Grant deed
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. (January 2008) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
A Grant Deed is used in some states and jurisdictions for the sale or other transfer of real property from one person or entity to another person or entity. Each party transferring an interest in the property, or "grantor", is required to sign it. Then the document must be "acknowledged" before a Notary public, sometimes called notarized, or other official authorized by law to administer oaths. The Notary Public or other official then places a seal and marks the document accordingly to show that it was properly signed and acknowledged. The reason the document must be notarized is to provide evidence that the document is genuine as transaction documents are sometimes forged. Some jurisdictions use the "Warranty Deed" (Warranty deed), to transfer real property instead of the Grant Deed. The "Quitclaim deed" is also sometimes used, although this document is most often used to "disclaim" having any interest in a property rather than selling a property that one owns.
The types of deeds that are now used to transfer real property are a relatively modern invention. Previously, the party selling a property, called the "grantor", transferred the property to the buyer, called the "grantee", by performing some commonly recognized deed, such as picking up a handful of soil of the property to be transferred, handing it to the buyer, and reciting legally prescribed words that acknowledged the transfer. This was called livery of seisen. Over time, and particularly with the development of modern technology that permits government offices to keep accurate copies of documents, the physical "deed" that was formerly performed in order to transfer a property was replaced by the paper "deed", also known as a "deed poll", that is now commonly used.
