You’re staring at an MBE question about whether a deed was validly delivered, and you realize you can’t remember the difference between a general warranty deed and a quitclaim deed. Or worse — you’re not even sure what makes a deed legally valid in the first place. Real Property questions on deeds trip up countless bar examinees because the rules feel scattered across contracts, formalities, and property transfer principles.
Let’s fix that. This guide breaks down everything you need to know about deeds on the MBE: what makes them valid, the different types you’ll encounter, and how delivery works (because yes, the MBE loves testing delivery).
What Makes a Deed Valid? The Core Requirements
A deed is a written instrument that transfers an interest in real property from a grantor to a grantee. For a deed to be valid and enforceable, it must satisfy several formalities. Miss even one, and the transfer fails.
The deed must be in writing. The Statute of Frauds requires any conveyance of an interest in land to be evidenced by a written instrument. Oral transfers don’t cut it, no matter how clear the intent.
The deed must identify the parties. You need a grantor (the person transferring the property) and a grantee (the person receiving it). Both must be identifiable from the deed itself. The grantor must have legal capacity to convey — meaning they must be of sound mind and of legal age.
The deed must contain words of conveyance. This is the operative language showing intent to make a present transfer. Traditional language like “I hereby grant and convey” works perfectly, but modern deeds often just say “conveys” or “grants.” The key is present intent. A promise to convey in the future isn’t a deed — it’s a contract.
The deed must describe the property. The land must be described with sufficient specificity that it can be identified. A street address usually isn’t enough for formal conveyance (though it might be on the MBE if the question says it’s sufficient). Legal descriptions — metes and bounds, government survey, or recorded plat references — are the gold standard.
The grantor must sign the deed. This is non-negotiable. The grantee does not need to sign. The deed evidences what the grantor is doing, not what the grantee is accepting (acceptance is handled separately through delivery).
Notice what’s not required: consideration. Unlike a contract, a deed doesn’t need consideration to be valid. You can gift property by deed. Also not required in most jurisdictions: notarization or witnesses for validity between the parties. Those formalities matter for recording, but a deed can be valid and enforceable without them.
The Three Types of Deeds You’ll See on the MBE
The MBE tests three main deed types, distinguished by the covenants (promises) the grantor makes about the title being conveyed.
General Warranty Deed
This is the Cadillac of deeds. A general warranty deed provides the grantee with the maximum protection. The grantor makes six covenants of title — three present covenants (breached, if at all, at the time of conveyance) and three future covenants (breached only when the grantee or a subsequent purchaser is disturbed in possession).
The three present covenants are:
Covenant of seisin: The grantor owns the estate being conveyed.
Covenant of right to convey: The grantor has the legal right to transfer the property.
Covenant against encumbrances: There are no undisclosed easements, liens, or other encumbrances on the property.
The three future covenants are:
Covenant of quiet enjoyment: The grantee will not be disturbed in possession by someone with superior title.
Covenant of warranty: The grantor will defend the grantee’s title against lawful claims.
Covenant of further assurances: The grantor will take whatever steps are necessary to perfect the grantee’s title.
Here’s the critical distinction for the MBE: present covenants are breached immediately upon conveyance if the facts don’t match the promise. They do not run with the land — a remote grantee cannot sue on them. Future covenants run with the land, meaning a subsequent purchaser can sue the original grantor if they’re later evicted by someone with paramount title.
Special Warranty Deed
A special warranty deed (sometimes called a grant deed in California) is the middle ground. The grantor warrants title only against defects arising during the grantor’s period of ownership. The grantor makes no promises about defects that existed before they owned the property.
Think of it this way: “I promise I didn’t mess up the title, but I’m not vouching for what happened before I owned it.” This deed type appears less frequently on the MBE, but when it does, the issue is usually whether the grantor is liable for a title defect that predates their ownership (answer: no).
Quitclaim Deed
A quitclaim deed contains zero warranties. The grantor conveys whatever interest they have, if any, without making any promises about the quality of title. It’s an “as-is” transfer.
Quitclaim deeds are used in situations where the parties have a special relationship (family transfers, divorces, clearing up potential clouds on title) or where the grantor isn’t sure what interest they have and doesn’t want liability. If you quitclaim property to someone and it turns out you didn’t own it, the grantee has no recourse against you. You never promised anything.
The MBE loves testing whether a grantee can sue based on the deed type. If the deed is a quitclaim, the answer is almost always no — there are no covenants to breach.
Delivery: The Make-or-Break Requirement
Here’s where students consistently stumble: a deed isn’t effective until it’s delivered. You can have a perfectly drafted deed, signed and notarized, but if there’s no delivery, there’s no conveyance. The property hasn’t transferred.
Delivery requires two elements: (1) the grantor must have present intent to make the deed presently effective, and (2) the deed must be physically or constructively transferred to the grantee.
Intent is paramount. Physical transfer creates a rebuttable presumption of delivery, but it’s not conclusive. If the grantor hands you a signed deed and says, “Hold this for me, but don’t record it until I die,” there’s no delivery. The grantor’s words show they don’t intend a present transfer — they intend a testamentary transfer (which would require a will, not a deed).
Conversely, delivery can occur without physical transfer. If the grantor executes a deed and records it with the county recorder’s office, that’s delivery even if the grantee never physically receives the document. Recording manifests intent to make the deed presently effective.
Delivery to a Third Party (Escrow)
The MBE frequently tests delivery through an escrow agent. The grantor gives the deed to a third party with instructions to deliver it to the grantee upon the occurrence of a condition.
The key rule: if the condition is within the grantee’s control (like paying money), the delivery is valid when the deed is handed to the escrow agent, and the grantor cannot back out. The grantor has made a present transfer subject to a condition precedent.
But if the condition is the grantor’s death, most jurisdictions treat this as an attempted testamentary transfer, which fails because it doesn’t comply with will formalities. The grantor retained too much control.
Example: Grantor executes a deed to her daughter and gives it to her attorney with instructions: “Give this to my daughter when she graduates from law school.” This is valid delivery to the attorney. The grantor cannot reclaim the deed. When the daughter graduates, the attorney must deliver it, and title transfers at that moment (though some jurisdictions relate back to the initial delivery to the escrow agent).
Acceptance
Technically, the grantee must also accept the deed. But here’s the easy rule: acceptance is presumed if the conveyance is beneficial to the grantee. You’ll rarely see an MBE question where acceptance is the issue unless the property is burdened by significant liabilities or the grantee expressly rejects it.
Common MBE Traps Involving Deeds
Trap #1: Confusing deed validity with recording. A deed can be perfectly valid between the parties without being recorded. Recording protects against subsequent purchasers under the recording acts — it doesn’t make the deed valid. If a question asks whether the deed effectively transferred title, focus on the validity requirements and delivery, not whether it was recorded.
Trap #2: Assuming a deed needs consideration. It doesn’t. Deeds are used for gifts all the time. If the question emphasizes that the grantee paid nothing, that’s a red herring. The lack of consideration doesn’t affect validity.
Trap #3: Thinking the grantee must sign. Only the grantor signs. If an answer choice says the deed is invalid because the grantee didn’t sign, eliminate it.
Trap #4: Missing the deed type in covenant questions. If the question involves a title defect and asks whether the grantee can sue the grantor, immediately check what type of deed was used. Quitclaim? No lawsuit. General warranty? Probably yes, depending on which covenant was breached. Special warranty? Only if the defect arose during the grantor’s ownership.
Trap #5: Confusing present and future covenants. If the question involves a remote grantee (someone who bought from the original grantee), they can only sue on future covenants. Present covenants don’t run with the land. So if the issue is an existing encumbrance discovered years later by a remote grantee, they cannot sue on the covenant against encumbrances (a present covenant). They’d need to rely on quiet enjoyment or warranty (future covenants).
What to Memorize for Test Day
Lock in these rules:
Valid deed requirements: Writing, identified parties, words of conveyance, property description, grantor’s signature. No consideration needed. Grantee doesn’t sign.
General warranty deed: Six covenants (seisin, right to convey, against encumbrances, quiet enjoyment, warranty, further assurances). Present covenants don’t run with the land; future covenants do.
Quitclaim deed: Zero warranties. Grantor conveys whatever interest they have, if any. Grantee has no recourse for title defects.
Delivery requires: Present intent to make the deed presently effective plus physical or constructive transfer. Handing over a deed creates a presumption of delivery. Recording is delivery. Escrow delivery is valid if the condition is within the grantee’s control.
Acceptance is presumed if the conveyance benefits the grantee.
Real Property on the MBE demands that you know these deed rules cold because they intersect with nearly every other topic — recording acts, adverse possession, easements, mortgages. You can’t analyze a recording act question without knowing whether a valid deed was delivered. You can’t evaluate whether a covenant runs with the land without understanding deed types.
If you want all 111 Real Property rules organized in a format designed for active recall, FlashTables breaks down every doctrine — from estates and future interests to recording acts and deeds — into structured two-column tables. Each rule includes the elements, exceptions, and distinctions you need to spot issues fast. It’s the same method a practicing attorney used to pass the bar: distill the rules, memorize the structure, apply them under pressure. Check out the Real Property table at getflashtables.com and stop second-guessing yourself on deed questions.