12: Transfer of Title

Unit 12: Transfer of Title

Acknowledgement

A formal declaration made made before a duly authorized officer, usually a notary public, by a person who has signed a document.

Adverse Possession

The actual, open, notorious, hostile, and continuous possession of another’s land under a claim of right. Possession for a statutory period may be a means of acquiring title.

Bargain and Sale Deed

A deed that carries with it no warranties against liens or other encumbrances but does imply that the grantor has the right to convey title. The grantor may add warranties to the deed at his discretion.

Beneficiary

1. The person for whom a trust operates or on whose behalf the income from a trust estate is drawn.

2. A lender in a deed of trust loan transaction. Also called a legatee.

Bequest

A gift of personal property under a will. Also called a legacy.

Deed

A written instrument that, when executed and delivered, conveys title to or an interest in real estate.

Deed in Trust

An instrument that grants a trustee under a land trust full power to sell, mortgage, and subdivide a parcel of real estate. The beneficiary controls the trustee’s use of these powers under the provisions of the trust agreements.

Devise

A gift of real property by will. The donor is the devisor, and the recipient is the devisee.

General Warranty Deed

A deed in which the grantor fully warrants good clear title to the premises. Used in most real estate deed transfers, a general warranty deed offers the greatest protection of any deed.

Grantee

A person who receives a conveyance of real property from a grantor.

Granting Clause

Words in a deed of conveyance that state the grantor’s intention to convey the property at the present time. This clause is generally worded as “convey and warrant”; “grant”; “grant, bargain, and sell” or the like.

Grantor

The person transferring title to or an interest in real property to a grantee.

Intestate

The condition of a property owner who dies without leaving a valid will. Title to the property will pass to the decedent’s heirs as provided in the state law of decent.

Involuntary Alienation

The force of transferring property to another through eminent domain or adverse possession.

Probate

A legal process by which a court determines who will inherit a decedent’s property and what the estate’s assets and liabilities are

Quitclaim Deed

A conveyance by which a grantor transfers whatever interest she has in the real estate, without warranties or obligations.

Special Warranty Deed

A deed in which the grantor warrants, or guarantees, the title only against defects arising during the period of her tenure and ownership of the property and not against defects existing before that time.

Testate

Having made and left a valid will.

Testator

A person who has made a valid will.

Title

1. The right to or ownership of land.

2. The evidence of ownership of land.

Transfer Tax

Tax stamps required to be affixed to deed by state and/or local laws

Trustee’s Deed

A deed executed by a trustee conveying land held in a trust

Voluntary Alienation

The act of voluntarily transferring property to another, such as by gift or sale.

Will

A written document, properly witnessed, providing for the transfer of title to property owned by the deceased, called the testator.