Also known as: sealed, and delivered · deed delivery · signed sealed delivered
Written by attorneys — see sources below.
A traditional attestation phrase placed on a deed or other instrument to signify that the grantor has executed the document under seal and delivered it to the grantee. The phrase confirms completion of the formalities required to pass title or create a binding conveyance. Delivery under the phrase is effective when the grantor manifests an intent to transfer the interest immediately.
Solomon Silver executes a deed for vacant land and hands it to Sierra Solutions after an informal meeting. The deed bears the phrase sealed and delivered. One month later a sinkhole appears. Under the majority rule the buyer now bears the loss and must close at the contract price.
Sebastian Santos signs a fifteen-year lease for commercial space and delivers it to Stonehaven Properties. The document recites that it is sealed and delivered. The court treats the lease as a completed conveyance, placing the tenant in the position of owner for the term.
On August 31, 1927, Dusch leased to Hannan certain real estate in the city of Norfolk, Virginia, for fifteen years, the term to begin January 1, 1928, at a specified rental. There is no express covenant as to the delivery of the premises nor for the quiet possession of the premises by the lessee. The declaration alleges that it thereupon became the duty of the defendant to see to it that the premises leased should be open for entry by the plaintiff on January 1, 1928. The petitioner was willing and ready to enter upon and take possession of the leased property and so informed the defendant. Yet the defendant failed and refused to put the plaintiff in possession or to keep the property open for him at that time or on any subsequent date. The defendant suffered to remain on said property a former tenant or tenants who occupied a portion or portions thereof and refused to take legal or other action to oust said tenants. Hannan alleged damages which he had suffered by reason of this alleged breach of the contract and deed and sought to recover such damages in the action. Dusch demurred to the declaration on several grounds. One ground was that under the lease set out in said declaration the right of possession was vested in said plaintiff. There was no duty as upon the defendant to see that the premises were open for entry by said plaintiff.
View caseThe phrase confirms that the grantor has executed the instrument under seal and manifested an intent to deliver it to the grantee. Delivery is complete when the grantor parts with control intending an immediate transfer. The phrase satisfies the formal requirements for a valid conveyance at common law.
Modern statutes often dispense with a physical seal. The phrase still signals formal execution and delivery even when the seal itself is omitted. Courts look to the grantor's intent and the act of delivery rather than the presence of wax or an embossed seal.
When a lease for a term is signed sealed and delivered it operates as a conveyance. The tenant receives the right of possession and dominion for the stated period. The landlord no longer holds the interest as owner during the term.
…fundamental considerations. Any written lease, for a specific term, signed by the lessor and delivered is like a deed signed, sealed and delivered by the grantor. This lease for fifteen years is, and is required to be, by deed. It is a conveyance. During the term the tenant is substantially the owner of the property, having the right…