Q: My lawyer send a deed of trust for the house im keeping, but in the deed I'm grantor and the other beneficiary
In consideration it says beneficiary has conveyed the property to Grantor, who as part of the consideration promised to pay the note assumed and to be bound by the deed of trust assumed. Just want to reaffirm that I will keep the property and will not give it to opposing party
A:
In Texas, there are multiple real estate documents that get filed when one party is "buying" the other party out of the marital residence. This can be confusing because there are several documents that have "Deed" in the title. Here is an overview of what you need to know when it comes to making sure your ownership interest in the house is secured.
The first document is a Special Warranty Deed. This is the document that establishes WHO owns the property. In this document, if you are the party keeping the house, then you would be the Grantee. Your spouse, who is assigning his/her interest in the house to you, will be the Grantor.
There is another document called a "Deed of Trust To Secure Assumption." If you both were on the mortgage, and you are agreeing to take over the mortgage as part of the deal, then this document offers some assurance to the other party that you will "assume" the mortgage. If you fail to pay the mortgage according to the terms of the underlying mortgage, then the other party could theoretically cure your default (pay the past due balance) and foreclose on the property ahead of the bank. In this document, you (the party keeping the house) are the Grantor, and the party who assigned his/her interest to you is the Beneficiary.
It sounds like your lawyer is asking you to sign the Deed of Trust to Secure Assumption. You need to follow up and make sure your lawyer has the Special Warranty Deed signed by the other party. Most of the time, the lawyers will exchange these documents at the same time. You will also want to make sure that the Special Warranty Deed gets filed in the county in which you live - your lawyer may do that for you, or you can do it yourself. But make sure it gets done!
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