Updated Nebraska Real Estate Title Standards
In October, the Nebraska State Bar Association approved and adopted revised Nebraska Real Estate Title Standards. Although the Nebraska Real Estate Title Standards are not substantive law, they provide minimum standards for performing searches of chains of title for real estate in Nebraska. These standards ensure title searchers and abstractors discover all relevant matters in a chain of title that might affect ownership, validity and priority of liens, and other matters that may affect title to real property. As such, it is important that searchers and abstractors follow the guidelines in the Nebraska Real Estate Title Standards when researching chains of title to confirm that owners of real estate have good and marketable title and lenders hold valid and enforceable liens.
The 2013 Nebraska Real Estate Title Standards include several revisions and updates to prior versions. In particular, the 2013 edition contains updated and revised standards for transactions involving limited liability companies, transfers of real property with an affidavit in small estates, and requirements for conveyances by attorneys-in-fact.
Chapter XVII is a new chapter to the revised Nebraska Real Estate Title Standards. The Nebraska State Bar Association developed Chapter XVII in light of Nebraska adopting the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act, which was effective January 1, 2013, and codified in Article 34 of Chapter 76 of Nebraska Revised Statutes. The Nebraska Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act authorizes individuals to utilize a transfer on death deed to make a transfer of property become effective upon the transferor’s death. Chapter XVII of the Nebraska Real Estate Title Standards provides guidance on formalities for execution of a transfer on death deed, recording requirements, revocations and completing the transfer upon the death of the transferor.
Copies of the Nebraska Real Estate Title Standards are available for purchase from the Nebraska State Bar Association. Please contact any of the attorneys in Baird Holm LLP’s real estate practice group if you have any questions about how the Nebraska Real Estate Title Standards may apply to your real estate needs.