What Is Property Conveyancing?
- In the event of a sale, the seller gives a written deed and title documents to the purchaser. The deed defines the kind of title being transferred, legal description of the property and the names of the parties to the transaction. Deeds may not reflect the actual purchase price; the term "and other good and valuable consideration" often appears along with a nominal sum.
- Transfers within families do not always involve sales. The addition of a new spouse or an adult child to the title frequently reflects estate planning rather than a monetary transaction. A quit claim deed naming the current owners as grantors and all of the intended new owners as grantees can be recorded with the appropriate government authority in the locality. The added parties then hold a the same valid ownership interest in the property as the grantors.
- A quit claim deed also serves to clear a party from title, such as in a divorce settlement. The spouse giving up title acts as grantor and gives the interest in the property to the other spouse. The quit claim deed may not reflect any financial aspects of the settlement as it only concerns the transfer. Such a deed also covers donations of private property to charitable or civic institutions. When there are questions regarding whether a party has interest in a property, a quit claim deed "quiets" the title by allowing the party to give up whatever interest he may have held.
- The properly executed instrument describing the terms of the trust conveys property ownership to a trust and names the trustees who control or benefit from the trust. No sale is involved in transferring the property into a trust. Under some circumstances, a trust may appear as the purchaser on a deed but most frequently the owners create the trust later.
- The court can order the conveyance of property ownership as part of a bankruptcy, divorce or other judicial action. Even if no exchange of money occurs, the court order results in a change of ownership on the property.