Ketchikan Gateway Borough Warranty Deed (Trustee Grantor) Form

A trustee selling Alaska real property out of a trust signs a deed that does two jobs at once: it recites the fiduciary capacity in which the grantor acts, and it carries the full statutory title covenants of Alaska law. This Alaska Warranty Deed (Trustee Grantor) prepares that instrument, with one trustee signer, a trust identification section, and the statutory operative words, conveys and warrants, from AS 34.15.030.

A fiduciary who conveys and warrants

Alaska puts the warranty in the words. Under AS 34.15.030, a deed substantially in the statutory form, using conveys and warrants, is a conveyance in fee simple carrying three covenants the statute writes into the instrument by law: that the grantor holds an indefeasible fee simple estate and has the power to convey it; that the premises are free from encumbrances; and that the grantor will warrant and defend the title. Because AS 34.15.080 bars implied covenants in Alaska conveyances, a deed without those statutory words passes title with no warranties at all; the operative language is what separates this instrument from a quitclaim. The form pairs the covenants with a dedicated exceptions section listing the matters of record, patent reservations, easements, plat notes, and current taxes among them, to which the covenants are expressly subject, and under AS 34.15.075 title later acquired by the grantor passes to the grantee by operation of law under a warranty deed.

The capacity recital and the trust behind the deed

The form recites exactly one grantor, signing as trustee. Its first two sections identify the acting trustee with a complete mailing address and the trust by name and date of the trust instrument, and the granting clause states that the grantor conveys acting solely as trustee of the identified trust and not individually. One signature line and one acknowledgment certificate follow, with the certificate's name line carrying the trustee capacity in the style of the AS 09.63.100 short forms. A settlor serving as trustee of a revocable living trust who sells to a third party, a successor trustee conveying after the settlor's death, and a trustee selling during trust administration all present the single-trustee pattern this deed recites. The form is not set up for co-trustees who each sign, for a conveyance without warranty, or for a personal representative's deed from a probate estate. Alaska practice commonly pairs a trustee deed with a certification of trust under AS 13.36.079, the statutory document by which a trustee presents the trust's existence and the trustee's powers without disclosing dispositive terms; the certification is prepared separately and is not included in this package.

Recording in Alaska's district system

Alaska records deeds through a statewide system run by the Department of Natural Resources Recorder's Office in 34 recording districts, not through county or borough recorders, and the deed identifies the recording district where the property sits, as AS 40.17.030 requires. The same statute calls for a complete mailing address for the grantor and each grantee and a clear return name and address, and the recorder rejects a deed missing them. The form reserves the statutory 2 inches at the top of its first page for the recorder, keeps 1 inch margins elsewhere, and prints on letter paper within the 8.5 by 14 inch maximum. Alaska charges $20 for the first recorded page and $5 for each additional page and collects no statewide transfer tax; no accompanying transfer declaration is filed with the deed. The AS 40.17.080 recording act gives the recorded deed constructive notice effect in the district where the land sits, protecting the grantee's priority over unrecorded later conveyances.

What arrives with the deed

The download contains the blank warranty deed as a fillable PDF, a completed example showing the entire document filled in for a realistic Anchorage Recording District fact pattern from a trustee grantor, and a plain-language guide that walks through every numbered section, the grantee vesting options Alaska recognizes, the notarization and judicial-district venue details, and the recording process. The materials are informational and are not legal advice; an Alaska attorney can address how these rules operate on a specific title or trust.