Post divorce paperwork - trust, house deed help.

[LeeH]

Trying to figure out exactly what happens with the trust we set up years ago now that the divorce is final. Trust is revocable. House deed is in the name of the trust with both of us as trustees. Somehow I need to get the house in just my name. Anyone been through this?

[Rinty]

Originally Posted by LeeH

Trying to figure out exactly what happens with the trust we set up years ago now that the divorce is final. Trust is revocable. House deed is in the name of the trust with both of us as trustees. Somehow I need to get the house in just my name. Anyone been through this?

I'll leave this to the U.S. attorneys, but this would be the tip of a very large iceberg.

Good luck.

[KFC911]

Lee, if y'all are on the same page, wouldn't a simple "quit claim" from the trust to you suffice? I'm sure a legal mind will be along soon

If not on the same page....????

[recycled sixtie]

I am not a legal professional. 33 years ago I left my wife with the house. So this situation is the flip side of what I went through. Fortunately I was on pretty good terms with her. I am not sure of your relationship with your ex and it really is not my business. I offered help making the payments on the house but she declined. My emotional state was pretty low so I was in a giving mood. I came away with very little. $5k in rrsp(401k).

By being generous it was an uncontested divorce. It cost me about $1000 can. back in 1984 to get the divorce papers drawn up. If you have a good relationship with your spouse surely you could both go to a good lawyer and get the house put in your name.
If the relationship is not good all bets are off.

I have to add that the house was not in trust.....

[LeeH]

We're on good terms. She'll do whatever is needed. Asset distribution is spelled out account by account in the divorce documents.

Reading through the trust, it sounds like all one of has to do is revoke the trust and deliver that document to the other. Could that and a quit claim deed be all we need?

[KFC911]

I doubt you even have to revoke the trust (but of course you want to)...just have the trust quit claim the deed to you. I'll quit playng atty now...

[craigster59]

You can download a quitclaim for your county from the recorders office. She fills it out and quitclaims it to you. Make sure you use the description on the deed (it might be in your judgement).

It will be something like: "Property located at 1234 Main St Phoenix, Az 98765, County of Maricopa, and more further described as:
Lot 7 of Addition 12 of the Navajo Tract in the city of Phoenix, County of Maricopa, State of Arizona, recorded in the office of the County Recorder Office....etc.

She has it notarized, you send it off to the recorder's office and Robert is your father's brother.

[911boost]

I did exactly what Craig is saying, I signed the house over to the ex.

Our trust was for the kids so that didn't really change. The divorce agreement has some language that references it.

[ossiblue]

Not an attorney, but my understanding is that since the home is already in a revocable trust, the title of the house has already been quit claimed over to the trust by you and your ex. Your divorce has no bearing on the title as the trust owns the house and will disperse the assets accordingly, divorced or not. In a revocable trust, you and your ex retain control of the property as the grantors or trustees (you can sell it, refinance, etc.), but the legal owner is the trust. If you wish to change the trustees or make changes to the trust terms, that's a different issue. If both of you are the original grantors, both of you must agree to a change in trustee. In other words, if you wish to remain as the sole trustee, your ex must agree to the change. This is all done through an amendment to the trust which will change the trustees and the trust itself will likely be renamed as well.

[greglepore]

I would check the trust docs-if the sole asset is the home, perhaps your ex can simply resign as trustee, thus leaving the trust intact and you as sole trustee. Otherwise, the trust could deed the property to you.

[Rinty]

Lee:

Suggest you check with an Arizona attorney who specializes in trusts, before you make any changes to it.