A grant deed is used in some states and jurisdictions for the sale or other transfer of

real property In English common law, real property, real estate, immovable property or, solely in the US and Canada, realty, is land which is the property of some person and all structures (also called improvements or fixtures) integrated with or affixe ...

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. The signatures must be acknowledged before a notary public (

notarized A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems. A notary, while a legal professional, is disti ...

) or other official authorized by law to administer oaths. The grantor of a grant deed makes two guarantees to the grantee: 1) The grantor/seller guarantees that the property has not been sold to anyone else, and 2) That the house is not under any liens or restrictions that have not already been disclosed to the buyer/grantee. This assures grantee there are no legal claims to the property by third parties, and no taxes are owed on the property that would restrict its sale. Some jurisdictions use the

warranty deed A warranty deed is a type of deed where the grantor (seller) guarantees that they hold clear title to a piece of real estate and has a right to sell it to the grantee (buyer), in contrast to a quitclaim deed, where the seller does not guarantee ...

to transfer real property instead of the grant deed. The warranty deed adds the additional guarantee that the grantor will defend the title against any third-party claim. The

quitclaim deed Generally, a quitclaim is a formal renunciation of a legal claim against some other person, or of a right to land. A person who quitclaims renounces or relinquishes a claim to some legal right, or transfers a legal interest in land. Originally a c ...

is also sometimes used, although this document is most often used to disclaim 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 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 in the presence of witnesses. This was called

livery of seisin Livery of seisin () is an archaic legal conveyancing ceremony, formerly practised in feudal England and in other countries following English common law, used to convey holdings in property. The term ''livery'' is closely related to if not synonym ...

. 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 A deed poll (plural: deeds poll) is a legal document binding on a single person or several persons acting jointly to express an intention or create an obligation. It is a deed, and not a contract because it binds only one party (law), party. Et ...

, that is now commonly used.

See also