Expert: Dick Dennis - 2/15/2006

Question
Hi!  August before last, my Mom and I bought a house in a new development.  The first property tax will not be due until this September, because it was a new development.  I called in to the city assessor's office to ask if I needed to bring anything in to file for a homestead exemption.  They looked up the deed and found that I am not on it.  

What happened is that only Mom was going to be on the mortgage, so the deed was made out only to her, even though we had thought that we would both be put on the deed.  Last month we refinanced so that we are both on the mortgage.

Now we'd like to change the deed so that we are both on it.  We need to file a warranty deed, correct?  Is this something we can do ourselves, or do we need to have a lawyer do it?  How do we fill one out so that it goes from just her, to both of us?  So, so many questions!

Thanks!

Heather

Answer
Very simple, Heather. Do it this way:

Jane Doe hereby deeds xyz property to Jane Doe and Heather Doe as joint tenants.

Check the proper wordage your state uses, but I am sure you get the idea. You have the Warranty Deed signature (your mom's) witnessed by a notary public. Then you bring it to the county recorder for recording. A title company may be willing to do this for you. They may charge you a nominal fee.

I wish you well.

Dick Dennis
dixiedee13@aol.com