When Folks Come In To Have Their Estate Plan Completed, A Living Trust Is A Tool We Use With Nearly Every Homeowner
Sometimes, despite the fact that we have filed all of the necessary government paperwork, the Assessor’s Office continues to list a home under the original names.
Why?
There are two possible reasons for this. Those people who own their home outright that is, without a mortgage, the Assessor likely has not updated their records yet. There is no harm to this, provided an accurate deed transferring the home to the Trust has been recorded. For those who still have a mortgage on the home, our firm drafts and records a document called a Beneficiary Deed. The beneficiary deed transfers the property to the trust only after the owners pass away, by naming the Trust as the beneficiary.
For clients who own their homes outright and are free of mortgages, our firm can draft a new deed, this time a Special Warranty Deed, that will transfer your home to your Trust immediately. Our fee for this is $200.
This Discussion Leads To Another Question:
How can I find these recorded documents on the public record? (Maricopa County)
There are two places residents can search for documents. One of them is by searching the name on the Assessor’s website. When the results come up, click on the Assessor’s Parcel Number, which is a link (the APN is an 8-digit number with the following format: 000-00-000) to view the Parcel Details. From there, scroll down until you see “Deed Number” and click on the link (the Deed Number is typically about nine digits long: 000000000) to transfer to the Recorder’s Website.
Another way to find it is to go to the Recorder’s website and hover over the word Recorder to view a drop-down menu. Select the first option, “Search Recorded Documents”. Enter the Last Name and First Name in the appropriate fields, and select “Search”. Page through the results until you find the correct document. This can be more challenging than using the Assessor’s website, but it is more thorough.
Once you find the listing, either by clicking on the Deed Number in the Assessor’s search results or by clicking on the Recording Number in the Recorder’s search results (they are the same number, just two different ways to get there) you will be taken to a page that says Recorded Document Search Detail.
Follow the instructions on the page to view an unofficial version of the document (both the Recorder’s Website and the Assessor’s website are under construction right now, so those instructions seem to be changing often) or to purchase an official version of the document.
