TITLE 25

Property

General Provisions

CHAPTER 1. Deeds

Subchapter I. General Provisions

§ 101. Transfer of title to real estate by deed.

Lands, tenements and hereditaments may be aliened, and possession thereof transferred by deed, without livery of seisin; and the legal estate shall accompany the use and pass with it.

Code 1852, §  1611;  Code 1915, §  3197;  Code 1935, §  3658;  25 Del. C. 1953, §  101; 

§ 102. Effect of deeds by married women.

The deed of a married woman executed by her during her coverture, concerning lands or tenements, shall be valid and effectual as if she were sole, if she acknowledges that she executed the deed. Such deed shall not bind her to any warranty except a special warranty against herself and her heirs, and all persons claiming by or under her, and no covenant on her part, of a more extensive or different effect in such deed, shall be valid against her, nor shall such conveyances by her divest, abrogate, or in any manner interfere with the husband’s estate by the curtesy should such estate attach.

Code 1852, §§  1469, 1614;  22 Del. Laws, c. 443, §§  1, 2;  Code 1915, §§  3047, 3200;  Code 1935, §§  3540, 3661;  45 Del. Laws, c. 230, §  1;  25 Del. C. 1953, §  102;  70 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  1

§ 103. Circumstances under which wife may bar her dower without husband being a party.

In all cases of sales of lands and tenements under judgments, or by guardians for persons with mental disabilities, the wife of any defendant in such judgment, or of such person with a mental disability, may execute, acknowledge and deliver any conveyance, release or other instrument to bar her of dower in the land and tenements so sold, without her husband being a party to such conveyance, release or other instrument.

Code 1852, §  1614;  14 Del. Laws, c. 78;  Code 1915, §  3201;  Code 1935, §  3662;  25 Del. C. 1953, §  103;  70 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  173 Del. Laws, c. 34, §  4

§ 104. Trustee for wife with a mental disability; barring of dower.

Any married man, seized of any real estate, whose wife has a mental disability, and who desires to sell and convey or to mortgage any such real estate, or any part thereof, may present his petition to the Court of Chancery, stating the facts. The Court may, if it considers it a proper case, make an order appointing a trustee for such married woman with a mental disability to join in any deed or mortgage on her behalf with her husband, and to sign, seal and acknowledge the deed or mortgage as such trustee in the same manner as deeds and mortgages are by law acknowledged.

17 Del. Laws, c. 616, §  1;  Code 1915, §  3202;  Code 1935, §  3663;  25 Del. C. 1953, §  104;  49 Del. Laws, c. 57, §  170 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  179 Del. Laws, c. 371, §  25

§ 105. Trustee for husband with a mental disability; barring of curtesy.

Any married woman, seized of any real estate in her own right, whose husband has a mental disability, and who desires to sell, convey or to mortgage any such real estate, or any part thereof, may present her petition to the Court of Chancery, stating the facts, and the Court may, if it considers it a proper case, make an order appointing a trustee for such married man with a mental disability to join in any deed or mortgage in his behalf with his wife, and to sign, seal and acknowledge the same as such trustee in the same manner as deeds and mortgages are by law acknowledged.

22 Del. Laws, c. 444, §  1;  Code 1915, §  3203;  Code 1935, §  3664;  25 Del. C. 1953, §  105;  49 Del. Laws, c. 57, §  170 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  179 Del. Laws, c. 371, §  26

§ 106. Effect of deed executed by trustee for spouse with a mental disability.

Any deed executed and acknowledged by a trustee for a married man or woman with a mental disability, appointed pursuant to the provisions of § 104 or § 105 of this title, shall be as valid and effectual to bar and divest the right of dower or curtesy of the spouse with a mental disability, in case the spouse with a mental disability survives, as if such spouse with a mental disability had been legally capable and had in fact executed and acknowledged such deed. Any such deed, or the record thereof, shall be competent evidence in all the courts of this State.

17 Del. Laws, c. 616, §  222 Del. Laws, c. 444, §  2;  Code 1915, §§  3202, 3203;  Code 1935, §§  3663, 3664;  25 Del. C. 1953, §  106;  49 Del. Laws, c. 57, §  170 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  179 Del. Laws, c. 371, §  2784 Del. Laws, c. 42, § 1

§ 107. Conveyance of real estate by married woman deserted without just cause.

Every married woman abandoned by her husband without just cause, who is the owner in her own right of real estate in this State, may sell or otherwise dispose of such real estate as effectually as if she were a single woman. A deed executed and certified as provided in § 124 of this title and recorded in the county in which the lands lie shall be as effectual as if the grantor executing the deed were a single woman.

19 Del. Laws, c. 772, §§  1-3;  Code 1915, §  3048;  30 Del. Laws, c. 197;  Code 1935, §  3544;  25 Del. C. 1953, §  107;  70 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  1

§ 108. Deeds and other instruments executed by the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation.

(a) Deeds concerning lands or tenements, releases from the lien of any judgment, or mortgages, powers of attorney to individuals to satisfy mortgages, or any other written instruments entitled to be recorded, executed by the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation, a corporation of the United States of America, may be executed and acknowledged before any judge of this State, or a Judge of the District Court of the United States, or a notary public, or 2 justices of the peace of the same county, by the Regional Manager of the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation, or Regional Treasurer thereof, provided there is recorded in the recorder’s office in the county wherein any instrument so executed and acknowledged is entitled to be recorded a resolution of the Managing Board of such Corporation, showing the appointment by name of the Regional Manager and Regional Treasurer, duly certified to under the hand of the Chairman of the Board, attested by the Secretary, with the seal of the Corporation thereto attached, and acknowledged in the same manner and form as other recorded corporate instruments. The resolution may be kept on file by the recorder of deeds, and the same shall be indexed and recorded in the same way and manner as provided by law in the case of commissions of notaries for the State. The resolution, so certified and acknowledged, concerning the named appointments of Regional Manager and Regional Treasurer, shall be binding on the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation until revoked or cancelled by the recording, in the recorder’s office, of a resolution of the Managing Board of the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation, duly executed, certified to and acknowledged in the same manner and form as the appointment.

(b) Any deed or conveyance of lands and tenements, or any release of the lien of a mortgage or judgment, or any other written instrument entitled to be recorded, executed by the Regional Manager or Regional Treasurer for the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation, after a full compliance with this section, shall have the same effect as though the instrument had been executed by the President or other presiding officer or a Vice-President duly authorized by proper resolution.

40 Del. Laws, c. 21540 Del. Laws, c. 217;  Code 1935, §  3675;  41 Del. Laws, c. 189, §  1;  25 Del. C. 1953, §  108; 

§ 109. Defeasance or contract for reconveyance; recording; acknowledgment or proof.

If a conveyance of lands, tenements or hereditaments is absolute on its face and there is a defeasance, or written contract in the nature of a defeasance, or for a reconveyance of the premises, or any part thereof, the person to whom such conveyance is made shall cause to be indorsed thereon, and recorded therewith, a note stating that there is such defeasance, or contract, and the general purport of it, or the recording of such conveyance shall be of no effect. Such defeasance, or contract, shall be duly acknowledged, or proved, and recorded in the recorder’s office for the county wherein such lands, tenements or hereditaments are situate within 60 days after the day of making the same, or it shall not avail against a fair creditor, mortgagee or purchaser for a valuable consideration of or from the person to whom such conveyance is made, unless it appears that such creditor, when giving the credit, or such mortgagee or purchaser when advancing the consideration, had notice of such defeasance, or contract. Such contract, although not under seal, may be acknowledged or proved in the same manner as a deed.

Code 1852, §  1631;  Code 1915, §  3221;  Code 1935, §  3683;  25 Del. C. 1953, §  109; 

§ 110. Certificates of notaries public; validity.

No official certificate of any notary public shall be invalid or defective because the impression of the official stamp or seal of such officer upon the certificate does not strictly comport with the requirements of § 4330 of Title 29. All such certificates shall be valid in all respects; and in all cases where such certificates are annexed to papers proper to be recorded, the several recorders shall admit such papers to record. The record of the same, or a duly certified copy thereof, shall be competent evidence, and every such paper shall be as good and effectual in law as though the stamp or seal used by the officer certifying the acknowledgment of the same had been made or engraved in exact conformity with the provisions of the law.

16 Del. Laws, c. 129, §  1;  Code 1915, §  3213;  Code 1935, §  3674;  25 Del. C. 1953, §  110;  83 Del. Laws, c. 425, § 684 Del. Laws, c. 233, § 52