[WSBAPT] Recording a Quit Claim Deed after Death of Grantor

[Eric Nelsen]

I agree, the inheritance WAC is not applicable if it was an effective inter vivos transfer. DOR really should not be giving legal advice as to choice of exemption.

Re delivery, actual delivery of the deed is needed for the deed to be effective. If the deed was in the grantee's hands before the grantor died, that's pretty conclusive. Recording is not necessary to make delivery of a deed effective; recording simply raises a presumption of delivery.

Answering your actual question--A proper agent of grantor must sign the REETA and REET Supplemental. It shouldn't be an issue to have a PR sign a Supplemental in order to document the gift; the PR simply must do her/his own due diligence to confirm that in fact, grantor received no consideration from grantee and there is no encumbering debt that the grantee is taking over. In looking at the Supplemental Statement, I don't think I see anything in it that a PR couldn't properly swear to under penalty of perjury, after due investigation of the decedent's records and papers.

Sincerely,

Eric

Eric C. Nelsen
SAYRE LAW OFFICES, PLLC
1417 31st Ave South
Seattle WA  98144-3909
phone 206-625-0092
fax 206-625-9040

Please Note that We Have Moved. We have moved our Seattle office to Mount Baker Ridge (a small commercial community just above the I-90 tunnel). Our new address is 1417 31st Avenue South, Seattle WA 98144. All other contact information remains the same.

From: wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com [mailto:wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com] On Behalf Of Eric Reutter
Sent: Monday, January 23, 2017 9:36 AM
To: wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com
Subject: [WSBAPT] Recording a Quit Claim Deed after Death of Grantor

Hello and good morning,

I have a simple fact pattern that presents and interesting procedural question. I am involved in a probate situation where, before passing away, the decedent had properly executed a quit claim deed for the decedent’s interest in a home. The decedent, however, did not record the deed or corresponding REETA/Supplemental REETA before the decedent’s death.

This situation now presents the following question: What is the procedure for recording a quit claim deed after the grantor had passed away? (Specifically in regards to the REETA and Supplemental REETA)

My first thought was simply to have the personal representative sign the REETA and Supplemental REETA on behalf of the decedent. The representative at the King County Recorder’s Office, however, told me that they wanted guidance from the DOR before they would be comfortable with the PR signing off on the Supplemental REETA (they seemed to have no problem recording the deed itself, or with the PR signing off on the REETA, but seemed to be uncomfortable with the PR signing off on the Supplemental REETA).

When I spoke with the DOR on the phone, the DOR representative suggested that I use the inheritance WAC (458-61A-202) on the REETA so as to avoid the need entirely for the Supplemental REETA. I told the representative that I did not fully understand that solution, as the quit claim deed represents an inter-vivos transfer, and that it seemed inappropriate to me to cite the inheritance WAC for such a transfer. The DOR agent was unable to give me written confirmation of this procedure.

I would greatly appreciate any guidance on this issue. I have a few more ideas for how to proceed, but I am curious to see if other practitioners have seen this issue before and, if so, how they recorded the quit claim deed.
Best regards,

Eric Reutter, Partner
J.D., LL.M. Taxation
14205 SE 36th Street, Suite 100
Bellevue, WA 98006
(425) 298-7110 | appelgatereutter.com<http://appelgatereutter.com/>

[https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1_ki68D-hyjqSa4GiscGPV7pYrrbXnk4Y-J2oVpiqZnU/pub?w=1142&h=323]

Confidentiality: This e-mail may contain information that is privileged, confidential or otherwise protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient or otherwise have received this message in error, you are not authorized to read, print, retain, copy or disseminate this message or any part of it. In such case, you should destroy this message and any attachments and kindly notify the sender by reply email.

Circular 230 Notice:  This communication may not be used by you or any other person or entity for the purpose of avoiding any federal tax penalties.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbapt/attachments/20170123/167e9530/attachment.html>