Missouri Warranty Deed
A warranty deed guarantees clear title and defends the buyer against claims. Missouri uses the grant, bargain and sell deed, recorded with the county recorder of deeds. Attorney review available.
Introduction
Missouri's standard instrument is the grant, bargain and sell deed: under Missouri Revised Statutes Section 442.420 those operative words are construed as covenants that the grantor holds an indefeasible fee simple free of encumbrances, the guarantee of clear title that reaches even prior owners. That title guarantee is what separates it from a quitclaim deed, which promises nothing and only passes whatever interest the seller happens to have. A general warranty deed protects against every title defect, including ones that arose before the seller owned the property; a special or limited warranty deed covers only problems created during the seller's own ownership. Missouri is a genuine warranty-deed state, and its standard instrument is the grant, bargain and sell deed. Under Missouri Revised Statutes Section 442.420, the operative words grant, bargain and sell in a fee-simple conveyance are construed, unless expressly restrained, as three covenants: that the grantor holds an indefeasible fee simple estate, that the property is free of encumbrances done or suffered by the grantor or anyone under whom the grantor claims, and for further assurances. Because that encumbrance covenant reaches predecessors, the Missouri grant, bargain and sell deed carries general-warranty protection. Missouri does not codify a mandatory statutory deed form or the literal words warrant and defend; general warranty deeds add that express clause by custom. You record the signed, notarized deed with the recorder of deeds of the county where the property sits (Section 442.380). DocDraft builds your Missouri deed from your facts, with attorney review available before you record.
Key Things to Know
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A warranty deed is a deed in which the seller guarantees clear title and agrees to defend the buyer against any later claim. Missouri delivers this through its grant, bargain and sell deed, whose covenants reach even a predecessor's encumbrances, unlike a quitclaim, which guarantees nothing.
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Missouri codifies its warranty covenants in the operative words. Under Section 442.420 the words grant, bargain and sell in a fee-simple conveyance are construed, unless expressly restrained, as covenants that the grantor holds an indefeasible fee simple, that the estate is free of encumbrances done or suffered by the grantor or any person under whom the grantor claims, and for further assurances.
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Because the Section 442.420 encumbrance covenant reaches encumbrances by the grantor or predecessors, the Missouri grant, bargain and sell deed is a general warranty deed. A special or limited warranty deed narrows that covenant to the grantor's own ownership by expressly restraining the statutory words.
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A Missouri warranty deed also passes after-acquired title: if the grantor undertakes to convey an indefeasible fee simple but obtains title only later, that title passes automatically to the grantee (Section 442.430). A quitclaim deed does not do this.
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You record the signed deed with the recorder of deeds of the county where the property is located (Section 442.380). Missouri follows a notice priority rule, so a deed is not valid against a later buyer without notice until it is deposited for record; record promptly (Section 442.400).
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The grantor's signature must be acknowledged before a notary before the deed can be recorded (Section 442.130; Section 442.150), and the deed must state whether each natural-person grantor is married or unmarried (Section 442.130). Missouri does not require subscribing witnesses for a deed. Missouri also imposes no state or local real estate transfer tax.
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A married grantor should have the non-owner spouse join the deed or give written acknowledged assent, because a conveyance without it can be attacked as in fraud of marital rights (Section 474.150); for a homestead, both spouses must join or the conveyance is null and void (Section 513.475).
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Warranty Deed in Missouri, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Warranty Deed guide walks through them.
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Missouri Requirements for Warranty Deed
A warranty deed guarantees clear title and defends the buyer against claims. Missouri codifies its warranty covenants in the operative words: under Section 442.420 the words grant, bargain and sell in a fee-simple conveyance are construed, unless expressly restrained, as covenants of seizin in an indefeasible fee simple, freedom from encumbrances done or suffered by the grantor or any person under whom the grantor claims, and further assurances.
Missouri's standard warranty instrument is the grant, bargain and sell deed, whose operative words trigger the Section 442.420 covenants. Missouri does not codify a mandatory statutory deed form or the literal words warrant and defend; general warranty deeds add that express clause by custom. A Missouri warranty deed also passes after-acquired title to the grantee (Section 442.430); a quitclaim deed does neither.
Record the signed, notarized deed with the recorder of deeds of the county in which the real property is situated (Section 442.380). Missouri follows a notice priority rule: an unrecorded conveyance is not valid against a later purchaser without notice until it is deposited with the recorder for record (Section 442.400). Record promptly to protect your interest.
Before recording, the grantor's signature must be acknowledged before a notary or other authorized officer (Section 442.130; Section 442.150). Missouri does not require subscribing witnesses for a deed, so a proper notarial acknowledgment is the recording path. The deed must also be subscribed by the grantor.
Missouri requires every instrument conveying real estate to state whether each natural person executing it as a grantor is married or unmarried (Section 442.130). Include this marital-status statement on the face of the deed. Identify the grantor and grantee, state the consideration, and include the full legal description of the property, not just the street address.
Missouri imposes no state or local real estate transfer tax, documentary stamp tax, or deed tax on recording a warranty deed. You pay only the county recorder's flat recording fees, which are clerical charges rather than a value-based tax, so a Missouri deed does not carry a transfer-tax declaration on its face. Confirm current per-page recording fees with the county recorder.
Missouri is not a community property state, but a conveyance by a married person without the spouse's joinder or written acknowledged assent can be attacked as in fraud of marital rights if that spouse survives (Section 474.150). For a homestead, both spouses must join or the conveyance is null and void (Section 513.475). Confirm marital status and how title is held before signing.
Choose the deed to match the protection intended. A Missouri grant, bargain and sell deed carries the Section 442.420 covenants, and because the encumbrance covenant reaches predecessors it gives general-warranty protection against all claims. A special or limited warranty deed restrains the covenant to claims arising through the grantor. A quitclaim gives no covenants. The reason for the transfer usually points to the right one.
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Check my Warranty DeedFrequently Asked Questions
A warranty deed guarantees the seller holds clear title and will defend the buyer against claims to the property. A quitclaim deed makes no promises at all; it passes only whatever interest the seller actually has under Section 442.460. In Missouri the everyday warranty instrument is the grant, bargain and sell deed: under Section 442.420 those operative words are construed as covenants of seizin in fee simple, freedom from encumbrances done or suffered by the grantor or anyone under whom the grantor claims, and further assurances. A quitclaim omits those words, so it carries none of those covenants.
A Missouri warranty deed guarantees clear title. Under Section 442.420 the words grant, bargain and sell in a fee-simple conveyance are construed, unless expressly restrained, as three covenants: that the grantor was seized of an indefeasible estate in fee simple, that the estate was free from encumbrances done or suffered by the grantor or any person under whom the grantor claims, and for further assurances. Because that encumbrance covenant reaches predecessors, the deed gives general-warranty protection, and after-acquired title passes to the grantee under Section 442.430.
Missouri uses a warranty deed, not a bare grant deed. The standard Missouri instrument is the grant, bargain and sell deed, whose operative words trigger the statutory covenants of Section 442.420. Unlike California, Missouri does not rely on a grant deed that carries only limited implied covenants. Missouri does not codify a single mandatory statutory deed form, and it does not codify the literal words warrant and defend; general warranty deeds add that express clause by custom on top of the Section 442.420 covenants.
You record the signed, notarized deed with the recorder of deeds of the county where the property is located (Section 442.380). The grantor's signature must be acknowledged before a notary first (Section 442.130; Section 442.150), and the deed must state whether each natural-person grantor is married or unmarried (Section 442.130). Missouri follows a notice priority rule, so an unrecorded deed is not valid against a later buyer without notice until it is deposited for record (Section 442.400). Record promptly to protect your interest.
Missouri does not require an attorney to prepare or record a deed; an individual may prepare and record their own warranty deed. Because a deed transfers title and a mistake in the legal description, the covenants, or how the grantee takes title can be expensive to fix, many people have the deed reviewed before recording. DocDraft prepares your Missouri deed from your facts, with attorney review available as an option before you record.
It must be notarized. Before a Missouri deed can be recorded, the grantor's signature has to be acknowledged before a notary or other authorized officer (Section 442.130; Section 442.150). Missouri does not require subscribing witnesses for a deed, so a proper notarial acknowledgment is what allows the recorder of deeds to record it. The deed must also state whether each natural-person grantor is married or unmarried (Section 442.130).
No. Missouri imposes no state or local real estate transfer tax, documentary stamp tax, or deed tax on recording a warranty deed. You pay only the county recorder's flat recording fees, which are clerical charges rather than a value-based tax. Because there is no transfer tax, a Missouri deed does not need a transfer-tax declaration on its face, though it must include the marital-status statement required by Section 442.130.
Often, yes. Missouri is not a community property state, but a conveyance by a married person without the spouse's joinder or written acknowledged assent can be attacked as in fraud of the spouse's marital rights if that spouse survives (Section 474.150). For a homestead, both spouses must join, or the conveyance is null and void (Section 513.475). If the property is a single person's separately owned real estate, that owner can convey it alone. Confirm the marital status and how title is held before signing.