Smith County Special Warranty Deed (with Owelty Lien) Form

Texas homestead law defeats nearly every lien a creditor can record. Article XVI, Section 50(a)(3) of the Texas Constitution names one of the few exceptions: an owelty of partition imposed against the entirety of the property by a court order or by a written agreement of the parties to the partition, including the debt one spouse owes the other after a divorce court awards the family home. This form prepares the Texas instrument built around that exception, a special warranty deed that conveys a co-owner's interest and retains an owelty of partition lien securing the buyout.

One deed, two jobs

The deed does two things in a single recorded instrument. First it conveys: the departing co-owner grants, sells, and conveys that owner's undivided interest to the co-owner keeping the property, with a special warranty covering claims that arise by, through, or under the grantor, but not otherwise. Then it secures: an owelty of partition lien is imposed and retained against the entirety of the property, together with a vendor's lien and superior title, until the note for the equalizing payment is fully paid, at which point the deed becomes absolute. Because the lien reaches the whole property rather than only the interest conveyed, it holds even where the property is the remaining owner's homestead, standing on the constitutional exception rather than on ordinary contract lien law.

Divorce buyouts and other partitions

The most familiar setting is a Texas divorce in which one spouse keeps the house and the other receives a share of the equity. The decree orders a partition with an owelty award; this deed, a real estate lien note, and a deed of trust to secure owelty of partition then carry the award into the county records, where a refinance lender can fund the buyout and take the note and its liens by assignment. The Supreme Court of Texas recognized the same device for voluntary partitions in Sayers v. Pyland (1942), so the same structure operates for inherited co-owners and other cotenants who divide by written agreement.

Why both parties sign

The grantor signs to convey. The grantee signs to join in the partition, because the constitution permits the owelty lien against a homestead when a court order or a written agreement of the parties imposes it, and the deed recites that the parties sign it as that written agreement. The form carries a separate acknowledgment certificate for each signer, so the two can appear before different notaries on different dates.

Prepared for the recording counter

The deed carries the confidentiality notice Property Code Section 11.008 places at the top of the first page, letter size pages within the county formatting standards, and reserved space for the clerk's recording stamp. It records with the county clerk of the county where the property is located. The package includes the blank deed as a fillable PDF, a completed example documenting a Fort Worth divorce buyout from decree to notary blocks, and a plain language guide that walks through every numbered section and the recording steps. The materials are informational and are not legal advice.