Choosing the right real estate attorney to handle your closing can mean the difference between a smooth closing or a complicated one, is a choice which should be made carefully. Choose an attorney that will keep your information as confidential as possible, answer any of your questions, and clear up any title problems which may arise.

Title insurance is one time premium paid to a title company that guarantees that you own a particular piece of property clear of any title defects. Title insurance insures for any loss or title defects which occurred before the policy's effective date. It is the best protection you can have against any claims that may arise from past owners.

You may wonder what can go wrong once you have a deed to the property in hand. If the deed is recorded at the County's Recorder's Office, if everything looks official and an examination of the property shows no visible signs of encroachment or problems. Do you still need title insurance? Yes! You need title insurance for several reasons.

There are matters that could have occurred in the past, such as forgery, or a signature by an unauthorized person, clerical errors, incorrect marital status, undisclosed heirs, improper interpretations of wills, documents signed by minors, or any possible claims made by third parties against the title, all of which could make the property unmarketable. Title insurance will also cover losses or damages you suffer. Even if you searched all the county records yourself, you should still have to be able to interpret the effects of such information on ownership.

Title insurance is protection that no one can afford not to have. The chances are that you will never have to claim, nut in the event you do, you will be glad that you have this valuable insurance. The cost of title insurance is minimal when you consider the protection it provides.

Contributed by Genilde Guerra, Attorney, Law Offices of Kravitz & Guerra, P.A. - Miami, Flroida. Comments to Genilde@Kravitzlaw.com