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Buying or Selling a Home/Signatures required to sell a home

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Expert: John Hendricks - 11/25/2007


Question
QUESTION: A married couple purchased a home but only the wife name appears on the deed.  Is the husband signature required to sell the home?

ANSWER: Dear Mary;

Thank you for your question. Not knowing the state in which you reside, the answer I will give you may not apply. I am a California Realtor and the laws in each state may be different.

1) In a state that is considered a community property state, the husband would be required to sign a document releasing any interest in the property if the wife is the sole owner of the property prior to the close of escrow.

2) In order to list the property for sale, the wife can sign to sell the property on her own with no signature from the husband. But once again, if the property does get an accepted offer, the husband under a community property state would have to release all rights to the property before the close of escrow.

Depending on the state in which you reside, a title company could give you a definite answer to your question at no cost. Just call the title company and ask for a title officer. Since I am a California Realtor and am not familiar with the state in which the seller resides, I would recommend that you contact an attorney or a title company to confirm the information I provided.

I hope this was of help to you...

Good Luck!

Warmest Regards;
John Hendricks

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I am requesting information for the state of Virginia.

Answer
Dear Mary;

Below is the definition for community property states. It appears that Virginia is not on the list. I would still recommend that you contact a title company on Monday and run the question by them. You can call  Toll Free: (888) 828-4854 Virginia Title Company. They will be able to give you the exact information at no cost.

Definition: This applies only to state tax returns. In community property states, married persons are considered to own their property, assets, and income jointly. If married people decide to file separate tax returns, they must follow their state rules for community income. Generally, both spouses must combine their total income, and divide that income in half. Each spouse then reports half of the joint income on his or her tax return. The community property states are:
Arizona
California
Idaho
Louisiana
Nevada
New Mexico
Texas
Washington
Wisconsin
For federal income tax purposes, married people may file a separate return to report only his or her own income.

Warmest Regards;
John

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John Hendricks

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As a California Realtor for 23 years practicing in Marin and Sonoma Counties, it is now time to provide counsel through AllExperts.com to those who need advise in real estate. My knowledge and experience includes a wide range of resale residential real estate purchases, new home sales, income related investment properties involved in 1031 exchanges, and land. Let me help you in any of these areas...

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John Hendricks has established himself as one of Marin & Sonoma Counties premier Realtors. A native Californian, John is a well-known and respected Realtor in both Marin & Sonoma Counties who has resided in the Northbay since 1976. John began his real estate career in 1986, and since then has distinguished himself as one or Northern California's top producing Realtors. Before joining Frank Howard Allen Realtors, John was an associate of the Prudential California Realty from 1990-1992 where his outstanding sales achievements earned him one of the company's highest honors, the prestigious "President's Circle Membership", presented to the top 2% of associates for sales and earning excellence. Since his association with the highly regarded Frank Howard Allen Realtors in 1992, John has once again established himself as one of his company's Top 10 Producing Realtors in Marin & Sonoma Counties for the years 1993 through 2007 and now in 2008. Five continuous years of outstanding performance has now allowed John to join 15 other Realtors in the prestigious "Lifetime Hall of Fame" for Frank Howard Allen Realtors. John established a group of professional individuals who specialize in a variety of areas in real estate called, 'Lundmark-Hendricks Fine Homes' This group of professionals are dedicated to the success of representing clients with the greatest amount of care and service when either buying or selling real estate.

Organizations
California Association of Realtors National Association of Realtors

Education/Credentials
Upon Request...

Awards and Honors
Frank Howard Allen Realtors "Hall of Fame Member" Chairman's Circle for 10 consecutive years

Past/Present Clients
Joe Louis & Sharon Sigurdson We want to thank you again for your excellent representation of interests during the recent purchase of our home in Petaluma as well as the sell of our home in Mill Valley. We had the unusual pleasure of working with you during the last year both as sellers and buyers. We felt that our interests were always paramount and that we received a very fair price for the sale of the Mill Valley house as well as our purchase of our new home. This speaks particularly well of you, because of the recent unstable and chaotic real estate market. Will Finke "Quite frankly, we came out of a very difficult situation, which time does not allow elaborating on. This was one of the greatest experiences of our lives as clients. John Hendricks is one of the top businessmen I have ever met." Bruce & Nancy Rosentreter "I chose John Hendricks to sell my house. I picked him because I thought he was professional, aggressive, and that he could get top dollar for my house. He fulfilled my expectations completely." Joy Schuelke "Since we were trying to sell a high end home in a very tough market, and in the middle of a very rainy winter, the prospects seemed quite bleak. I was convinced at the time, and am even more so now, that without John's tenure, patience, and tenacity, we would have not been able to move the property." Lynn McCarthy "I cannot stress strongly enough how impressed I was with the service provided to me by John and his group. Throughout the entire transaction, John was always available, always forthcoming with excellent advice based on his years of experience, and always willing to put in the extra effort to make this a positive experience for me. I feel lucky to have had the experience of working with him." Lea Lieurance-Turk "Thank you John for your outstanding real estate services for the past 5 years I have known you. You have made my dreams come true as far as selling and buying property."
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