Washington Special Warranty Deed Form

The answer is yes. Parties to a transaction are always free to prepare their own deeds. If you do so, be sure your deed measures up to your state's legal regulations, to help avert any legal challenge to the deed later.

Adding someone to your house deed requires the filing of a legal form known as a quitclaim deed. When executed and notarized, the quitclaim deed legally overrides the current deed to your home. By filing the quitclaim deed, you can add someone to the title of your home, in effect transferring a share of ownership.

It will not protect against title issues that arose prior to the time the seller took occupancy. Consequently, it offers less protection to buyers, and more protection to sellers, than a general warranty deed, which is the most common option for selling or buying a property.

A special warranty deed to real estate offers protection to the buyer through the seller's guarantee that the title has been free and clear of encumbrances during their ownership of the property. It does not guarantee clear title beyond their ownership.

Contact all owners of the property. All vested owners currently on the title must sign a quitclaim deed. In order to share ownership with another person, you must get all other vested owners to consent and sign. Hire a Washington notary public.

If you've recently married and already own a home or other real estate, you may want to add your new spouse to the deed for your property so the two of you own it jointly. To add a spouse to a deed, all you have to do is literally fill out, sign and record a new deed in your county recorder's office.

Fill out the "grantor" section of the warranty deed. The grantors are the givers, or current owners, of the property. Use the legal name of each grantor and insert current addresses after each grantor's name.