Chapter 10 Summary Deeds

Home , Accession (property law), Bargain and sale deed

Voluntary alienation is an unforced transfer of title by sale or gift from an owner to another party. Involuntary alienation is a transfer of title to real property without the owner's consent.

DEEDS

• Grantor - The person who transfers the title to real property. • Grantee - The person who receives the property from the grantor. • Act of conveyance - Expresses the grantor's present desire and intention to transfer legal title to the grantee (granting clause). • Consideration - Valuable or good consideration. • Legal description - Accurately locates and identifies the boundaries of the subject parcel of property. • Habendum clause - Describes the type of estate being conveyed. • Designation of limitations - Limitations spelled out in the deed. • Exemptions and reservations affecting the title - A "subject to" clause. • Signature of the grantor - Must be signed by the grantor, but not necessarily by the grantee. • Delivery and acceptance of the deed - Necessary for title to pass. • Acknowledgement - A deed without an acknowledgement tends to endanger a person's claim to a property. • Recording - Not necessary, but gives the public constructive notice of the grantee's ownership.

LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS

A legal description provides accuracy and consistency over time. It is required for:

• Public recording • Creating a valid deed of conveyance or lease • Completing mortgage documents • Executing and recording other legal documents

Metes and Bounds

• Identifies the boundaries of a parcel of real estate using reference points, distances, and angles. The description always identifies an enclosed area by starting at and returning to the POB.

Chapter 10 Summary Deeds

Rectangular Survey System

Based on sets of intersecting lines principal meridians run north and south; base parallels run east and west.

• Range - North-South area between consecutive meridians. • Tier - East-West area between two parallels. • Township - Area enclosed by the intersection of two consecutive meridians and two consecutive parallels.

Lot and Block System

• Used to describe properties in residential, commercial, and industrial subdivisions.

FORMS OF DEEDS

• A full covenant and warranty deed is the deed most used in real estate transfers and offers the greatest protection of any deed. Covenant of seizen, against encumbrances, quiet enjoyment, further assurance and warranty forever • In a bargain and sale deed with covenants, the grantor warrants only against title defects or encumbrances not noted on the deed that may have occurred during the grantor's period of ownership or trusteeship. • In a bargain and sale deed without covenants, the grantor covenants that the title is valid but does not warrant against encumbrances or promise to defend against claims by other parties. • A quitclaim deed transfers real and potential interests in a property, whether an interest is known to exist or not. • Executor’s deed - A personal representative's deed issued by an executor to convey a decedent's estate. • A referee's deed is used in bankruptcies and foreclosures.

TRANSFER TAX

Exemptions from transfer tax include:

• Transfer within the immediate family • Consideration less than a certain amount • Transfer between government entities or non-profit organizations • Trust deed transfer and reconveyance • Tax deed

Chapter 10 Summary Deeds

CONVEYANCE AFTER DEATH

A last will and testament is a legal instrument for the voluntary transfer of real and personal property after the owner's death. The property transferred by the will is the devise.

A will takes effect only after the testator's death. It is an amendatory instrument, meaning that it can be changed at any time during the maker's lifetime.

• Witnessed - In writing and witnessed by two disinterested people. • Holographic - In the testator's handwriting, dated and signed. • Approved - On pre-printed forms meeting the requirements of state law. • Nuncupative - Made orally, and written down by a witness.

A court proceeding called probate generally settles a decedent's estate, whether the person has died testate (having left a valid will) or intestate (having failed to do so).

If an intestate decedent has no heirs, the estate escheats to the state after all claims and debts have been validated and settled.

ADVERSE POSSESSION

To claim legal title, the adverse possessor must meet all five criteria:

1. Be able to show a claim of right or color of title as reason for the possession. 2. Have notorious possession- 3. Maintain a consistent claim of hostile possession- 4. Occupy the property continuously for a statutory period of time. 5. In some states, pay taxes.

A claim of right is based on the adverse possessor's occupying and maintaining the property as if he were the legal owner. Color of title results when a grantee has obtained defective title, or received title by defective means, but occupies the property as if he or she were the legal owner.

Notorious possession and hostile possession give constructive notice to the public, including the legal owner that a party other than the legal owner is occupying and claiming to own the property.

Avoiding Adverse Possession by periodically inspecting the property within statutory deadlines and evicting any trespassers found.

Chapter 10 Summary Deeds

ACCESSION RIGHTS

Rights that property owners have to everything that is produced by their land, whether it happens intentionally or not.

• Accretion is the gradual addition of land by alluvial deposits of soil. This material added to the property through accretion is called alluvion. • Avulsion is the loss of land as a result of its being washed away. • Reliction is the gradual receding of water from its usual watermark.