Smith County Special Warranty Deed (Individual Grantor) Form

The Texas special warranty deed conveys real estate while the owner stands behind the title only for the owner's own period of ownership. The Grantor conveys the property to the grantee and warrants the title against every person lawfully claiming it by, through, or under the Grantor, and not otherwise, except as to the reservations and exceptions stated in the deed. That qualifying language defines the special warranty, also called a limited warranty: the Grantor does not defend against title defects that arose before acquiring the property. This package prepares the deed for a single Grantor, with a fillable form, a completed example, and a section by section guide.

General warranty compared with special warranty

The difference between the two warranty deeds is the reach of the title covenant, not the conveyance itself. A general warranty defends against lawful claims arising at any point in the chain of title, including defects predating the Grantor's ownership; a special warranty defends only against claims arising through the Grantor's own acts. Texas Property Code Section 5.022 supplies a statutory form for a general warranty and provides that a covenant of warranty is not required and that parties may use any clause not in contravention of law; the special warranty rests on that freedom. The deed expressly limits the covenants implied under Section 5.023 to the same by, through, or under the Grantor scope, a limitation the Texas Supreme Court recognized in Chicago Title Insurance Co. v. Cochran Investments, Inc. (Tex. 2020).

What the form covers

The deed is organized into numbered sections that track the order of a recorded Texas conveyance:

• A Grantor block and a grantee block, with marital status and the form of co-ownership where it applies
• The legal description of the property and its street address
• The source of title, identifying the recorded instrument by which the Grantor holds
• Reservations and exceptions, which carve matters out of both the conveyance and the warranty
• The consideration recital and the operative conveyance and special warranty language
• A conspicuous statement that the warranty is special only and that the grantee takes subject to all other matters affecting title

Signing and recording

The Grantor signs the deed before a notary public, who completes the acknowledgment certificate. Where the property is the homestead of a married Grantor, the Grantor's spouse joins under Texas Family Code Section 5.001 by signing the second block to convey the homestead interest; where the property is not homestead or the Grantor is unmarried, that block stays blank. The deed is then recorded with the county clerk of the county where the property is located. The confidentiality notice required by Property Code Section 11.008 appears at the top of the first page, and Senate Bill 16 added a photo identification requirement at the recording counter for instruments filed in person on or after December 4, 2025.

What the package includes

The package contains a blank fillable deed, a completed example, and a guide that explains each section, the governing statutes, and the recording process. The guide also describes the Texas General Warranty Deed forms for a broader warranty and the Texas Deed Without Warranty and Texas Quitclaim Deed for conveyances with no warranty. The materials are informational and are not legal advice.