What makes a Deed good and valid?
Updated July 15, 2011
DEEDS – The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, aka The Good, The Void, the Voidable:
What is required for a Deed – Grant Deed or Quitclaim Deed – to be valid? Just arbitrarily signing a piece of paper and saying that you give the property to another person is just not sufficient under California Law. Here is a list of what needs to be addressed:
- Must contain the name of the person giving (Grantor) and the person receiving (Grantee).
- Must state in the document that you are conveying/granting/quitclaiming the property.
- Must have the correct property identification – usually the legal description or at least the property address.
- The Grantor must be capable and competent to properly execute the document.
- The Grantee must be capable to hold title (no pets or people who have passed away).
- The document must be delivered and the Grantee must accept the transfer of the ownership.
Contrary to normal expectations, the Deed DOES NOT have to be recorded to be effective or to show delivery, and because of that, the Deed DOES NOT have to be signed in front of a Notary Public. However, if you plan to record it, then it does have to be notarized as that is a County Recorder requirement.
There are also Deeds that are flat out VOID – no good, period, and those that are VOIDABLE – ownership can pass subject to certain proceedings to determine its effect.
What can be construed as a VOID deed?
- A forged deed
- A deed signed by a person determined to be mentally incapacitated
- A deed signed by someone who totally does not understand what they are signing
- A deed in which the Grantee was typed in without the Grantor’s authorization
- A deed signed by a minor (under 18 years old)
- A deed to a fictitious person
What can be construed as a VOIDABLE deed?
- A deed given through fraud, by mistake, or under duress,
- A deed given by a person who may be mentally incapacitated
- A deed that was not supposed to be delivered (stolen)
- A deed that was changed without the Grantor’s knowledge or consent
For any further questions on Deeds or for questions on a particular scenario, please ask your Escrow Officer and obtain your own independent legal and financial counsel.
Viva Escrow! Inc. does not provide any legal or financial counsel.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
My husband and I received a loan from my mother and placed her on the title of our home until we pay her back. When we refinanced, we took her off title for purposes of keeping the bank loan in our names only but our loan agreement is still in place. My husband and I signed a Grant deed in presence of notary/title officer and my mother signed a Grant deed in another town in the presence of notary at different branch of same title company. I have a copy of the Grant deed my husband and I signed.
Later, we received the copies of the two signings, both notarized. However, on each of the documents, the explanation for transfer was whited out (with markings of original behind it visible). The document we signed read, “The grantors and the grantees in this conveyance are comprised of the same parties who continue to hold the same proportionate interest in the property, R&T 11925.” A typewriter was used to type over with new explanation (“This is a bonafide gift and the grantor received nothing in return, R& T 11930″).
My mother said she requested a copy when she signed but the notary said she would receive it later.
I have left messages with our title officer and now I have e-mailed the branch manager about my concerns which are as follows:
1) The documents were altered after we signed.
2) None of us were made aware that the documents were altered.
3) The explanation on the new document is false. Our loan stands and for two years we have made monthly payments with interest on our loan to my mother. According to our agreement, upon the sale of another property, she will be repaid in full.
We all agree that this is a bad situation and just want the title company to fix this error. My mother is visiting us and we are all willing to sit down with them to make this correction without any trouble.
If anyone has any insights I’d appreciate them. And if anyone is interested in hearing the outcome of this, I will let you know.
Thanks and good luck to all of you who have been mislead in simlar situations!
4None of us witnessed the notaries applying their seals and signatures in our presence. No one contacted us to tell us that the document was altered
Thank you for posting your scenario on our website.
From what I understand on your posting, the Grantor, Grantee, and property description, were not changed. The alteration was made to the Revenue and Taxation code language used, from “…comprised of the same parties…” to “…bonafide gift”. The R & T Code language is used to describe the reason why there should be no increase in property tax due to the change in ownership. The original clause – “…comprised of the same parties…” – is normally used when it is a deed transferring ownership from one corporate entity to another corporate entity, for instance, in which the owners of the corporate entities are the same and will own the same proportionate interest. This R & T Code wording is not normally used to add or take out an individual person. Even though the “… bonafide gift…” code wording may not totally apply to your case, it is probably the closest description for your purposes. Without the correct R & T Code the County Recorder’s office would not accept your Deed and the County Tax Assessor’s office would re-assess your property taxes. The whiteout change on the deed was to your benefit.
Is the deed voidable? Only if you and your mother deem it to be so. There was no material change to the actual intent of the parties to transfer ownership, so it is still a valid deed, but voidable only if the parties feel it should be void and a clean copy re-recorded. Definitely the title company should have alerted you that a change had to be made to the signed document and gotten your approval before it was done.
To correct this mistake the Title Company can re-type the deed, still using the “…bonafide gift…” R &T Code, and then have you and your mother re-sign, re-notarize, and re-record the document.
I hope this helps! Feel free to call me directly at (626)744-1684 if you have any further questions. Thank you.
Is a Grant Deed void, if after its been signed and notarized the Grantee makes changes, such as adding “Gift” written in at “Documentary Transfer Tax is $____”? and then recordes it. We talked to the notary, she recalls the space was not filled in. My father in law signed this over to his “girl friend”. We took him with us to talk to the nortary because he didnt recall even signing it. The notary varified that gift was not on the doc.
If there is no change to the material/important facts of the document, ie, Grantor, Grantee, legal description, property address, etc., then the deed is not considered “void”. Adding that it is a “gift” where the transfer tax is located is not sufficient to void the deed. The county recorder requires that a transfer tax amount be stated when the document is sent in for recording. If there is no transfer tax and nothing is stated, then they want a reason why there isn’t written in there. If that reason is because it is a “gift”, and that word is put in, it doesn’t void the deed because there was no change to the material facts of the deed. That being said, when there are changes made to any document, it is best to get the signing party to acknowledge the change by having him initial by the side. That is good practice.