Idaho Warranty Deed

An Idaho deed moves more than dirt. Under Idaho Code Section 55-617, a transfer of Idaho real property carries the appurtenant water rights the seller owns, unless the seller reserves them in the instrument of conveyance itself. This Idaho warranty deed is drafted around that reality: it conveys the described parcel with full general warranty covenants, states that the appurtenances and unreserved appurtenant water rights go with it, and gives a reservation exactly one place to live, on the face of the deed.

What travels with the parcel, and what stays behind

Three Idaho statutes decide what a plain conveyance carries. Section 55-604 presumes a fee simple passes unless the grant shows a lesser estate was intended. Section 55-603 passes the easements attached to the land. Section 55-617 passes appurtenant water rights, and its subsection (6) confirms that nonappurtenant rights stay where they are. The deed's exceptions and reservations section is the counterweight: recorded plat easements, subdivision restrictions, mineral reservations, an outstanding deed of trust, and any water right the seller keeps are written there, above two printed sentences stating that the conveyance and the covenants operate subject to what is listed and that a reservation works only when the deed states it.

Express covenants, because Idaho prints no deed form

Idaho publishes no statutory deed form, and Section 55-612 attaches a narrow pair of covenants to the word grant, both limited to the grantor's own dealings. A general warranty reaches further, so this deed writes its covenants out: seisin in fee simple, authority to convey, freedom from encumbrances other than the listed exceptions, quiet enjoyment, and a promise to warrant and forever defend the title against the lawful claims of all persons, whenever in the chain the defect arose. The deed adds that these express covenants sit alongside the Section 55-612 covenants and that nothing in the document restrains them, which matters because that statute qualifies its own covenants with the phrase unless restrained by express terms.

One or two names on each side, and no vesting printed anywhere

The party blocks on this form are open. The grantor block takes one name or two, as the vesting deed writes them, with whatever status the parties state; the grantee block takes one name or two, followed by the words that describe how the grantees hold, and the mailing address that Section 55-601 requires on the face of every Idaho conveyance. Nothing about marriage, capacity, or co-ownership is preprinted, so the deed says what the filler writes rather than what a form chose in advance. Idaho recognizes several holding patterns, among them tenancy in common as the default under Sections 55-104 and 55-508, an expressly declared joint tenancy with right of survivorship, and the statutory community property with right of survivorship estate that Section 15-6-401 creates when the instrument declares it in those words.

Execution follows the same flexible shape. Two signature blocks, headed GRANTOR and SECOND GRANTOR (if applicable), are followed by an acknowledgment certificate for each, in the wording of the Idaho short form under Section 51-116. A conveyance by a single owner uses the first block and leaves the second, with its certificate, blank; a conveyance of community real estate, where Section 32-912 has both spouses join, or of a married person's homestead under Section 55-1007, fills both. Sellers signing for a company, a trustee signing in a trust capacity, an attorney in fact executing under Section 55-602, and groups of three or more owners each recite a capacity or a signature architecture this deed does not print.

Fifteen dollars, no transfer tax, and a race to the recorder

Idaho keeps recording simple. Section 31-3205 prices a conveyance of thirty pages or fewer at fifteen dollars, Section 63-307A states the state policy against real estate transfer taxes and blocks counties from adopting one, and no declaration or questionnaire rides along. What Idaho does reward is speed: under the race notice rule of Section 55-812, a deed loses to a later good faith purchaser for value who reaches the recorder first. Pages print inside the statutory eight and one half by fourteen inch maximum, and the first page keeps its top three inches clear for stamps and labels.

The package includes the fillable Idaho warranty deed, a completed example filled out for a Kootenai County sale, and a plain language guide covering every numbered section, the vesting choices Idaho law recognizes, the signing rules, and the recording steps. The materials are informational and are not legal advice.