Deed
A deed is a legal instrument used to grant a
right. The deed is best known as the method
of transferring title to real estate from one
person to another. However, by the general definition,
powers of attorney, commissions, patents, and
even diplomas conferring academic degrees are
also deeds.
Historically under common law, for an instrument
to be a valid deed it needed five things:
* It must indicate that the instrument itself
conveys some privilege or thing to someone.
This is indicated by using the word hereby or
the phrase by these presents in the sentence
indicating the gift. * The grantor must have
the legal ability to grant the thing or privilege.
* The person receiving the privilege or thing
must have the legal capacity to receive it.
* A seal must be affixed to it. Most jurisdictions
have eliminated this requirement and replaced
it with the signature of the grantor. However,
for conveyances of real estate, most jurisdictions
require that the deed be acknowleged before
a notary public or a civil law notary and some
may require a witness or witnesses in addition.
* It must be delivered to and accepted by the
recipient.
Conditions attached to the acceptance of a deed
are known as covenants.
In the United States of America, a pardon of
the President was at one time considered to
be a deed and thus needed to be accepted by
the recipient. This made it impossible to grant
a pardon posthumously. However, in the case
of Henry Ossian Flipper, this view was altered
when President Bill Clinton pardoned him in
1999.
In some jurisdictions, a deed of trust is used
as an equivalent to a mortgage.
In some jurisdictions (especially New Zealand)
a deed of endowment is used as an equivalent
to a Royal Charter, often used to establish
educational or medical institutions.
In the transfer of real estate, a deed conveys
ownership from the old owner (the grantor) to
the new owner (the grantee), and can include
various warranties. The precise name of these
warranties differ by jurisdiction. However the
basic difference between them is the degree
to which the grantor warrants the title. The
grantor may give a general warranty of title
against any claims, or the warranty may be limited
only to claims which occurred after the grantor
obtained the real estate. The latter type of
deed is usually known as a special warranty
deed. While a general warranty deed is normally
used for residential real estate sales and transfers,
special warranty deeds more commonly used in
commercial transactions. A third type of deed,
known as a bargain and sale deed, implies that
the grantor has the right to convey title but
makes no warranties against encumbrances. This
type of deed is most commonly used by court
officials or fiduciaries that hold the property
by force of law rather than title, such as properties
seized for unpaid taxes and sold at sheriff's
sale. A so-called quitclaim deed is (in most
states) actually not a deed at all--it is actually
an estoppel disclaiming rights of the person
signing it to property.
Usually the transfer of ownership of real estate
is registered at a cadastre in the United Kingdom.
In most parts of the United States, deeds must
be submitted to the Recorder of deeds, who acts
as a Cadastre, to be registered.
A trust deed (also called a deed of trust) isn’t
like the other types of deeds; it’s not used
to transfer property. It’s really just a version
of a mortgage, commonly used in some states
(California, for example). A trust deed transfers
title to land to a “trustee,” usually a trust
or title company, which holds the land as security
for a loan. When the loan is paid off, title
is transferred to the borrower. The trustee
has no powers unless the borrower defaults on
the loan; then the trustee can sell the property
and pay the lender back from the proceeds, without
first going to court.
