What kind of legal form do I need to add my childrens names to my properties? I live in Indiana.

A "Quit Claim Deed" form will allow you to add your children as joint deed holders to the property. You can call a title company to assist you in the deed preparation inexpensively; as they have attorneys do this for them.

However, this may not be in your best interest depending on why you want to add their names to the property and depending on the ages of your children. Here are some potential problems:

1.) If your children are of legal age, and someone obtained a judgment against them (it could be a result of an auto accident), or a tax lien was filed against them, a lien could be placed against the property; this would affect all other joint owners.

2.) In reverse, if the intention is to give your children ownership, and you would have any liens against you which would be placed against the property, it would affect the equity position you intend to give to your children.

3.) In the event of the death of either of your children, their portion of the equity interest in the property could be caught up in a probate process.

4.) In the event one of your children becomes incapacitated, a living probate process could cause problems.

5.) If you ever wanted to refinance or sell the property, or if the children want to refinance or sell the property, it would require all owners to agree to authorize the mortgage document or transfer of title respectively.

6.) If you are concerned about medicaid spend-down, there is a "look-back" period that must be satisfied.

7.) If you are concerned about estate costs and probate concerns upon your death, or if you are concerned about living probate concerns, you should seek legal advice from a specialist in this area. Recently, Indiana passed a law that allows for the transfer of deeds on real property upon death, to the deceased heirs as willed, without the property being handled through probate.

8.) If you have a loan secured by the property, you may be triggering a "due-on-sale clause" by adding parties to the deed; although it is unlikely that the lender would call the balance due if it is being paid current.

9.) Finally, you may be better suited to create a "living revocable trust", and/or creating a "LLC", "LLP" or some corporate entity to shelter and protect the partners (joint owners) and the property against liability claims.

So, make sure that you are letting your attorney know what you are trying to accomplish, and they can give you the best advice.

Good luck ... hope this helps get you started!

You might try avvo.com here. They have attorneys to answer your question on their online forum for free. Since they are licensed in your state you know that your are getting the right answer. Most of the lawyers on the forum are very nice and helpful too. Hope the link helps.