Have you heard the phrase “Dresser Drawer Deed?”
Are you constantly having to dig through old boxes of paper to find your deeds?
Are you certain everything in your family history has been filed? One common mistake of mineral rights ownership is unfiled deeds, or “dresser drawer deeds.”
A dresser drawer deed is one that is established by the rightful property owner. However, rather than ensuring the deed is legitimate in the eyes of the law, the prepared deed is simply put away in a dresser drawer.
At Valor, we can digitize and properly store your deeds to prevent this from ever happening again.
Technically, the deed is not valid
A dresser drawer deed does not meet all the criteria to allow for an estate transfer. The minimum elements of an official deed are:
- ∙ The deed must be in writing.
- ∙ The grantor and grantee must be identified.
- ∙ The grantor must have “legal capacity” (of legal age, competent, etc.).
- ∙ The grantee must have the capacity to accept the transfer of the property.
- ∙ The property must be adequately described.
- ∙ There must be words of conveyance or transfer.
- ∙ The deed must be signed by the grantor.
- ∙ The deed must be delivered to the grantee or his agent.
- ∙ The deed must be accepted by the grantee.
- ∙ All of the elements must be met to have a valid deed. A dresser drawer deed oftentimes misses one key element- delivery. Retrieving a deed is not the same as delivering a deed.
By missing this step, family members can waste time and incur legal fees to rectify the situation.
The information provided by Valor in this blog is for general informational purposes only, not to provide specific recommendations or legal or tax-related advice. The blog/website should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state.
