Rule Text
Except as otherwise provided in Standard 7.1, no deed, mortgage (other than a purchase money mortgage) or other conveyance by an individual grantor shall be approved as sufficient to vest marketable title in the grantee unless:
(A) The body of the instrument contains the grantor's recitation to the effect that the individual grantor is unmarried; or
(B) The individual grantor's spouse, identified as such in the body of the instrument, subscribes the instrument as a grantor; or
(C) The grantee is the spouse of the individual grantor and that fact is recited by the grantor in the body of the instrument: or
(D) In the event a recorded conveyance of nonhomestead property has been executed by a married grantor without being joined by his or her spouse, said conveyance shall be marketable if one of the following instruments is placed of record:
(1) An affidavit executed by the nonjoining spouse stating that the property conveyed was nonhomestead property; or
(2) A conveyance executed by the nonjoining spouse, with or without others, relinquishing any claim to an interest in the property to the same grantee, or to a successor or successors in interest, with a recitation that the property was nonhomestead property.
Amendment history: /FONT> Adopted November 4, 1983, by House of Delegates on recommendation of the 1983 Committee on Title Examination Standards, 54 O.B.J. 2379-80 (1983), and approval of the Real Property Section, November 3, 1983. Section B added to the standard by recommendation in the Report of the 1986 Title Examination Standards Committee, 57 O.B.J. 2677-78 (1986), approval of the Real Property Section, November 20, 1986, and adoption by the House of Delegates, November 21, 1986. The 2003 Report of the Title Examination Standards Committee, 74 O.B.J. 2801 (10/11/03) recommended amending this standard for clarification and to reflect the finding in Melton v. Sneed , 188 Okla. 388, 109 P.2d 509 (1940). The Real Property Section approved the recommendation on November 13, 2003, and the House of Delegates adopted the amendment on November 14, 2003, 74 O.B.J. 3231 (11/22/03). The Title Examination Standards Committee recommended a change in Comment 1 to Title Standard 7.2 to more adequately reflect the status of the law which supports that standard. The Real Property Law Section approved, November 5, 2009, and the House of Delegates adopted the proposal November 6, 2009. ( superseded document available ) The Title Examination Standards Sub-Committee recommended a change to the first comment of Title Standard 7.2 to more accurately reflect that the legal authority on which the standard is based. The Real Property Law Section approved, November 18, 2010, and the House of Delegates adopted the proposal on November 19, 2010. ( superseded document available ) The Title Examination Standards Committee recommended an addition to the first comment to this Section to explain and clarify the reasoning and purpose of the Standard. The Real Property Law Section approved the proposal on November 13, 2014, and the House of Delegates adopted the amendment on November 14, 2014. ( superseded document available ) The 2017 Title Examination Standards Sub-Committee of the Real Property Law Section recommended adding a Comment to Standard 7.1, to amend the Comments to Standard 7.2 and to amend Standard 13.7 E in order to reflect results in the holdings of Bishop v. Smith, 760 F.3d 1070 (10th Cir. 2014) and Obergefell v. Hodges 576 U.S. ___ (2015) as to same sex marriages. The Real Property Section approved the proposal on November 2, 2017 and the House of Delegates adopted the amendment on November 4, 2017. ( superseded document available ) The Title Examination Sub-Committee recommended Standard 7.2 be amended as follows to add a new sub-paragraph "D" and to revise the Comments to reflect the amendment of 16 O.S. §13. The Real Property Section approved the proposal on November 7, 2019 and the House of Delegates adopted the amendment on November 8, 2019. ( superseded document available ) The 2020 Title Examination Standards Sub-Committee of the Real Property Law Section recommended the following editorial changes to the Title Standards as they appear on OSCN to bring the printed handbook and OSCN into conformity. The Real Property Section approved the proposal, and the House of Delegates adopted the amendment on November 13, 2020. ( superseded document available )
Plain-English Summary (for reference only — not a substitute for the rule text above)
This summary is not the rule. The rule text controls.
When someone sells or transfers property, the paperwork needs to clearly show whether that person is married or not. This matters because a spouse can have legal rights to a property, even if their name isn't on the title. If those rights aren't handled correctly in the paperwork, the new owner might not get clear, sellable title to the property.
To fix this, the rule lays out a few ways to make the transfer valid. The person selling the property can state in the document that they are single. Or, if they're married, their spouse can sign the document too, agreeing to the transfer. Another option is if the buyer is actually the seller's own spouse, and the document says so.
There's also a special situation covered here: what if someone already transferred property in the past without their spouse signing, and the property wasn't their main home (not a "homestead")? In that case, the title can still be cleared up later. This can happen if the spouse who didn't sign the original paperwork later signs a sworn statement confirming it wasn't their home, or signs a separate document giving up any claim to the property. Either fix can be recorded to clean up the title, even after the fact.
This rule exists to protect spouses' property rights and to make sure buyers get title that's actually safe to rely on. If the paperwork skips these steps, it can create serious problems down the road when someone tries to sell or borrow against the property.
Committee Notes
Comment 1: There is no question that an instrument relating to the homestead is void unless both spouses subscribe it. Grenard v. McMahan, 1968 OK 75, 441 P.2d 950, Atkinson v. Barr, 1967 OK 103, 428 P.2d 316, but also see Hill v. Discover Bank, 2008 OK CIV APP 111, 213 P.3d 835. It is also settled that both spouses must execute the same instrument, as separately executed instruments will be void. Thomas v. James, 1921 OK 414, 202 P. 499. It is essential to make the distinction between a valid conveyance and a conveyance vesting marketable title when consulting this standard. This distinction is important because the impossibility of determining from the record whether or not the land is homestead, requires the examiner, for marketable title purposes, to (1) assume that all real property is homestead, and (2) consequently, always require joinder of both spouses on all conveyances. A deed of non-homestead real property, signed by a title-holding married person without the joinder of their spouse, will be valid as between the parties to the deed and can confer marketable title upon the satisfaction of Sub-Part (D) above.
Comment 2: While 16 O.S. § 13 states that "The husband or wife may convey, mortgage or make any contract relating to any real estate, other than the homestead, belonging to him or her, as the case may be, without being joined by the other in such conveyance, mortgage or contract," joinder by both spouses must be required in all cases due to the impossibility of ascertaining from the record whether the property was or was not homestead or whether the transaction is one of those specifically permitted by statute. See 16 O.S. §§ 4 and 6 and Okla. Const. Art. XII, §2. A well-settled point, prior to amendment of 16 O.S. § 13, effective November 1, 2019, was that one may not rely upon recitations, either in the instrument or in a separate affidavit, to the effect that property was not the homestead. Such recitation by the grantor may be strong evidence when the issue is litigated, but it cannot be relied upon for the purpose of establishing marketability. Hensley v. Fletcher, 172 Okla. 19, 44 P.2d 63 (1935). However, the 2019 amendment authorized the use of affidavits and conveyances, executed by the nonjoining spouse and placed of record within ten (10) years of the filing of a conveyance described in 16 O.S. § 13(B), to evidence the property was not homestead and establish marketability.
Comment 3: If the individual grantor is unmarried and the grantor's marital status is inadvertently omitted from an instrument, or if two (2) grantors are married to each other and the grantors' marital status is inadvertently omitted from an instrument, a title examiner may rely on an affidavit executed and recorded pursuant to 16 O.S. § 82 which recites that the individual grantor was unmarried or that the two (2) grantors were married to each other at the date of such conveyance.
Comment 4: A non-owner spouse may join in a conveyance as part of a special phrase placed after the habendum clause, yet be omitted from the grantor line of a deed, and still be considered a grantor to satisfy paragraph B. of this title standard. Melton v. Sneed, 188 Okla. 388, 109 P. 2d 509 (1940).
Caveat: These recitations may not be relied upon if, upon "reasonable inquiry" the purchaser could have determined otherwise. Keel v. Jones 413 P.2d 549 (Okla. 1966).
