What is Title Insurance?

Title insurance protects your investment in your home. It covers you in the event any challenges arise related to your ownership stake. That’s important for you, and also your heirs, or anyone entitled to your home, should something happen to you.

Like health insurance or car insurance, title insurance helps protect you from the unexpected. For example:

  • Forged deeds, mortgages or other ownership-related records
  • Unpaid mortgages, property taxes and other liens incurred by previous owners
  • Unknown heirs of previous owners who make a claim to the property
  • Undisclosed but recorded easements and rights-of-way that impact your property
  • Unrecorded liens, mechanics liens, municipal liens and other records
  • Pending legal action against the property
  • Many other instances and situations that can impact you financially

Title Vesting (How to Take Ownership of Property on Your Title)

How you take ownership of your home on the title defines your rights to the property while you own the home and what may happen to the property upon your death. Title vesting can also have tax implications.

In Florida, the most common ways to take title are:

Tenancy by the Entirety
Specifically for married couples, Tenancy by the Entirety means each spouse owns an equal interest in the property, as long as they remain married. It also provides rights of survivorship, meaning if one spouse dies before the other, the deceased’s ownership interest automatically transfers to the surviving spouse.

Sole Ownership
A simple form of ownership that can be used for unmarried individuals, or a married individual purchasing a non-homestead investment property. Sole Ownership has no tax advantages, and the property will go through probate upon the owner’s death to determine owner’s heirs.

Joint Tenants with Rights of Survivorship
Allows for two or more owners who wish to own equal percentages of a property. Rights of Survivorship means that if one of the owners passes away, his or her share passes on to the remaining owners.

Tenancy in Common
This allows two or more owners to each own a portion of the property. Owners may own unequal shares, and each owner has the right to sell his or her share to whomever they choose, or pass their ownership interest on to their heirs at the time of death.