To find out who is on the deed to your house, pull the most recently recorded deed from your county recorder or registrar of deeds. In most counties you can search for free online by street address, owner name, or parcel number, and the deed will show the current legal owners, how they hold title, and who transferred the property to them. The name on the deed, not the name on the mortgage, is what determines legal ownership.
The Deed and the Mortgage Are Not the Same Thing
This is the single biggest source of confusion for homeowners. The deed is the document that says who owns the property. The mortgage is a separate agreement between a borrower and a lender that uses the property as collateral for a loan. A lender holding your mortgage has a lien, not ownership. You can be on the mortgage without being on the deed, and you can be on the deed without being on the mortgage.
That distinction has real consequences. If your name is on the mortgage but not the deed, you owe the debt but have no legal ownership interest in the home. You can’t sell it, refinance it, or leave it to someone in your will. If your name is on the deed but not the mortgage, you own the property but aren’t personally responsible for the loan payments. These mismatches happen more often than people expect, particularly after divorces, inheritances, and informal family arrangements. Checking the deed is the only way to confirm where you actually stand.
How to Pull Up Your Deed
Most county recorder or assessor offices maintain searchable online databases. You can typically search by the property’s street address, the owner’s name, or the assessor’s parcel number (sometimes called a tax identification number). The parcel number appears on your annual property tax bill and on your original mortgage closing documents. If you don’t have either handy, many counties also offer interactive GIS maps where you can click on a parcel to pull up ownership details and tax records at no charge.
The free online search usually gives you an index listing with the document type, recording date, and names of the parties. Viewing the actual deed image or ordering a copy is where fees come in. Reproduction costs vary by jurisdiction but generally run a few dollars per page, with certified copies costing more. If you need a version with an official seal for legal purposes, expect a flat certification fee on top of the per-page charge.
You can also visit the recorder’s office in person. Staff at the public counter can help you search the index and retrieve the document, usually on the spot. Mailed or emailed copies from an online order may take several business days. For most people who just want to confirm who is listed, the free online index is enough. A certified copy is only necessary if you’re using the deed in a legal proceeding or a real estate transaction.
Reading the Names on the Deed
Every deed identifies two key roles. The grantor is the person or entity that transferred the property. The grantee is the person or entity that received it. If you bought the home, your name should appear as the grantee on the most recently recorded deed. That is your proof of ownership.
Property is not always held in an individual’s name. Real estate is frequently titled in the name of a limited liability company, a family trust, or another legal entity. When a trust holds the property, the deed typically names the trustee rather than the beneficiaries. If your home is in a living trust you created, the deed might read something like “Jane Smith, Trustee of the Jane Smith Revocable Living Trust.” The trustee is the person authorized to sell, refinance, or otherwise manage the property on behalf of the trust.
LLC ownership works similarly. The deed lists the LLC’s name, and the operating agreement controls who actually runs the property. If you set up an LLC years ago and forgot the details, the deed alone won’t tell you who the members are. You would need to check the operating agreement or your state’s business entity filings for that.
What the Form of Co-Ownership Means When More Than One Name Appears
When more than one person is listed on a deed, the specific form of co-ownership controls what each person can do with their share and what happens when one owner dies. The deed’s exact wording determines which form applies, and the differences are significant.
Joint Tenancy With Right of Survivorship
Joint tenants each own an equal share, and when one dies, that share automatically passes to the surviving owner or owners without going through probate. The deed must contain specific survivorship language for this to work. Without that explicit wording, most states default to tenancy in common instead, which does not include automatic transfer. If you and a co-owner set up joint tenancy specifically to avoid probate, verify that the deed actually says “joint tenants with right of survivorship” or similar phrasing. Assumptions about what you intended don’t override what the document says.
Tenancy in Common
Tenants in common can own unequal shares. One person might hold 60 percent while another holds 40 percent. Each owner can sell, mortgage, or leave their share to anyone they choose. There is no survivorship right, so when an owner dies, their share passes through their will or through intestate succession, not automatically to the other owners. This structure is common among business partners and family members who want independent control over their respective investments.
Tenancy by the Entirety
Roughly half of states recognize this form, which is reserved for married couples. It treats the spouses as a single legal unit, and neither spouse can sell or encumber the property without the other’s consent. The major practical benefit is creditor protection: in states that recognize it, a creditor with a judgment against only one spouse generally cannot force a sale of the home to satisfy that debt. When one spouse dies, the survivor takes full ownership automatically. If your deed says “husband and wife” or “tenants by the entirety,” this is likely your ownership structure, though you should confirm your state recognizes it.
Community Property
Nine states treat most property acquired during a marriage as community property, meaning each spouse owns an equal half regardless of whose name is on the deed. Some of those states also allow community property with right of survivorship, which adds an automatic transfer feature similar to joint tenancy. Community property rules affect taxes too: when one spouse dies, the surviving spouse may receive a stepped-up tax basis on the entire property rather than just the deceased spouse’s half.
Life Estates
A life estate deed splits ownership between a life tenant, who has the right to live in and use the property for the rest of their life, and a remainderman, who automatically takes full ownership when the life tenant dies. During the life tenant’s lifetime, the remainderman has no right to use the property and can’t force a sale without the life tenant’s agreement. Selling or refinancing requires both parties to agree, and life estates can affect Medicaid eligibility and estate recovery, so get specific advice before relying on one.
If the Name on the Deed Is Wrong, Missing, or Needs to Change
Fixing a Mistake
Typos happen. A misspelled name, a wrong middle initial, or a transposed number in the legal description can create problems when you try to sell or refinance. Minor clerical errors are fixed with a corrective deed, which is essentially a re-recorded version of the original with the error fixed and a brief explanation noting what was changed and where the original was recorded. A corrective deed doesn’t create a new transfer of ownership. It just cleans up the paperwork. Errors in the legal description or significant name discrepancies can sometimes also be resolved with a scrivener’s affidavit, a sworn statement explaining the mistake. For anything beyond a simple typo, an attorney review is worth the cost to make sure the fix actually resolves the issue in your state’s recording system.
Adding or Removing Someone
Life changes prompt title changes. Marriage, divorce, adding an adult child for estate planning, or removing an ex-spouse all require recording a new deed. The basic process is to prepare a new deed (often a quitclaim for family transfers, or a warranty deed for other situations), have it signed and notarized, and file it with the county recorder. Recording fees vary but typically fall between $10 and $90, and most states cap notary fees for deed acknowledgments at $25 or less per signature.
Before you file anything, check with your mortgage lender. Most home loans contain a due-on-sale clause that technically allows the lender to demand full repayment if you transfer the property. Federal law provides exceptions for certain family transfers, including transfers to a spouse, transfers into a living trust, and transfers resulting from death or divorce. Adding a non-spouse co-owner, by contrast, could give the lender grounds to accelerate the loan. In practice, lenders rarely enforce the clause for minor title changes, but “rarely” is not “never.” A quick call to your loan servicer can save you a serious headache.
Also keep in mind that adding someone to your deed doesn’t add them to the mortgage. The original borrowers remain responsible for the loan. Removing someone from the deed doesn’t remove them from the mortgage either. If your ex-spouse is still on the mortgage after a divorce, they are still liable for payments regardless of what the deed says. The only way to remove someone from a mortgage is to refinance.
One tax point worth knowing before you add a child or other relative to your deed: a lifetime gift of an interest in your home passes your original cost basis to the recipient, while property inherited at death gets a stepped-up basis equal to the fair market value on the date of death.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 1015 – Basis of Property Acquired by Gifts and Transfers in Trust2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 1014 – Basis of Property Acquired From a Decedent On an appreciated home that difference can be tens of thousands of dollars in capital gains tax, which is why estate planning attorneys often steer clients away from using a lifetime deed transfer as a probate-avoidance shortcut. If the gifted interest exceeds the annual exclusion ($19,000 in 2026), the giver also has to file a gift tax return on Form 709, though filing doesn’t necessarily mean owing tax.3Internal Revenue Service. Gifts and Inheritances
Check Periodically for Deed Fraud
Deed fraud, sometimes called title theft, occurs when someone forges a deed to transfer your property into their name without your knowledge. It is more common with vacant properties and second homes because the owner is less likely to notice. Warning signs include no longer receiving your property tax bill, getting mail addressed to an unfamiliar name at your property address, or receiving unexpected notices from banks or government agencies about your home.
To protect yourself, periodically check your county’s online property records to confirm your name is still on the deed. Many counties now offer free fraud alert services that notify you whenever a document is recorded against your property. If you purchased owner’s title insurance when you bought the home, that policy can cover legal defense costs if someone files a fraudulent claim against your title. If you didn’t buy title insurance at closing, the fraud alert service is your best early-warning option. The longer a forged deed sits in the public record, the more complicated and expensive it becomes to unwind.