Howard County Warranty Deed Form

One owner, signing alone: this Arkansas warranty deed is set up for a single grantor, an unmarried individual, conveying Arkansas real property with full warranty covenants. The form recites exactly one grantor and carries one signature line, two witness blocks, and one notary certificate, the execution pattern Arkansas law describes for an individual owner with no spousal rights to relinquish.

A warranty built into three words

Arkansas writes its covenants into the granting language itself. Under Ark. Code Ann. Section 18-12-102, a deed that grants, bargains, and sells covenants that the grantor holds an indefeasible fee simple estate, that the property is free from encumbrances the grantor made or suffered, and that the grantee will have quiet enjoyment. This deed carries those statutory words and adds an express general warranty: the grantor will forever warrant and defend the title against the lawful claims of all persons, not only against claims tracing to the grantor's own time on the title. Arkansas prescribes no official warranty deed form, so the covenant language, not the caption, is what makes an instrument a general warranty deed, and Section 18-12-105 presumes the deed conveys the grantor's complete fee simple estate unless the deed expressly limits it. One statutory exception rides along: improvement district assessments stay with the land and fall outside the general covenant unless the deed says otherwise.

One unmarried grantor, one signature line

The operative language recites a grantor who is an individual, unmarried, and conveying the grantor's own property. That configuration matches the statutes that shape who signs an Arkansas deed. A conveyance affecting the homestead of a married person is not valid unless the spouse joins in executing it (Ark. Code Ann. Section 18-12-403), and Arkansas preserves dower and curtesy, a surviving spouse's life interest in one third of lands the deceased spouse held during the marriage, unless relinquished (Section 28-11-301). Because those rights do not attach to an unmarried owner's conveyance, this form carries no spousal joinder or relinquishment block. An heir conveying property distributed from an estate and a single owner transferring a rental parcel present the pattern this deed recites. The form recites a natural person signing personally; a conveyance by a company, a trustee, or an agent under a power of attorney carries a different signature block and a different statutory acknowledgment.

Witnesses, the notary, and the transfer tax stamps

Arkansas execution runs more formal than most states. Section 18-12-104 describes execution in the presence of two disinterested witnesses, and recording rests on the grantor's acknowledgment before a notary or other authorized officer under Sections 18-12-201 and 18-12-206. The form carries both: two witness blocks with printed name lines, and a full acknowledgment certificate below the notary line. After the signatures sits the transfer tax certification of Section 26-60-110, signed by the grantee or the grantee's agent. Arkansas collects a combined $3.30 per $1,000 of consideration on transfers over $100, and the recorder does not record a taxable deed without documentary stamps, the Department of Finance and Administration affidavit, or this on-instrument certification. The statutory preparer statement appears on the face of the first page, and since Act 752 of 2025 a deed presented in person or by mail is accompanied by the grantor's photo identification, with exceptions for presentation by attorneys, title agents, real estate brokers, and lenders.

Formatted for the Arkansas recording counter

The deed is laid out to the letter of Ark. Code Ann. Section 14-15-402(b)(1): letter size pages, two and one half inches reserved at the top right of the first page for the recorder's file mark, side and bottom margins over the statutory half inch, and two and one half inches reserved at the bottom of the last page. The statewide fee is $15 for the first page and $5 for each additional page. Recording is where priority is won: under Section 14-15-404, an unrecorded deed is not valid against a later purchaser for value without notice or against a judgment creditor, so the deed goes on record in the county where the property is located promptly after signing.

The download includes the warranty deed as a fillable PDF, a completed example showing the form filled in for a realistic Pulaski County sale, and a plain language guide that walks through every section, the witness and notary blocks, the vesting choices open to the grantee, and the transfer tax workflow. The materials describe Arkansas law in general terms and are not legal advice.