Howard County Court Officer Deed Form (Iowa)
All Howard County specific forms and documents listed below are included in your immediate download package:
Court Officer Deed Form

Fill in the blank form formatted to comply with all recording and content requirements.
Included Howard County compliant document last validated/updated 4/8/2025
Court Officer Deed Guide

Line by line guide explaining every blank on the form.
Included Howard County compliant document last validated/updated 5/30/2025
Completed Example of the Court Officer Deed Document

Example of a properly completed form for reference.
Included Howard County compliant document last validated/updated 2/20/2025
The following Iowa and Howard County supplemental forms are included as a courtesy with your order:
When using these Court Officer Deed forms, the subject real estate must be physically located in Howard County. The executed documents should then be recorded in the following office:
Howard County Recorder
Howard County Courthouse 137 N. Elm ST., Cresco, Iowa 52136
Hours: 8:00am to 4:30pm.Monday through Friday
Phone: 563-547-9210
Local jurisdictions located in Howard County include:
- Chester
- Cresco
- Elma
- Lime Springs
- Protivin
- Riceville
How long does it take to get my forms?
Forms are available immediately after submitting payment.
How do I get my forms, are they emailed?
Immediately after you submit payment, the Howard County forms you order will be available for download directly from your account. You can then download the forms to your computer. If you do not already have an account, one will be created for you as part of the order process, and your login details will be provided to you. If you encounter any issues accessing your forms, please reach out to our support team for assistance. Forms are NOT emailed to you.
What does "validated/updated" mean?
This indicates the most recent date when at least one of the following occurred:
- Updated: The document was updated or changed to remain compliant.
- Validated: The document was examined by an attorney or staff, or it was successfully recorded in Howard County using our eRecording service.
Are these forms guaranteed to be recordable in Howard County?
Yes. Our form blanks are guaranteed to meet or exceed all formatting requirements set forth by Howard County including margin requirements, content requirements, font and font size requirements.
Can the Court Officer Deed forms be re-used?
Yes. You can re-use the forms for your personal use. For example, if you have more than one property in Howard County that you need to transfer you would only need to order our forms once for all of your properties in Howard County.
What are supplemental forms?
Often when a deed is recorded, additional documents are required by Iowa or Howard County. These could be tax related, informational, or even as simple as a coversheet. Supplemental forms are provided for free with your order where available.
What type of files are the forms?
All of our Howard County Court Officer Deed forms are PDFs. You will need to have or get Adobe Reader to use our forms. Adobe Reader is free software that most computers already have installed.
Do I need any special software to use these forms?
You will need to have Adobe Reader installed on your computer to use our forms. Adobe Reader is free software that most computers already have installed.
Do I have to enter all of my property information online?
No. The blank forms are downloaded to your computer and you fill them out there, at your convenience.
Can I save the completed form, email it to someone?
Yes, you can save your deed form at any point with your information in it. The forms can also be emailed, blank or complete, as attachments.
Are there any recurring fees involved?
No. Nothing to cancel, no memberships, no recurring fees.
When a property owner dies in Iowa, title to his or her real property passes by means of the decedent's will, or, in the absence of a will, via the laws of intestate succession established in the probate code, codified at chapter 633 of the Iowa Code.
Probate is the court procedure through which a decedent's will is proved and his or her estate is settled. The probate process takes place in the county in which the decedent was domiciled at the time of his or her death.
Pursuant to designation in the decedent's will or priority to administer the decedent's estate, as established by Iowa Code 633.227, the court appoints a personal representative (PR) who will oversee the estate's administration. The PR is either called an executor, when named by a decedent's will, or an administrator, in the absence of a will or lack of designation in a will. Regardless, the fiduciary duties of the personal representative remain the same, including marshalling the decedent's assets, paying debts and valid claims on the estate, and distributing the remainder of the estate to beneficiaries.
Title to real property that does not transfer outside of the probate process by means of a survivorship interest or trust must pass by means of a deed. Depending on the situation, a PR may be directed by the terms of a will to sell real property, or might need to consolidate the estate by selling property. The PR will need to petition the court for an order of sale if a power of sale is not set forth in a will. In Iowa, PRs use a court officer deed to transfer property from a decedent's estate to a distributee or purchaser.
A court officer's deed must meet all state and local standards, and might also require additional supporting documentation. The completed deed is executed and signed by the PR of the decedent's estate and recorded in the office of the recorder of land records in the county where the subject real property is situated. Iowa requires additional documentation when recording land records, including a Ground Water Hazard Statement (GWHS) and a Declaration of Value (DOV), unless a revenue tax exemption is claimed on the face of the conveyancing document.
As always, consult a lawyer with any questions regarding estate administration and court officer deeds in Iowa.
(Iowa Court Officer Deed Package includes form, guidelines, and completed example)
Our Promise
The documents you receive here will meet, or exceed, the Howard County recording requirements for formatting. If there's an issue caused by our formatting, we'll make it right and refund your payment.
Save Time and Money
Get your Howard County Court Officer Deed form done right the first time with Deeds.com Uniform Conveyancing Blanks. At Deeds.com, we understand that your time and money are valuable resources, and we don't want you to face a penalty fee or rejection imposed by a county recorder for submitting nonstandard documents. We constantly review and update our forms to meet rapidly changing state and county recording requirements for roughly 3,500 counties and local jurisdictions.
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June 30th, 2025
Breeze.... It feels silly to hire an attorney to do this for just one beneficiary. Thanks.
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June 29th, 2025
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August 3rd, 2020
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July 12th, 2019
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February 19th, 2019
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July 5th, 2019
This service was easy, quick, and to the point.
It was a lifesaver! Downloaded quickly and without issues. I was able to fill out a soecifice form for my state and county, which saved me from making errors from a universal form.
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Ivory J.
August 1st, 2020
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December 18th, 2020
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November 7th, 2023
Very handy when clueless about filling out a form. Saved hours of research.
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August 9th, 2023
I am the Kent County Recorder of Deeds in Central Delaware. I am impressed by the accuracy of your website. All data you post is correct regarding forms, fees, etc. We have just spent several months researching Property Theft, using many cites from various sources. I just discovered your white paper on this subject, and it is excellent. It also covers a few things we did not, such as house flipping and immigrants. Congratulations!
Thank you for your kind words and thoughtful review! It's an honor to know that our resources have been valuable to the Kent County Recorder of Deeds. Your feedback is particularly meaningful to us, and we are glad that our white paper contributed to your research on Property Theft. We fully support your vital efforts to combat property theft and deed fraud, and if there's anything else we can assist you with or any further insights you'd like to share, please don't hesitate to reach out. Keep up the outstanding work!
steven l.
July 29th, 2020
As a first time user and not having knowledge of how your site worked it was awkward to upload a file and not know what to do next. I found out there is nothing to do next but that after some time looking for a submit button or some kind of confirmation that I was doing the right thing. Ended up being very easy, just wasted time trying to figure out what to do when there was nothing left to do.
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July 20th, 2022
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Sander G.
December 4th, 2019
Good but knocked off a star because the download file names are mostly numbers instead of recognizable names of the file contents (e.g., Promissory_Note_blank.pdf). Renaming would be a great help!
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Lawrence D.
March 14th, 2019
My first time using it; very fast service. I am an estate planning attorney (44 years). None of my old title company contacts are around anymore to provide deed copies, so this is a great source. I will be using it again.
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