Whatcom County Warranty Deed (Individual Grantor) Form

One signature line, one printed name, and one notary certificate carry this Washington warranty deed from the grantor to the county auditor's index. The form prepares the statutory warranty deed that RCW 64.04.030 prints, for exactly one individual grantor, a natural person conveying in the grantor's own capacity, and it passes title with the full covenants the statute attaches to the words conveys and warrants. Buyers and title examiners also know the instrument as a general warranty deed.

Why one signature line is the whole configuration

Washington ties the number of signatures on a deed to the character of the title. Separate property, which RCW 26.16.010 and RCW 26.16.020 define as property owned before the marriage or domestic partnership or acquired afterward by gift, bequest, devise, descent, or inheritance, may be conveyed by the owner spouse or domestic partner without the other joining, and an unmarried owner conveys alone. Those two patterns present the single-signature configuration this deed recites: one name-and-status entry in Section 1, one GRANTOR signature block over a printed name, and one acknowledgment certificate in the individual capacity short form of RCW 42.45.140(1). Community real property follows RCW 26.16.030(3), under which both spouses or both domestic partners join in the deed and both acknowledge it, and RCW 6.13.060 imposes the same both-execute requirement on a homestead; those conveyances carry a second signature and a second certificate this form does not draw. A trustee, personal representative, attorney in fact, or company officer signs in a representative capacity and takes the RCW 42.45.140(2) certificate, with its type-of-authority bridge, rather than the one printed here.

Six operative words, five covenants of title

RCW 64.04.030 attaches a full set of implied covenants to a deed in the statutory form. By reciting that the grantor conveys and warrants the described real estate, the deed promises that the grantor was lawfully seised of an indefeasible fee simple estate, had good right and full power to convey it, and that the premises were free from all encumbrances; the grantor further warrants the grantee's quiet and peaceable possession and will defend the title against all persons who may lawfully claim it. The covenants bind the grantor's heirs and personal representatives as if written out at full length, and they reach title matters from before the grantor's ownership as well as during it, which separates this deed from the bargain and sale posture of RCW 64.04.040 and the quitclaim posture of RCW 64.04.050. Section 5 states the recorded matters the covenants are made subject to, such as a utility easement or plat restrictions.

A first page the auditor can index without a cover sheet

RCW 65.04.045 writes the first page of every Washington instrument, and this form is laid out to it: a three inch recording band at the top, the return name and address on the top left inside that band, and immediately below the band the title, the grantor and grantee names, an abbreviated lot-block-plat legal description, and the assessor's parcel number set apart from the other text. The full legal description follows on the second page, the page reference the statute itself contemplates; an instrument whose first page lacks the items takes the RCW 65.04.047 cover sheet at an added page fee. A Washington deed also reaches the auditor only after the county treasurer: chapter 82.45 RCW imposes the real estate excise tax on a sale, and under RCW 82.45.090 the auditor does not accept a taxable instrument until the treasurer has affixed verification of payment or noted that no tax is due. The guide covers the affidavit, the graduated state and local rates, the exemption codes for nonsale transfers, and the statutory recording fee and surcharges.

A King County example from the return block to the notary line

The completed example runs the whole document on a King County fact pattern, an unmarried owner conveying a platted Seattle lot to a single buyer for a stated price, so every blank has a model entry. The guide describes the statutory framework, the single-grantor configuration, each form in which Washington grantees may hold title, every numbered section, signing and acknowledgment in or outside Washington, and the recording and excise tax steps.

The download contains the blank warranty deed as a fillable PDF, the completed example, and the plain language guide. The materials describe Washington law in general terms and are informational; they are not legal advice, and a Washington attorney can address how these rules apply to a particular title or transaction.