OK, I don’t disagree with what you just said: “it is my understanding that quit claims do not convey after acquired title–only the interest at the time of the execution of the deed.” To take your statement literally, could it be construed that you conveyed your interest as an expectant inheritor with the deed? A court could agree with appropriate accompanying paperwork.
Anyway, back to the real subject, skipping probate, which I have had experience with:
There is a specific law in Indiana (small estates) which says it is not necessary to do a probate for estates with a net value, after encumbrances, of
the minute the quit claim is executed by the heir, it transfers nothing. not even sure if it can be recorded at that point, because the transferor is not in the chain of title.
so you hold it, just in case there is a probate, and title is finally vested in the heir.
YOU better be the one driving the probate, and YOU better file a Request for Special Notice (or whatever applies in your state), so that you can keep close tabs on the process. If the Personal Representative decides to sell the property during the probate, you will end up woth a contractual claim against the heir, but not the property. if the probate concludes, and the property is distributed to the heir, you better be quick to act. The day the Order of Final Distribution is recorded, effectively vesting title in the heir, you need to record your quitclaim. If you are a little late, and the heir sells to someone else, that purchaser is a BFP (bone fide purchaser) and you are a plaintiff.
The Point: Forget about quitclaims with heirs or beneficiaries. You will get the property FASTER with an agreement. Have an agreement with the heir. Do it in recordable form, so you can record it in the chain of title NOW. Make it his responsibility to INITIATE the probate, and take on role of PR ASAP. Have him obligate himself in the agreement to sell you the property, in his capacity as PR, during the probate.
This gets your the property a LOT faster than the silly quitclaim.
That’s great if you live in Washington, but he lives in New Jersey and if they don’t have such a statute then a quit claim deed only transfers the interest the party held in the property at the time of transfer
, if any. It doesn’t transfer potential future interests. Of course you can contract for those future interests. Washington State did a good job of covering it, hope all the other states do the same thing.
We’re talking about the real world here. I’m buying someone’s interest
who’s out of the area or who I just happen to catch and may never see
again, or whatever.
It’s not about using the quit claim deed to get the property. I know at
some point I may have to do the probate or quit title or whatever.
But in the meantime, I gain control of that interest and I have a piece of
that thing, today. I don’t have to hope my guy doesn’t change his mind
or can no longer be found when I need him down the road.
i can record a quit claim at any time, but I dont. You can record anything. Quit claim, “quits any claim you have in the property to the grantee.” That can be past or future interest. But thats not the issue here.
I can get a quit claim from the heirs AND an agreement to have the property sold to me. But, if that heir sells to someone else after probate, I’m still a plaintiff.
And we’re talking intestate here.
What I do, I get a quit claim AND an agreement. My attorney also runs the probate. I’m in total control.