Covenants, the land in .

and I, E.B., wife of said grantor, release to said grantee all rights of dower and homestead and other interests therein.

Witness my hand and seal this.........day of...........1917.

Provision for this is made by Statute in Massachusetts as follows:

EXTRACT FROM CHAPTER 502, SECTION 2, ACTS OF 1912

Every deed in substance in the above form, when duly executed, shall have the force and effect of a deed in fee-simple to the grantee, his heirs and assigns, to his and their own use, with covenants on the part of the grantor for himself, his heirs, executors, administrators and successors, with the grantee, his heirs, successors and assigns that, at the time of the delivery of such deed, (1) he was lawfully seized in fee-simple of the granted premises, (2) that the granted premises were free from all encumbrances, (3) that he had good right to sell and convey the same to the grantee and his heirs and assigns, and (4) that he will and his heirs, executors and administrators shall warrant and defend the same to the grantee and his heirs and assigns against the lawful claims and demands of all persons.

Heirs and Assigns. It should especially be noted that in most States, unless the words " and his heirs " are used, the estate conveyed is only an "estate for life" and not an estate in fee simple. In some States including New York, that distinction has been abolished by statute. There have been decisions that "his heir" is not equivalent to "his heirs " and the phrase "or his heirs" has been held insufficient to convey an estate in fee. simple. With corporations, trustees, or others who cannot have heirs, assigns" would appear necessary. It should be further noted that in many States, the consideration usually expressed is one dollar. In many, perhaps most States, the warranty will hold for the value of the land at the time the value is proved; in some States, however, the recovery under the warranty will be only for the value expressed as the consideration in the deed, perhaps with interest added, so that one dollar will be inadequate. An engineer who draws a deed should know what is the law in this respect in the State where the land lies.

Warranty Perfects Title. An additional distinction is that in the case of a warranty deed, if the grantor did not have a perfect title when the deed was signed and delivered, yet if at any time later he perfects his title, the warranty deed acts to perfect the title of the grantee as well. With a quitclaim deed, the grantee receives only such title as the grantor had at the time the deed was signed, and any later acquirement of title by the grantor does not cure such a defect.

Financial Ability of Grantor. On the other hand, it should be further stated that if the title be in fact defective, a warranty deed is a protection only so far as the grantor is financially able, or so far as his heirs are finan

cially responsible, that is to the extent of whatever they received from the grantor. If the grantor fails, or if he gives away his money (to his heirs perhaps before his death so that they inherit nothing from him), the warranty gives no protection if someone else establishes a good title to the land.

What Quitclaim Deed Conveys. A quitclaim deed on the contrary conveys all the title the grantor had at the time, and if his title was then good, the quitclaim deed conveys a full and complete title.

It is wise to keep clearly in mind these distinctions between the two forms of deed.

Essentials of Deed. The deed being a formal document, there are five essential requirements. It must be (1) signed, (2) sealed, (3) acknowledged, (4) delivered, and (5) recorded.

1. Signed. There appears to be no legal requirement that the signature should be in ink, but with a formal document a signature in pencil is undesirable from good business principles, on account of its lack of permanence and the possibility of erasure and change. It should be understood also that any interlineation or erasure in the body of the deed or of any important written document raises suspicion. The party offering it as evidence has the burden of proof to show that it is genuine and that the alterations were properly made. It is further necessary that the deed should be written (or printed) on paper or parchment; a shingle, or a piece of tin or aluminum, or a skin not made into parchment, will not suffice.

Witnesses. In some States, but not all, witnesses to the signature are necessary. It is not necessary in any case that the signature be made in the presence of witnesses as in the case of wills; a later statement to the witness by the signer is sufficient. If the grantor cannot sign his name, it is customary for him to make his cross, or "mark," with his name written by someone else against this; ordinarily there should be two competent witnesses to his mark.

Wife's Signature. The signature of the wife should, in nearly every State, be taken either to the deed itself or by a separate document releasing her right of dower.

2. Sealed. The deed should also be sealed; and the seal is some adhesive article, formerly a wafer, more commonly a round piece of paper with mucilage or something adhesive to make it stick. Where no regular seal is at hand, anything which can be stuck to the paper will serve the purpose, and a postage stamp or half a postage stamp will readily serve the purpose. In some States it is sufficient to make a scroll" "scrawl" with a pen with the word "seal" written in the middle, or have a similar device printed in the deed, but in several States this is held not to be legal, and one should not adopt this expedient unless he is sure

or

that the law authorizes it. There are some States in which a seal is not required.

3. Acknowledged. The deed should also be acknowledged before some authorized officer. Most deeds are acknowledged before a notary public who is authorized by the State to act in that capacity and who uses (as authorized by statute) a seal which stamps an impression into the paper; he often attaches (sticks) a piece of paper before stamping the impression. An acknowledgment before a justice of the peace is almost everywhere equally satisfactory, although he does not have a seal as the notary does. The notary or justice of the peace ought to know the form in which the acknowledgment should be made and it is not important that the engineer should be specifically posted upon that point. Where a deed is acknowledged outside the State in which the land lies, it is advisable that the statutes should be consulted to see in what form the acknowledgment should be; the specific statutory requirements must be strictly observed. In some States, as in Massachusetts, it is sufficient and customary that only one of the parties to the deed shall make acknowledgment of his signature; it must be a party having an interest in the land. In most other States all the signatures should be acknowledged, and in Home States the signatures of witnesses must also be acknowledged. The form of acknowledgment to the wife's signature is commonly fixed by statute and should be rigorously followed. Other words, "just as good," will not serve the purpose. The acknowledgment is necessary before a deed can be recorded; it also has value from the standpoint of evidence in the direction of proving the signature to the deed.

4. Delivered. A deed for land, signed, sealed, acknowledged, but locked in the grantor's desk and found there perhaps after his death, does not convey the land. Delivery is necessary; there must be some act indicating delivery. It has been stated that originally some sort of delivery of the land was made; that is, some small shrub or weed was delivered to the grantee as a symbol of delivery. In the case of real property, delivery of the deed is effectively the delivery of the property. Sometimes a deed is delivered or put into the hands of a third party, to be held "in escrow until final payment is made or some specific act performed, when it is to be delivered to the grantee. The delivery of the deed to the grantee in this case may be made after the death of the grantor; in passing the deed to the third party, an act of delivery by the grantor has occurred.

5. Recorded. A deed is recorded at the office of the Recorder of Deeds, or the County Clerk, or whatever officer is specified by law for such duty. When properly executed and acknowledged and so recorded, it becomes a notice to all the world of the transaction shown in the record, and any one engaging in a transaction as to that property does so with

knowledge of the transaction. It will not be recorded unless acknowledged. If a grantor either accidentally or wrongfully conveys the same real estate to two different persons, the one who first records his deed will take title to the property in the absence of fraud on his part, no matter who first received his deed. In some States, however, there is fixed by statute a limited time within which the deed of earlier date prevails. The recorder generally notes on the deed, the year, month, day, and minute, that the deed was received; this is done at the time the deed is handed to the recorder. In many cases where convenient, the deed is signed, the money paid, the deed delivered and at once recorded, all these transactions occurring in the recorder's office; the money is not paid until a final inquiry is made at the desk whether any deed or other paper affecting that property has recently been recorded. This represents good practice. In some States a deed recorded need not be otherwise proved, but this is not the case in most States; deeds more than thirty years old are ancient documents and do not require direct proof.

TITLE

Search of Title. Before a conveyance of real estate is accepted, that is commonly before the deed is made, and more certainly before the money is paid over, a careful search of the title should be made to see that a continuous line of title exists from some very early date until the time of the conveyance. This proceeding consists of two important parts. First, to see that the chain of title is complete; for instance, with lands granted by the United States Government, that the patent from the United States to A and subsequent deeds from A to B, B to C, C to D, etc., form an unbroken chain from the beginning to the party about to convey the land. There must be no deeds of this land from any of these to parties outside the chain. In many of the older settlements, the chain is carried back, not to the beginning, which may not be possible, but only to a point which seems safe. Second, to see that the various conveyances are in proper form and sufficient, so that the chain of titles does in fact, as well as in appearance, convey a good title.

Title Abstract Companies. In many of the Western States the title can be traced back to the grant from the Government of the United States, and there are "title abstract companies" which have compiled records which show every transaction touching every particular piece of land in a county. In a fashion, it is a special form of index, where for each piece of property a list is made of all the deeds which have passed touching that particular piece of land.

Title Insurance Companies Conveyancers. In Eastern cities there are "title insurance companies," and firms of lawyers who announce them

selves as "conveyancers," and who make a special business of examining titles and reporting on them. In these older parts of the country, it is not always possible to go back to the original grant, but conveyancers go back far enough to satisfy themselves that there is no difficulty beyond the point from which they start. The conveyancer in the East not only looks up the chain of title from party to party, but he also passes upon the question whether each deed is satisfactory and does in fact properly convey what it purports to convey.

Scope of Abstract of Title. The abstract of title obtained in one of the Western States is simply a list of deeds touching that property, and the services of a competent lawyer are needed to make sure that those deeds are properly drawn, and do in fact constitute a complete chain of conveyances; that the deeds are adequate, and do properly convey title of the land.

Mortgages, Taxes, Judgments. Besides deeds proper, it is necessary to look for mortgages, taxes, assessments for sewers, betterments, wills, contracts to convey, judgments of the court, attachments in the case of suits started, and whatever else may tend to constitute an encumbrance, or impair the title of the estate. All such work should be done, however, by a competent lawyer, familiar with this class of work, unless an engineer has acquired an adequate experience under a lawyer, so that he is capable of looking up such matters himself.

Land Courts. In several of the States, Land Courts have been established for perfecting or "quieting " title, following the so-called " Torrens " system of Australia; the name used may vary in different States. Provision for this is made by statute whose express directions must be strictly followed. Application is made to this Land Court, which notifies all parties thought to have an interest in this land or its boundaries; an examiner of the court makes a thorough search of the title; a hearing is had, and the title confirmed if everything seems all right. The title is then secure to the party making the application. Occasionally, but rarely, some party having a valid interest appears later and succeeds in proving his claim. This claimant is nevertheless denied possession or title to the land, but is paid damages by the State from funds derived from fees paid by the reputed owners of land as part of the requirements for securing the confirmation of title by the Land Court. For a single conveyance of land, the process is somewhat expensive. Later conveyances are much less expensive. It seems probable that the Land Court will steadily grow in favor.

LEASE

Lease. What is sometimes called an "estate for years " is better known as a "lease," and in this is involved the law of "landlord and tenant." A lease need not be for as much as a year, it may be for a determinate