TITLE INSURANCE

A policy of title insurance is a contract of indemnity relating to a specific parcel of land.  It protects the insured against loss by reason of defects, liens, or encumbrances that may exist at the time of the policy and not be expressly excepted by tis terms.  It will not only protect against valid claims that may arise, but also provide for the defense against frivolous or invalid claims.  The Title Policy covers all matters, which could be ascertained by examination of the public records. 

A policy, however, goes further to insure against defects, which are 'off record', such as forgery, false impersonation, minority, in competency, insanity, death or presumed death, marital status, powers of Trustees, Attorneys-in-fact, corporations, agents, delivery, etc.  In addition to indemnifying the insured against losses which result from a covered claim, the policy also provides for legal fees and defense against future claims against the property. 

Title curative is a set of procedures used to identify and/or "cure" defects in chains of title, such as correcting instruments that are erroneous or ambiguous.   The process is focused on whether the actual use and possession of the parcel of land under review is consistent with record title. A variety of problems can arise during the title examination process.   For example:

• Land Description -  the land must be described in the deed in a form consistent with the requirements of each jurisdiction.
• Recordation - the document to be recorded must have the elements required by the particular county in which it is recorded.
• Failure of Acknowledgements - if the acknowledgment is not in the correct form, the document may be deemed to be improperly executed.
• Death, Wills, Intestacy, etc. - the testamentary documents must show the testaror's intent sufficiently to convet to the new owner in the chain.
• Marital Interests, Divorce Decrees, etc. - the decree of divorce must specifically transfer title through the family court and be properly filed of record, or a quit claim deed obtained from the spouse not in ownership to relinquish any claim on title.  In community property states such as Florida, both spouses may be required to execute conveyancing documents even in the event of separate property ownership.
• Joint Tenancies, Life Estates, etc. - ownership under special circumstances must be addressed and conveyed in the proper capacity.  In the case of Life Estates, it may need to be established that the person holding the estate is in fact deceased.
• Mortgages, Tax Liens, etc. - liens which have not been released may need to be verified.  In the case of mortgages, a takedown schedule may release portions of the property on a defined schedule or by sequential partial releases. 
• Company Conveyances, Corporations, Partnerships, Mergers, etc. - the appropriate company executive must execute any conveyancing documents, and in the case of a merger or acquisition, the merger documents may need to be filed or record to chain title even though they may be of record in the state of incorporation.

A title examiner needs to be familiar with all these issues and with all of the standard curative statues of the state where the land parcel lies, as well as court rulings governing title.