Howard County Survivorship Deed (Joint Tenants with Right of Survivorship) Form

Maryland does not assume that two people who own property together intend the survivor to take the whole. Real Property Article Section 2-117 presumes the opposite: a deed to co-owners who are not married to each other is a tenancy in common, where each share passes through the deceased owner's estate, unless the deed expressly says the property is held in joint tenancy. A Maryland survivorship deed supplies that express language, conveying to two grantees who hold as joint tenants with survivorship.

The express words Maryland requires

The whole point of this deed is the language Section 2-117 demands. The form states that the two grantees take as joint tenants with right of survivorship and not as tenants in common, and adds the express provision that the property is held in joint tenancy. With those words in place, the right of survivorship attaches: when one joint tenant dies, that tenant's interest vests in the surviving joint tenant by operation of law, outside probate.

A present conveyance, not a death-time designation

This deed transfers an interest now. The grantor conveys the property to the two grantees during the grantor's life, and each grantee holds a present, equal, undivided interest once the deed is delivered. That sets it apart from a transfer on death deed, which Maryland did not recognize for real property when this form was prepared and which passes nothing until death. Once this deed is delivered, the grantor cannot undo it alone; the grantees own their interests, and survivorship runs between them.

Adding an owner without a straw deed

Real Property Article Section 4-108 lets a grantor make a direct grant of a joint tenancy interest, including to the grantor as one of the grantees, with no straw man in the middle. A sole owner placing title in herself and an adult child as joint tenants can do that in this one deed, and the form recites that authority.

What the special warranty covers

Maryland deeds carry no implied warranty of title, so a deed conveys only the covenant its words supply. This form uses the special warranty words of Section 2-106, under which the grantor warrants and defends the property against any lawful claim by, through, or under the grantor, and no further. The grantees take subject to liens, easements, and other matters of record, and a joint tenancy lacks the creditor protection a tenancy by the entirety gives a married couple. A married couple that wants survivorship together ordinarily takes title as tenants by the entirety; a general warranty deed adds the broad covenant of Section 2-105 against every lawful claim of any person.

Recording in Maryland

The deed is recorded with the Clerk of the Circuit Court for the county where the property sits, with a completed Land Instrument Intake Sheet for the State Department of Assessments and Taxation. Maryland requires a certificate of preparation on the deed before the clerk records it, certifying that a Maryland attorney prepared or supervised it, or that a party named in the deed prepared it; the form carries that certificate. The package includes the fillable deed, a completed Anne Arundel County example, and a plain language guide covering each section, the acknowledgment, the intake sheet, and the transfer and recordation taxes. These materials are informational and are not legal advice.