Title insurance will pay for defending against any lawsuit attacking the title as insured, and will either clear up title problems or pay the insured’s losses. For a one-time premium, an owner’s title insurance policy remains in effect as long as the insured, or the insured’s heirs, retain an interest in the property, or have any obligations under a warranty in any conveyance of it. Owner’s title insurance, issued simultaneously with a loan policy, is the best title insurance value a property owner can get.

Here are just a few of the most common hidden risks that can cause loss of title or create an encumbrance on title:

• False impersonation of the true owner of the property
• Forged deeds, releases or wills
• Undisclosed or missing heirs
• Instruments executed under invalid or expired power of attorney
• Mistakes in recording legal documents
• Misinterpretations of wills
• Deeds by persons of unsound mind
• Deeds by minors
• Deeds by persons supposedly single, but in fact married
• Liens for unpaid estate, inheritance, income or gift taxes
• Fraud