In the United States the ancient technical principles relating to common law conveyances seem to be in a great measure inapplicable. The tendency of modern legislation as well as the current of later decisions, has been to simplify the forms of conveyances and to reduce the number of methods. The deeds commonly in use, and by which the great bulk of real estate transactions between individuals is effected, are, the deed of bargain and sale, popularly known as "Warranty Deed," and the deed of release and quitclaim, known as "Quitclaim Deed." To these may be added a third, a deed adapted from the old deed of non-claim, combining qualities peculiar to each of the other two classes, and called "Special Warranty Deed." They are all effectual to convey the fee, or whatever interest the grantor may possess, and will always do so unless a contrary intention is expressly manifest or clearly deducible by implication.

In preparing an abridgment of an ordinary deed of bargain and sale, when drawn in the usual manner, and unincumbered by unusual conditions or stipulations, only the salient features are necessary, it being understood that the deed is in form and that all the essential requisites have been complied with. Were this otherwise the abstract would become unnecessarily bulky and cumbersome, and defects, when shown, would be less readily detected. This is the universal custom of abstract makers, and the method seems to have met the approbation of the legal profession. Defects of form or substance, occurring in any part of the deed should be suitably noticed.

As in the case of simple warranty deeds, only the main features of quitclaim deeds need be shown in preparing a synopsis of same. Should the deed contain the statutory words which raise covenants, as is the case in some states, they then become material, for the instrument, in effect, becomes a warranty deed, though in form a quitclaim.30

There is in common use in the United States, a deed of conveyance usually known as a "Special Warranty." The covenant, as generally framed, is a limited personal covenant, not as against paramount title, but only so far as concerns the acts of the grantor. It is a covenant of warranty to the extent of its import and differs from a general warranty only, in that one is a warranty against any and all paramount titles, while the other is against the acts of the grantor himself, and all persons claiming under him. The deed is shown in the abstract the same as a warranty deed except that it is called a "Special Warranty/' and the express covenants are set forth. The legal effect of the deed is, of course, the same as a deed of bargain and sale in any other form.

In addition to the deed of bargain and sale, which in its three-fold form of "warranty," "quitclain" and "non-claim/' has been made a statutory conveyance in many of the States, there are a number of technical forms of conveyance derived from the land and conveyancing system of Great Britain and which are popularly known as "common law deeds." They consist primarily of the deeds of Release, Confirmation, Surrender and Assignment. In the United States they have lost considerable of their old redundancy while the differences in our land system, and estates thereunder, has robbed them of much of their former significance. There now exist but few estates that cannot be adequately conveyed by deed of bargain and sale, yet for some purposes they must still be resorted to. For the form and general legal effect of these conveyances the reader must consult the chapter on conveyancing. In all cases of the conveyance of special interests and qualified estates the material and operative parts of the instruments should be set forth. This will always be the case in conveyances of equitable interests, contingent and vested remainders, all conveyances not of present interests, as well as of incorporeal hereditaments such as easements, and the like. Great particularity is generally required in the treatment of these classes of conveyances, as their validity and effect do not depend so much on general principles, as in case of warranties and quitclaims, as upon the application of special provisions of law to particular facts. The operative words of conveyance, and frequently those of limitation, become material in determining the nature and extent of the estate granted, while the habendum, or some portion thereof, must also be resorted to for the purpose of explaining or further defining the grant made in the premises. The conditions annexed to the grant, or restraint upon the use or enjoyment of the land must further be observed, and where covenants are inserted in a deed of this kind it is always well to exhibit them.

30 De Wolf vs. Hayden, 34 111., 525.

Conveyances subject to incumbrance require special care in abstracting, and all clauses relating to subsisting claims should be set forth fully. This is necessary from the fact that a purchaser is charged with notice of all recitals of this character, and is bound thereby, even though the incumbrance fails to appear of record. Though the conveyance of land subject to mortgage, unless expressly so provided, imposes no personal liability on the grantee, it yet raises a presumption that the purchaser buys the property to the extent stated and takes his chances of realizing out of it enough over and above the mortgage, to indemnify him for his advance of purchase money. The fair inference is that the purchaser does not pay the vendor the full value of the property, but that the amount of the mortgage debt is reserved in his hands as so much purchase money for the purpose of discharging the lien. In such case the land conveyed is as effectually charged with the amount of the mortgage as if the purchaser had expressly assumed its payment.