Oklahoma general warranty deed

What a general warranty deed does in Oklahoma

A general warranty deed transfers ownership and adds the full set of title covenants: the grantor promises they own the property, have the right to sell it, that it is free of undisclosed encumbrances, and that they will defend the title against any claim, including claims that arose long before they owned it. It is the standard instrument for an arm's-length sale between private parties.

The Oklahoma law behind this deed

Start with Okla. Stat. tit. 16, § 40 if you want to read the statute's own language. The table below lists the main statutes behind the rules on this page.

When Oklahoma property owners use a general warranty deed

• Sell a property directly to a buyer without an agent
• Transfer a property where the buyer expects full title protection
• Satisfy a purchase contract that calls for a warranty deed
• Convey property where a title company requires warranty covenants

What Oklahoma requires on the deed

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

How to complete and record it in Oklahoma

1. 1Find your current deedYou need the legal description from it, word for word. If you can't find your copy, the County Clerk 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 Oklahoma 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 ClerkFile in the county where the property is located and pay the recording fee. Many offices in this state also accept e-recording, but usually only from approved submitters such as title companies. 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 Oklahoma

Oklahoma charges a documentary stamp tax of $0.75 for each $500 of the price, or part of $500 ($1.50 per $1,000), and none unless the property is sold for more than $100. Who pays is negotiated between the parties.

Exemptions that commonly apply to a transfer like this: deeds between spouses, parent and child, or relatives within the second degree, with no actual consideration (68 O.S. § 3202(4)), deeds between you and a revocable trust that you or your spouse created (68 O.S. § 3202(4)), gifts and other transfers with no consideration, which are not sales and are not taxed (68 O.S. § 3201(B); OAC 710:30-1-9(1)), and deeds that only correct or confirm an earlier recorded deed, with no additional consideration (68 O.S. § 3202(3)). You have to claim the exemption. The recorder won't apply it for you.

Where to record it in Oklahoma

Oklahoma deeds are recorded with the County Clerk in the county where the property sits, not where you live. There are 77 counties in Oklahoma.

Many Oklahoma recording offices accept e-recording through vendors such as Simplifile, CSC, or ePN. E-recording is generally open only to approved submitters such as title companies, attorneys, and lenders, so if you prepared the deed yourself, plan to record in person or by mail. Some offices accept filings from the public through those vendors; your county's website will say.

Recording offices we cover in Oklahoma: Oklahoma, Tulsa, Cleveland, Canadian, Comanche, Rogers. See all Oklahoma recording offices.

What a general warranty deed does NOT do

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

• The covenants only bind the grantor personally. If they have no assets, a covenant claim may be worth little.
• It does not replace title insurance or a title search. It gives you a claim after the fact, not clean title today.
• It does not avoid probate and cannot be revoked once delivered and recorded.
• Signing one when you don't actually know the property's history exposes you to real liability. Where that is a concern, a special warranty deed is the safer instrument.

Quirks of Oklahoma law that catch people out

• Oklahoma's transfer-on-death deed works only if each beneficiary, within nine months after the owner's death, records with the county clerk a sworn affidavit confirming the death, stating whether the owner and the beneficiary were married, and describing the property, with a copy of the death certificate attached. A beneficiary who misses the deadline loses that share, and it goes back into the owner's estate (58 O.S. § 1252).
• Oklahoma's statutory TOD deed form is signed by the owner AND two witnesses in front of the notary. Ordinary Oklahoma deeds need only the notary.
• Every Oklahoma deed must have the Attorney General's land ownership affidavit, signed under oath by each person receiving the property, attached as an exhibit. Without it the county clerk cannot record the deed. A transfer-on-death deed, and a deed that only corrects an earlier recorded deed, are exempt and say so on their face instead (60 O.S. § 121(C)).
• Both spouses must sign the same deed to convey a homestead in Oklahoma, regardless of whose name is on the title (Okla. Stat. tit. 16, § 4).
• Oklahoma's documentary stamp tax is $0.75 for each $500 of the price and applies only to a sale for more than $100. A deed that claims an exemption should say why on its face, or the county clerk will ask for proof (68 O.S. §§ 3201, 3202; OAC 710:30-1-3(c)).
• Tenancy by the entirety is available in Oklahoma for married couples, but it does not protect the property from one spouse's creditors (60 O.S. § 74).

How to hold title in Oklahoma

When two or more people take title in Oklahoma and the deed says nothing more, the law presumes a tenancy in common, which means no automatic survivorship. If you want the survivor to take the whole property, the words have to be on the deed. Forms of co-ownership available in Oklahoma: tenancy by the entirety (married couples only), joint tenancy with right of survivorship, and tenancy in common.

In Oklahoma neither a tenancy by the entirety nor a joint tenancy shields the property from one spouse's creditors: a judgment creditor can levy on and sell that spouse's interest, which ends the survivorship (60 O.S. § 74).