Delivery Requirement

• A deed need not be physically transferred from the seller (the "grantor") to the buyer (the "grantee"). However, the grantor must deliver the deed. "Delivery" in this case is a legal term. It means that the grantor shows, by either language or conduct, that he intends that the deed take effect. The grantor's intent must be final; he must intend that title to the property pass from the grantor to the grantee both immediately and irrevocably.
  
  

Presumption of Delivery

• In most jurisdictions, courts will presume delivery of a deed in several circumstances: if the grantor manually hands the deed to the grantee; if the grantor acknowledges delivery in front of a notary public; when the deed is recorded at the county recorder; and if the grantee possesses a properly executed deed. The presumption of delivery can still be defeated if the contesting party can show evidence that the grantor did not intend immediate and irrevocable deed operation.
  
  

Conditional Delivery

• Sometimes a grantor will attempt conditional delivery of a deed, meaning that the grantor intends that the deed shall not take effect until certain conditions are met. Some jurisdictions allow conditional delivery in specialized circumstances; the most common is when the grantor stipulates that the deed shall only become operative upon the grantor's death. If a deed is properly executed but the grantor attaches an oral condition upon delivery, the majority of jurisdictions will simply ignore the oral condition and find delivery immediately effective. In most conditional delivery situations, the law finds the time of transfer to be the time of the original delivery, not the later moment when the condition is fulfilled.
  
  

Third-Party Delivery

• Although delivery can be accomplished by the grantor simply handing the deed to the grantee, the more common method (particularly in sale of residences) occurs when the grantor gives the deed to a third party to hold until all conditions for conveyance are met. An escrow agent, for instance, holds the grantor's deed until all conditions of sale have been fulfilled, and then delivers the deed to the grantee.
  
  

Attempt to Renounce

• So long as the grantor legally delivers the deed by manifesting immediate intent to transfer, the delivery is final. Should the grantor legally deliver the deed, the grantee can subsequently destroy the deed and it makes no difference; delivery has been made. However, if conditions of transfer indicate uncertainty or hesitation on the part of the grantor, there is no delivery. Some examples are situations in which the grantor seeks return of the deed before all conditions have been met, when a conditional deed requires that the grantee survive the grantor, or when the grantor fails to deliver an executed deed before his death.