Deed

Deed

A deed is any legal instrument in writing which passes, or affirms or confirms something which passes, an interest, right, or property and that is signed, attested, delivered, and in some jurisdictions sealed. A deed, also known as an instrument in solemn form, is the most formal type of private instrument requiring not only the maker of the deed (grantor, transferor) but also attesting witnesses as signatories. A deed has therefore a greater presumption of validity and is less rebuttable than an instrument under hand, i.e., signed by the party to the deed only, or an instrument under seal. A deed can be unilateral or bilateral. Deeds include conveyances, commissions, licenses, patents, diplomas, and conditionally powers of attorney if executed as deeds. The deed is the modern descendant of the medieval charter, and delivery is thought to symbolically replace the ancient ceremony of livery of seisin.

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Famous quotes containing the word deed:

    Those Maine woods differ essentially from ours. There you are never reminded that the wilderness which you are threading is, after all, some villager’s familiar wood-lot, some widow’s thirds, from which her ancestors have sledded fuel for generations, minutely described in some old deed which is recorded, of which the owner has got a plan, too, and old bound-marks may be found every forty rods, if you will search.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    Ere the bat hath flown
    His cloistered flight, ere to black Hecate’s summons
    The shard-born beetle with his drowsy hums
    Hath rung night’s yawning peal, there shall be done
    A deed of dreadful note.
    William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

    One good deed dying tongueless
    Slaughters a thousand waiting upon that;
    Our praises are our wages.
    William Shakespeare (1564–1616)