Zapata County Special Warranty Deed (Joint Grantors) Form

The Texas special warranty deed for joint grantors lets two owners convey real estate together while standing behind the title only for their own period of ownership. The Grantors convey the property to the grantee and warrant the title against every person claiming it by, through, or under the Grantors, 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 Grantors do not defend against title defects that arose before they acquired the property. This package prepares the deed for two grantors, 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 Grantors' ownership; a special warranty defends only against claims arising through the Grantors' own acts. Texas does not prescribe a statutory special warranty form; it rests on Section 5.022, which lets parties use any clause not in contravention of law. The deed expressly limits the covenants implied under Section 5.023 to the same by, through, or under the Grantors scope, a limitation the Texas Supreme Court recognized in Chicago Title Insurance Co. v. Cochran Investments, Inc. (Tex. 2020). The special warranty appears commonly where co-owners convey property they took by inheritance, whose earlier chain of title they did not build.

What the form covers

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

• Two grantor blocks 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 Grantors hold
• 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

Both Grantors sign the deed, each before a notary public, and each signature has its own acknowledgment certificate, so they may appear before different notaries on different days. Where a married couple conveys community property, both spouses sign as the two Grantors, and those joint signatures satisfy the homestead joinder requirement of Texas Family Code Section 5.001. 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 cases, and the recording process. The guide also describes the single grantor special warranty deed, the Texas General Warranty Deed forms for a broader warranty, and the deed without warranty and quitclaim forms. The materials are informational and are not legal advice.