[tonid183]

My father passed away in December of 2012 and because he had no trust, everything went into Probate in North Dakota. In the process of transferring mineral rights, it appears that my mother is still on title for a specific parcel of land/minerals. However, on December 6, 1991, my mother, who had ALS, Quit Claimed all of her interests related to land/ minerals rights/real estate to my Dad. Four months later, on April 8, 1992 the bank holding the note on the farm recorded a Limited Warranty Deed, to both my Mom and Dad, as husband and wife. The first line of the Limited Warranty Deed reads: " This Deed is given in fulfillment of contract for deed between Buyer and Seller dated December 21, 1987." According to our Probate attorney we now have to open probate under mom’s name as well, to transfer title of this parcel properly,

I understand that you can’t “Quit Claim” financial responsibility, so my mother was still financially responsible, along with my father, for the note. And I understand that, in the State of North Dakota, when no specific title vesting is on the Deed, i.e. single man, Joint Tenant, etc. title is assumed as Tenants in Common, which does not include Right of Survivorship. And without Right of Survivorship, the property needs to be probated to properly transfer title. Got it. But my Mother quit claimed her interest in all of the property four months before the Limited Warranty Deed was issued. So, in my mind, Right of Survivorship shouldn’t even come into play. What am I missing here? Does the Limited Warranty Deed issued by the bank cancel out the Quit Claim Deed and now my Mom is back on the property whether she wants it that way or not? If the Quit Claim is cancelled out by the Warranty Deed, then wouldn’t my Dad have had to open Probate when my Mom died?

[LisaB4657]

When your mother quit claimed her rights in 1991 she transferred her ownership interest in any property she had up to that time. That quit claim deed did not transfer any "future" ownership she might have.

When the bank gave your mother and father a deed in 1992 that gave her a new ownership interest. If the phrase "as husband and wife" does not automatically confer joint tenancy with right of survivorship in ND then her ownership interest remained in her estate. You will have to open probate now to transfer it.