Indiana Warranty Deed Form

What is an Indiana Warranty Deed?

An Indiana warranty deed form transfers Indiana real estate from the current owner (grantor) to the new owner (grantee) with a full warranty of title. A grantor that signs an Indiana warranty deed guarantees that the grantor owns the property, has the undisputed right to convey the property, and will defend the property against all claims—including claims that arose before the grantor owned the property.

Other Names for an Indiana Warranty Deed Form

An Indiana warranty deed form is sometimes called a general warranty deed form. The word “general” is added to distinguish the deed from a special warranty deed form, which provides a more limited warranty of title.

Relationship of Warranty Deed Form to Warranty of Title

The term warranty deed form relates exclusively to the warranty of title. A grantor that signs a warranty deed provides the grantee with an absolute guarantee that the grantor owns the property, has the right to convey the property, and will defend the property against all claims relating to title to the property. The warranty deed provides the most protection to the grantee and, conversely, places the most risk on the grantor.

A warranty deed form differs from two other Indiana deed forms that provide a different warranty of title:

1. Indiana Special Warranty Deed Form – An Indiana special warranty deed provides a more limited warranty of title than a warranty deed. A grantor who signs a special warranty deed is only responsible for title issues that arose while the grantor owned the property. The grantor is not responsible for the actions or inactions of prior owners.
2. Indiana Quit Claim Deed Form – An Indiana quit claim deed form provides no warranty of title. For a quitclaim deed, The grantee acquires whatever title the grantor his, but takes the title “as is” with no legal recourse against the grantor. The grantor is not responsible for any title problems.

A warranty deed form also differs from two other Indiana estate planning deed forms that are named after their probate avoidance features:

1. Indiana Life Estate Deed Form – An older form of deed that divides ownership into a lifetime interest (life estate) that entitles the original owner (life tenant) to possession of the property during life and a remainder interest that passes to new owners (remainder beneficiaries) on the death of the life tenant. The life tenant cannot sell or mortgage the property or change or add beneficiaries without the consent of the remainder beneficiaries.
2. Indiana TOD Deed Form – Also known as a transfer-on-death deed form, this newer form of deed that allows an owner to designate beneficiaries to inherit the property at the owner’s death. Unlike a life estate deed form, the owner forfeits no control during life. The owner can freely sell or mortgage the property or change or revoke the beneficiary designation, without involving or even notifying the beneficiaries.

Although a warranty deed is conceptually different from a life estate deed, the two names refer to independent features. Because a life estate deed can be drafted to include a full warranty of title, a single deed may be a life estate deed and a warranty deed.

Key Term: Warranty of Title. Title issues can be caused by many things, including errors in the public record, unknown liens against the property, undisclosed prior conveyances, forged deeds, missing heirs or unprobated wills, or disputes about boundary lines or surveys. Title issues often require legal action to fix and can decrease the value of real estate. If the property has no title issues, it is said to have clear title. A warranty of title is a legal guarantee from the transferor to the transferee that there are no title issues. If a deed makes a warranty of title, the transferee can sue the transferor over any title issues.

Common Uses of Indiana Warranty Deeds

Because warranty deeds place all of the risk on the grantor, a grantor will usually be unwilling to sign a warranty deed unless the grantor is receiving something of value in exchange for the property. For this reason, warranty deeds are rarely used if the grantor is gifting property to the grantee. They are much more common in the sale context, where the grantee is paying full value for the property. Even then, the grantor’s risk is often reduced by purchasing a title insurance policy to help shift the risk to a third-party title insurance carrier.

How to Create an Indiana General Warranty Deed Form

To be valid, each Indiana warranty deed form must meet the requirements of Indiana law. These requirements include valid legal description, statement of consideration, and a description of the manner in which co-owners will hold title, font size and page format requirements, and signature and notarization requirements.

In addition to the requirements that apply to all deeds, special care must be taken to create the correct warranty of title. The Indiana statutes include specific vesting language required to create the warranty. This language may be supplemented with other warranty language in the deed. It is important to get the language exactly right. Minor differences in language—even the omission of a single word—can result in an entirely different type of warranty.

Most generic online deed forms were created to be one-size-fits-all and may not take these requirements into account. The deeds created by our online deed preparation service were attorney-designed to meet the requirements of Indiana law and be eligible for recording in all Indiana counties. We also include customized, step-by-step instructions (Next Steps) for signing and recording the deed.