should you need nursing care.