What Does This Mean...
Just read this in a contract used to put a property under contract and really not 100% sure what it means...I know call me stupid...but not sure, specifically the part about "to be conveyed by General Warranty Deed with release of dower..."
The Real Estate is to be conveyed by General Warranty Deed with release of dower, on or before _______, 20___. The title shall be free, clear, and unencumbered, free of any building or health department orders, and free of any easements or restrictions except easements and restrictions of record.
Thanks,
Christian "The Solutions Kid" Beebe
[addsig]
Very odd; I had not seen that before in a contract.
A dower is similar to a dowry. It refers to real estate given by a deceased husband to his wife. So if the husband died, since in most states they are a tenancy by entirety, his interest in the real estaet goes to the wife. I am assuming the same verbage would be used if the wife died.
Is this a property where one of the sellers on title is deceased??
No, it is off of a real estate purchase contract used to place a property under contract to flip it/wholesale it.
Just never really knew what it meant, I can send you the whole contract if you'd like...
Chris
[addsig]
yeah, what he said, and you gotta have a clear title too.
It reads more like this:
Contract to Purchase Real Estate:
I offer to purchase from _____________ the following described real estate located at _____________________________ Hereinafter called “Real Estate”)
This real estate shall include all land and appurtenant rights, also all building, fixtures, heating, electrical, and plumbing fixtures and facilities, window shades, Venetian blinds, awnings, curtain rods, screens, storm windows and doors, wall-to-wall carpeting, stair carpeting, ceiling fans, landscaping and shrubbery, attached radio and/or television aerials, garage door opening devices, and any oven/ranges, refrigerators, washers/dryers, window A/C units currently on the premises.
Purchase price will be: $ ___________ , payable as follows:
The Real Estate is to be conveyed by General Warranty Deed with release of dower, on or before ________, 20___. The title shall be free, clear, and unencumbered, free of any building or health department orders, and free of any easements or restrictions except easements and restrictions of record.
[addsig]
Looked familiar...I have the same thing:
"It is agreed that the property will be conveyed by recordable general warranty deed, with release of dower and homestead rights, subject to...."
Not sure what it means but I'm going to leave it in there.
Makes sense, but what do I put for the date?
[addsig]
Since it's tied in with the titile search, what ever time you allow yourself to check the title, count that many days out and put a date in.
Or you could change that part to "within _______days of acceptance of this contract."
Run it by a Pre-Paid lawyer and have them check it out....lol
Just project when you want to close on the deal. How long does it take for your support staff to check title, etc?
I know just enough about "Dower Rights"(DW) to be dangerous. It doesn't apply where I live because I'm in a community property state. (How lucky).
I'll pass on the era of when only men owned real property. At that time (DW) gave the wife a certain amount of protection and rights to the spouse's property.
(DW) have served its original intended effect of protecting a spouse from their husband or wife from selling or borrowing against real property without the non-owner spouses' permission. Giving permission for such a sale/refi is called,a release of dower rights.
Obviously, a lender would not finance and a title company would not issue insurance without a release of (DW) because the title would be clouded by the (DW).
Dower is that portion of a deceased husband’s real property that a widow is legally entitled to use during her lifetime to support herself and their children. A wife may claim the dower if her husband dies without a will or if she dissents from the will.
At common law, dower consists of a one-third interest in all the land that the husband owned during the marriage. In many states of the United States dower rights have been abolished and other provisions, especially rights of inheritance, have been made for the widow. Where it still exists, the dower right attaches to the land as soon as it comes into the husband’s possession; for that reason it cannot be defeated by a conveyance of the land by the husband in his lifetime unless his wife joins in the deed. If the wife is the guilty party in a divorce or the marriage is annulled, the right of the wife to dower is ended.
In case it ever comes up at a cocktail party: The husband’s lifetime use of his deceased wife’s property, a right that is contingent on the birth of lawful issue, is known as curtesy.
64Ford, Dower and Dowry are far from similar.
Dowry is the payment in cash or in-kind by the bride's family to the bridegroom' s family along with the giving away of the bride in Indian marriage.
Dowry originated in upper caste families as the wedding gift to the bride from her family. The dowry was later given to help with marriage expenses and became a form of insurance in the case that her in-laws mistreated her.
Although the dowry was legally prohibited in India 1961, it continues to be highly institutionalized. The groom often demands a dowry consisting of a large sum of money, farm animals, furniture, and electronics.
Though prohibited by law in 1961, the extraction of dowry from the bride's family prior to marriage still occurs. When the dowry amount is not considered sufficient or is not forthcoming, the bride is often harassed, abused and made miserable. This abuse can escalate to the point where the husband or his family burn the bride, often by pouring kerosene on her and lighting it, usually killing her.
We are still talking India right?
Do I owe anybody cows or farm animals?
[addsig]
Not unless you are the father of the bride.
and your RE attorney Says it means??????
I married off 3 sons. I got a total of 2 six packs of Bud Lite. Does that constitue a Dowry?? Is there a Statute of Limitations on Dowriys???. Is there a lawyer in the house???. [ Edited by sammyvegas on Date 11/19/2003 ]
Dave T
I don't mean to squabble, but you can look "dower" up in the dictionary and one if its' definitions is "dowry". They are associated in that the woman has these property rights/gifts bestowed on her by a husband or father. You can sense from the similarity of the words that they are associated.
I am not sure what dead spouses have to do with the above mentioned clause or the dowry of farm animals. The statement made by SammyNVegas is dead on, balls accurate to the intent and purpose of the clause. In dower states, your spouse have equal interest in all property owned, even down to the clothing on your back. It is protection of interests for both parties concerned from each other. You can always buy individually, but sell or refinance needs approval of both, even if both are not going on the loan, or benefitting from the transaction. Don't worry if there is a dead spouse, it becomes a probate matter, not a dower matter. The deceased dower's interest becomes an asset of the their estate.
Make sure your seller knows this includes any property owned separately before marriage, once the license is filed, most dower states all property is now equally shared.
[ Edited by DaveT on Date 11/20/2003 ]
Quote:I don't mean to squabble, but you can look "dower" up in the dictionary and one if its' definitions is "dowry". They are associated in that the woman has these property rights/gifts bestowed on her by a husband or father. You can sense from the similarity of the words that they are associated.64Ford,
I did as you suggested. You are correct...my dictionary does also say that "dowry" is another definition for dower.
Now, when I go to the word "dowry" in that same dictionary, the definition of dowry is "the property that a women brings to her husband at marriage" and says nothing about the life estate privileges of dower.
The two words do, however, share a common definition -- "a natural talent, gift, or endowment". I would maintain that this is the basis for finding the word dowry as an alternate definition of dower. It is only in this context that the two words are similar.
We may be splitting hairs at this point, but I don't see the two words as interchangeable as our dictionaries would suggest when we are using these words in the real estate related context that started this thread.