Smith County Special Warranty Deed (Trustee Grantor) Form

A deed out of a Texas trust is signed by a grantor acting in a capacity: the trustee, who holds legal title to the trust's real property and conveys it under the Texas Trust Code. This special warranty deed prepares that conveyance, with the trustee identified in a representative capacity, the trust named and dated on the face of the deed, and a warranty calibrated to the period the trustee can answer for.

A warranty measured by the trust's own ownership

The deed conveys with the statutory words grants, sells, and conveys from Property Code Section 5.022, then binds the grantor to warrant and defend title only against claims arising by, through, or under the grantor, but not otherwise. Defects that predate the trust's ownership fall outside the warranty and are left to the state of the record and to title insurance, while anything arising during the trustee's ownership, a lien granted by the trustee or a second conveyance of the same land, stays covered. Because the deed conveys the property itself rather than releasing bare right, title, and interest, it operates as a true conveyance under the Texas Supreme Court's characterization cases, not a quitclaim.

Authority recited, trust kept private

The operative section recites the trustee's power of sale under the trust instrument and Property Code Section 113.010, which authorizes a trustee to sell and convey real property at public auction or private sale. The trust agreement itself never enters the county records: the deed names the trust and its date, and Texas supplies the certification of trust under Section 114.086 for a title company or purchaser who asks for evidence of the trustee's powers. The Trust Code rounds out the picture on the other side of the closing table: Section 114.081 protects a person dealing with a trustee in good faith and for fair value, and the covenants in this deed bind the trust estate rather than the trustee personally.

One trustee, signing alone

The form carries one signature block and one notary certificate, completed in representative capacity style: the trustee's name followed by the trust, on behalf of the trust. Beneficiaries hold equitable interests and have no signature line. For homestead property held in a qualifying trust under Property Code Section 41.0021, the spousal joinder question was addressed when the property entered the trust; the statute permits the trustee to convey without the joinder of either spouse unless the trust instrument expressly prohibits it, and the guide walks through that provision.

What arrives in the package

The download includes the blank deed as a fillable PDF formatted for Texas recording standards, with the confidentiality notice required by Property Code Section 11.008 at the top of the first page and space reserved for the clerk's stamp; a completed example showing a trustee conveyance from a living trust filled in start to finish; and a plain language guide covering every numbered section, the signing formalities, and recording with the county clerk of the county where the property is located. The materials are informational and are not legal advice; a Texas attorney can apply these statutes to a particular trust and title.