Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Georgia

You screwed up in signing a deed. That not only was improper, but it will confuse people in the future with a bad deed in the chain of title.

This time spend a small amount on a lawyer and do TWO things:

(1) A no administration necessary, IF that is appropriate (if not do an administration). This will transfer title.

(2) See if a document should be drafted and filed to explain the deed that you never should have signed, since you had no ownership in the home.

Your father died without a will. You do not indicate where your father lived at the time of his death. Under the intestacy laws of most states, when a person dies without a will, his or her property goes to his spouse and children.

I also don't know how your father owned his land and cars. If the land was in Georgia and was owned by your father and his wife jointly with a right of survivorship, the land would automatically have passed to her and I don't know why you signed anything because you indeed messed up the chain of title. Signing was not necessary.

If the land was owned by your father solely or was owned by he and some other person as tenants in common, then a quitclaim deed from you to her might have been proper. I don't know if the land was encumbered or what your share of the home was worth or if you have other siblings. Since she is your step-mother, she does not have to leave the land to you when she dies. I hope that this was what your father would have wished.

A quitclaim deed is just a deed which conveys any interest that you might have in the land to yuor step-mother. Whether you should have signed or not is another question. You should have consulted with a probate attorney in the county/state where your father resided before you signed as I don't know when your father died or what else he owned or what other debts he might have had. All of this would have some impact on whether you would sign or not.

The question of a quitclaim deed has nothing to do with whether an estate administration is or is not necessary. If an estate administration is truly not necessary because your father has no assets or debts justifying probate, then it would be ok to sign. I assume (and hope) that your step-mother has either spoken to a probate attorney or the clerk of court. If not, then please go to a probate attorney and find out whether this is correct and file a corrective deed, if necessary.