Category: Estate Planning

Deed fraud is a real risk. I recently had a conversation with a client that reminded me that we all need to stay alert to protect our homes from someone fraudulently taking it away from us or putting a cloud on our title. This especially applies to older people who may be more vulnerable to scams and bad actors. 

What can you do?

1. Stay current on your property taxes. Whether you pay by escrow through a mortgage payment or pay by yourself, make sure that your property taxes are paid on time so that no tax liens are filed against your property;
2. Keep your addresses current with the property tax assessor’s office & county treasurer;
3.  Subscribe to the title alert service in the county where your property is located. In Maricopa County, Maricopa Title Alert is a free program which monitors and alerts subscribers when documents are recorded with the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office under an individual, trust and/or business’ name. This service applies only to documents recorded after sign up. So, be sure to search your names today to see if something has been recorded already for those names that you don’t know about (You can do a search for your name and your trust and your business on the Maricopa County recorder’s office at https://legacy.recorder.maricopa.gov/recdocdata/). There is no limit to how many names a subscriber can monitor under their account. Users may unsubscribe or make updates to this service at any time, but subscribers must maintain a current email and/or phone number to ensure accurate notification. You can register your trust name, individual names, and business names. You can also register the names of loved ones who can’t do it for themselves. You’ll receive an alert if anything is recorded with any of those names so you can take timely action if it’s fraudulent. You will need to register in every county where property that you own is located or where you live.
4. The websites listed below cover Maricopa County, Pima County, Yavapai County, and Coconino County.

https://recorder.maricopa.gov/recording/title-alert.html

https://www.recorder.pima.gov/FraudNotify

https://www.yavapaiaz.gov/Mapping-and-Properties/Recorders-Office

https://www.coconino.az.gov/3318/Recording-Notification-Alerts

If you have concerns about something, you can purchase a title report from your title insurance policy company to find out if any liens or title defects exist–before you plan to move. Finally, if you find something or have questions, please contact me and I will help you resolve the issues and answer your questions.

You most likely purchased an ALTA title insurance policy when you first purchased your home in your individual name because it was required by your mortgage lender to insure against defects in title due to various causes. The good news is that it continues to protect your home purchase even after you transfer your home to a trust for estate planning purposes, or to an LLC, wholly owned by you. While transfers for estate planning purpose do not void a title policy, in an abundance of caution, I recommend that you contact the title insurance policy issuing company and advise them that you have transferred your home to an estate planning trust and asking them to update your policy accordingly. Request their response to you being writing and keep that correspondence with your house file.

Regarding your real property damage/liability insurance coverage, if you haven’t done so already it is very important that you notify your home insurance provider if you have transferred your residence to a living trust. They will need to update the named insured to the name of your trust. They can obtain a copy of the deed from the recorder’s website. You may also ask that they include your individual names as additional insureds on the policy. This may also be a good time to make sure that your replacement policy covers the actual replacement estimate of your home, and to shop around for a better policy price as prices changed significantly in just a few years.

Effective July 1, 2025, all registered agents for entities registered in Colorado must have a current Colorado driver’s license or be a Colorado registered entity. If you own an entity registered in Colorado and live outside of Colorado, you need to hire a registered agent in Colorado and update your corporate filings accordingly. For more information: https://www.coloradosos.gov/pubs/business/RAchanges.html