Fiduciary Deed Law and Legal Definition
A fiduciary deed is a deed used to transfer property when the grantor is acting in his official capacity as a trustee, guardian, conservator, or executor, etc. A fiduciary deed typically only warrants that the fiduciary is acting in his appointed capacity and in the scope of his/her authority and doesn't guarantee the title of the property. Fiduciary deeds are governed by state laws, which vary by state, and may provide an exemption from transfer taxes for fiduciary deeds.
The following is an example of a state statute dealing with fiduciary deeds:
§ 629. STATUTORY FORM OF FIDUCIARY DEED
A deed in substance following the form appended to this section shall, when properly executed and delivered, have the force and effect of a deed in fee simple to the grantee, the grantee's heirs and successors, and assigns, to the grantees and their own use, with covenants on the part of the granting fiduciary, for that fiduciary, that at the time of the delivery of the deed, that the fiduciary had made due application to the appropriate probate court for the purpose of securing authority to convey the property, that the application was duly published according to law, and that the probate court licensed and authorized the fiduciary to sell at public auction or private sale the real estate that is the subject of the deed and that the fiduciary had previously taken the oath required by law and fulfilled all the requirements of the statute, and of the license of the probate court, and pursuant to the license and the authority set out above, and not otherwise, that the real estate is conveyed, and that the fiduciary is duly authorized by the probate court to convey the property in a manner and form set out above, and that the fiduciary has in all things observed the direction of the law and the provisions of the license and that the fiduciary, for the fiduciary and the fiduciary's heirs, executors, and administrators shall warrant and defend the premises against all persons claiming the premises by, from, or under the decedent or ward, or the fiduciary, but against no other person.
