Oklahoma · 16 O.S. §§1, 2, 4, 15, 16, 26, 27a, 28, 33–35Oklahoma deed requirements: signature, acknowledgment and recording

Any person at least 18, anyone on whom the rights of majority have been conferred, a married person of any age for property acquired after marriage, and any legal entity may own and transfer Oklahoma real property; a dissolved entity continues to exist for the purpose of transferring it (16 O.S. §1). A deed or other conveyance, other than a lease of up to one year, is valid only if in writing and signed by the grantors, and a deed affecting the homestead needs the signatures of both spouses if both are living and not divorced or legally separated (§4(A)). No subscribing witness is needed (§2), except that a grantor who can't write signs by mark, with the name written near the mark by one of two witnesses who sign the instrument (§34). Between the parties a deed is valid without acknowledgment or recording, but against third persons it must be acknowledged and recorded (§15); the county clerk won't record an instrument that isn't executed and acknowledged in substantial compliance with Title 16, and recording such an instrument isn't effective for any purpose (§26). The acknowledgment follows the Uniform Law on Notarial Acts or the statutory form, under the officer's seal, before a notary public or other listed officer in Oklahoma, a notary or court clerk elsewhere in the United States or Canada, or a court of record or U.S. consul in another country (§§33, 35). The instrument must be an original or certified copy, printed, typed or handwritten, clearly legible and in English, though electronic recording is allowed (§28). Once recorded it is constructive notice to later purchasers, mortgagees, encumbrancers and creditors (§16). A warranty deed carries statutory covenants of title, freedom from encumbrances and defense of title; a quitclaim deed conveys whatever the maker holds (§§18, 19). After five years of record, defects such as a missing acknowledgment, an unrecorded power of attorney or an unauthorized entity signer are cured, except for rights acquired by others during those five years (§27a).