hard · National Real Estate Exam
A homeowner conveys her residence by deed to her nephew, signs it before a notary, but keeps the deed locked in her safe-deposit box, telling no one. Her written will, executed the same week, devises the same residence to her daughter. The homeowner dies; both the unrecorded deed and the will surface. The nephew claims under the deed, the daughter under the will.
Who takes title, and why?
- The daughter, because the deed was never delivered—the grantor retained exclusive control with no present intent to pass title, so the inter vivos transfer failed and the property passed under the will
- The nephew, because a deed signed and acknowledged before a notary is presumptively delivered, and the later will cannot revoke a completed conveyance
- The nephew, because recording is not required for validity between the parties and the deed's earlier date controls over the later will
- The daughter, because a deed and a will affecting the same parcel create an ambiguity that the law resolves in favor of the testamentary instrument as the grantor's final intent
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