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Arizona Beneficiary Deeds Arizona Beneficiary Deed Service

Arizona Beneficiary Deed Preparation Service

by Richard Keyt, Arizona real estate attorney

KEYTLaw prepares Arizona Beneficiary Deed kits for owners of real property located in Arizona for $195 for each deed.  A deed is an important legal document that affects what for most people is their single most valuable asset.  The $195 cost of an Arizona Beneficiary Deed is quite a bargain if it saves your family $1,500 - $3,000 or more by avoiding probate and the cost of a living trust.  When you consider the substantial value of your real property and the benefits of using an Arizona Beneficiary Deed, the nominal cost of a prepared deed prepared by an Arizona real estate attorney is a small price to pay for the piece of mind that the deed is prepared properly and that it will not be found to be defective after your death.

Below is an explanation of why a lawyer should prepare your Arizona Beneficiary Deed, a list of the services KEYTLaw will provide (including a free revocation of the deed if you later want to revoke it), a fill-in the blanks Questionnaire form, and a checklist explaining how to submit your Questionnaire to KEYTLaw to request that it prepare your Arizona Beneficiary Deed kit.

Why an Arizona Lawyer Should Prepare Your Arizona Beneficiary Deed

The following is a list of reasons why we recommend that you should hire an Arizona real estate attorney to prepare your Arizona Beneficiary Deed:

1. The name of the owner(s) must be correct.  If the name of an owner has changed, the former and current names must be properly specified.

2. The legal description of the property must be correct.

3. The language used to convey an interest in the property to the beneficiaries must be carefully drafted so that the owner's desires will be given effect taking in consideration any contingent beneficiaries.  For example, most layman could not correctly draft a provision that would convey property one half to one living child and one quarter each to the two living children (the grandchildren) of a deceased child.

4. If a married child is a beneficiary, should the child receive a separate property interest in the property or should the child's spouse also receive an interest?

5. Special language in needed in the deed to convey property to the grantees as community property, community property with right of survivorship, joint tenancy with right of survivorship or tenants in common where the ownership interests are not equal (one half to son and one quarter each to two grandchildren).

6. The Arizona Beneficiary Deed must satisfy the technical formatting conditions set forth in Arizona Revised Statutes Section 11-480.

7. The Arizona Beneficiary Deed must contain a proper acknowledgement (notary) form.

8. The Arizona Beneficiary Deed must be recorded in the proper government office after it is signed and acknowledged before a notary public.

If an Arizona Beneficiary Deed has any of the problems listed above, the deed may not be recorded or if recorded, it may be defective and fail to accomplish the desired objective.  If a defective deed is recorded and not corrected before the death of the grantor, the deed may create a problem after death that cannot be corrected or that may require a probate or litigation to correct.

Arizona Beneficiary Deed Preparation Service

KEYTLaw will provide the following services (including five custom prepared documents) when it prepares your Arizona Beneficiary Deed kit:

1. Review the deed that conveyed title to the owner(s).

2. Draft the provisions that convey the property to beneficiaries.

3. Prepare the Arizona Beneficiary Deed (1st custom document) with notary acknowledgement in a form ready to be signed, notarized and recorded.

4. Prepare a cover letter (2nd custom document) from the owner to the county recorder of the appropriate county with instructions to record the Arizona Beneficiary Deed.

5. Prepare a revocation of the deed (3rd custom document) for your file.  If you change your mind and want to revoke your Arizona Beneficiary Deed after you record it, you simply sign the revocation, have it notarized and mail it to the county recorder (we prepare this letter for you - see 7 below) of the county in which the property is located with the appropriate recording fee.  To be effective, the revocation must be signed by the owner(s), notarized and recorded in the proper county.

6. Prepare a cover letter (4th custom document) from the grantor to the county recorder of the appropriate county with instructions to record the revocation of the previously recorded Arizona Beneficiary Deed.

7. Deliver the Arizona Beneficiary Deed and the four other custom prepare documents to the grantor with complete instructions (5th custom document) explaining how to sign and notarize the deed (and the revocation of the deed), and how to mail it with the transmittal letter (the cover letter mentioned in item 4 above) and a check for the recording fee to the appropriate county recorder.

Free Preparation of a Revocation of an Arizona Beneficiary Deed

The KEYTLaw Arizona Beneficiary Deed kit and preparation service includes one free revocation deed.  If we prepare your Arizona Beneficiary Deed, KEYTLaw will also prepare (at no additional charge) an appropriate revocation deed that you may record to revoke your earlier recorded Arizona Beneficiary Deed.  We also give you a letter to send to the appropriate country recorder to record your revocation of your previously recorded deed.  We give you these two documents at the same time we deliver your Arizona Beneficiary Deed.

Hire Arizona Real Estate Attorney Richard Keyt to Prepare Your Custom Beneficiary Deed

To hire Arizona real estate attorney Richard Keyt to prepare a custom-drafted Arizona Beneficiary Deed for $195, complete the short Arizona Beneficiary Deed Preparation Service Agreement.

Disclaimer of Legal Representation

By submitting this Questionnaire, you acknowledge that if KEYTLaw, L.L.C., prepares a deed for you, it will not represent you with respect to any other legal matter.  A condition precedent to KEYTLaw performing any additional legal services is that you and KEYTLaw sign a mutually acceptable engagement agreement that sets forth the services to be provided and the fees to be charged.

This article was first published on April 13, 2002.

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This page was last modified on December 12, 2009.

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