Utah special warranty deed

What a special warranty deed does in Utah

A special warranty deed, also called a limited warranty deed or a covenant deed in some states and a grant deed in California, sits between a quitclaim and a general warranty deed. The grantor promises they did nothing during their own ownership to damage the title, and nothing more. Anything that happened before they bought the property is the buyer's risk. Estates, trustees, banks, and builders commonly use it.

In Utah the governing statute is Utah Code § 57-1-12.5.

The Utah law behind this deed

Start with Utah Code § 57-1-12.5 if you want to read the statute's own language. The table below lists the main statutes behind the rules on this page.

When Utah homeowners use a special warranty deed

• Sell a property you inherited or hold as trustee
• Convey a property you have owned only briefly
• Transfer commercial or investment property
• Give a buyer more protection than a quitclaim without accepting unlimited exposure

What Utah requires on the deed

These are the execution and formatting rules county recorders enforce. Getting any of them wrong is the usual reason a deed comes back in the mail.

How to complete and record it in Utah

1. 1Find your current deedYou need the legal description from it, word for word. If you can't find your copy, the County Recorder can provide one, usually for a few dollars.
2. 2Identify everyone by full legal nameNames must match the current deed and government ID exactly, middle names included. A mismatch creates a gap in the chain of title that shows up years later at closing.
3. 3Complete the deedDeedly builds it with the wording, notary certificate, and 3-inch first-page margin used for Utah deeds.
4. 4Sign in front of a notaryBring photo ID. Wait to sign until you are in front of the notary: you have to appear before the notary anyway, and signing there leaves no question about who signed.
5. 5Record it with the County RecorderFile in the county where the property is located and pay the recording fee. Every Utah county recorder accepts electronic recording (Utah Code § 17-71-402(2)), through vendors such as Simplifile, CSC, or ePN. Those vendors usually take filings only from approved submitters such as title companies, attorneys, and lenders, so if you prepared the deed yourself, plan to record in person or by mail. Keep the stamped receipt. It fixes your priority date.
6. 6Update insurance and tax recordsA change of ownership can affect your homeowner's policy, your homestead or senior exemption, and in some states the assessed value. Do this within a few weeks.

What it costs in Utah

Utah imposes no state real estate transfer tax, so the recording fee is normally your only cost beyond notarization.

Where to record it in Utah

Utah deeds are recorded with the County Recorder in the county where the property sits, not where you live. There are 29 counties in Utah.

Every Utah county recorder accepts electronic recording (Utah Code § 17-71-402(2)), through vendors such as Simplifile, CSC, or ePN. Those vendors usually take filings only from approved submitters such as title companies, attorneys, and lenders, so if you prepared the deed yourself, plan to record in person or by mail.

Recording offices we cover in Utah: Salt Lake, Utah, Davis, Weber, Washington, Cache. See all Utah recording offices.

What a special warranty deed does NOT do

Being honest about the limits is more useful than a sales pitch. Every one of these catches somebody out.

• Defects that predate your ownership are not covered. The buyer bears that risk.
• It does not substitute for a title search or an owner's title insurance policy.
• It transfers ownership immediately and cannot be revoked.
• Some purchase contracts specifically require a general warranty deed; check yours before using this one.

Quirks of Utah law that catch people out

• The legal description must be one Utah Code § 57-3-105(4) allows: a lot in a recorded plat, a metes-and-bounds or government-survey description, or another form that section lists. A street address is not enough.
• A deed must name the grantees and give a mailing address to be used for property tax notices (Utah Code § 57-3-105(3)). Deedly prints it in a MAIL TAX NOTICE TO block on page one.
• The notary's seal must be legible (Utah Code § 17-71-402(3)(f)). A smudged or unreadable seal gets a deed sent back.
• Each signer's name must be typed or printed just beneath the signature (Utah Code § 17-71-403). Deedly prints it.
• A recorder may require a blank space 2.5 inches down and 4.5 inches across the upper right corner of page one (Utah Code § 17-71-402(4)). Write nothing at the top of page one.
• A deed to a trustee must give the trustee's name and address and the trust's name and date (Utah Code § 75B-2-816(3)).
• Utah has no tenancy by the entirety: a deed that uses it is treated as a joint tenancy (Utah Code § 57-1-5(7)). Since May 1, 2024, a deed to two or more people that says nothing more is presumed to create a joint tenancy with right of survivorship (§ 57-1-5(1)(a)(i)(C)), so co-owners who want separate shares must say "as tenants in common".
• Water rights tied to the land pass with it unless the deed reserves them (Utah Code § 73-1-11). If the property has a well, irrigation rights or water shares, you may attach Utah's Water Rights Addendum, available from the Division of Water Rights; it is optional (Utah Code § 57-3-109). Shares in a water company are not part of the land and do not pass with it; transfer them through the company (§ 73-1-11(4)).
• Utah Code Title 59 (Revenue and Taxation) has no real estate transfer tax.
• Utah's statutory warranty deed form under Utah Code § 57-1-12 conveys full covenants in just a few lines.
• Utah recognizes transfer-on-death deeds under its Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act.

How to hold title in Utah

Since May 1, 2024, when two or more people take title in Utah and the deed says nothing more, the law presumes a joint tenancy with right of survivorship (Utah Code § 57-1-5). If you want separate shares that pass to each owner's own heirs, the deed must say "as tenants in common". A joint tenancy cannot include a trust or a business. Deedly always writes the form of ownership on the deed. Forms of co-ownership available in Utah: joint tenancy with right of survivorship and tenancy in common.

Utah's rule changed on May 1, 2024. A deed made since then to two or more people that says nothing more is presumed to create a joint tenancy with right of survivorship (Utah Code § 57-1-5(1)(a)(i)(C)). For a deed made from May 5, 1997 to April 30, 2024, the presumption applied only to two people named in it as husband and wife or as spouses, and other grants were presumed tenancies in common (§ 57-1-5(1)(a)(i)(A), (B), (1)(b)).