Douglas County Special Warranty Deed Form (Illinois)

All Douglas County specific forms and documents listed below are included in your immediate download package:

Special Warranty Deed Form

Douglas County Special Warranty Deed Form

Fill in the blank form formatted to comply with all recording and content requirements.
Included Douglas County compliant document last validated/updated 2/23/2024

Special Warranty Deed Guide

Douglas County Special Warranty Deed Guide

Line by line guide explaining every blank on the form.
Included Douglas County compliant document last validated/updated 10/3/2024

Completed Example of the Special Warranty Deed Document

Douglas County Completed Example of the Special Warranty Deed Document

Example of a properly completed form for reference.
Included Douglas County compliant document last validated/updated 10/7/2024

When using these Special Warranty Deed forms, the subject real estate must be physically located in Douglas County. The executed documents should then be recorded in the following office:

Douglas County Clerk and Recorder

401 South Center St / P.O. Box 467, Tuscola, Illinois 61953

Hours: 8:30 to 4:30 M-F

Phone: (217) 253-2411

Local jurisdictions located in Douglas County include:

  • Arcola
  • Arthur
  • Atwood
  • Camargo
  • Hindsboro
  • Murdock
  • Newman
  • Tuscola
  • Villa Grove

How long does it take to get my forms?

Forms are available immediately after submitting payment.

How do I get my forms, are they emailed?

Immediately after you submit payment, the Douglas County forms you order will be available for download directly from your account. You can then download the forms to your computer. If you do not already have an account, one will be created for you as part of the order process, and your login details will be provided to you. If you encounter any issues accessing your forms, please reach out to our support team for assistance. Forms are NOT emailed to you.

What does "validated/updated" mean?

This indicates the most recent date when at least one of the following occurred:

  • Updated: The document was updated or changed to remain compliant.
  • Validated: The document was examined by an attorney or staff, or it was successfully recorded in Douglas County using our eRecording service.
Are these forms guaranteed to be recordable in Douglas County?

Yes. Our form blanks are guaranteed to meet or exceed all formatting requirements set forth by Douglas County including margin requirements, content requirements, font and font size requirements.

Can the Special Warranty Deed forms be re-used?

Yes. You can re-use the forms for your personal use. For example, if you have more than one property in Douglas County that you need to transfer you would only need to order our forms once for all of your properties in Douglas County.

What are supplemental forms?

Often when a deed is recorded, additional documents are required by Illinois or Douglas County. These could be tax related, informational, or even as simple as a coversheet. Supplemental forms are provided for free with your order where available.

What type of files are the forms?

All of our Douglas County Special Warranty Deed forms are PDFs. You will need to have or get Adobe Reader to use our forms. Adobe Reader is free software that most computers already have installed.

Do I need any special software to use these forms?

You will need to have Adobe Reader installed on your computer to use our forms. Adobe Reader is free software that most computers already have installed.

Do I have to enter all of my property information online?

No. The blank forms are downloaded to your computer and you fill them out there, at your convenience.

Can I save the completed form, email it to someone?

Yes, you can save your deed form at any point with your information in it. The forms can also be emailed, blank or complete, as attachments.

Are there any recurring fees involved?

No. Nothing to cancel, no memberships, no recurring fees.

A special warranty deed is a legal document used to transfer, or convey, rights in real property from a grantor (seller) to a grantee (buyer). Also referred to as a limited warranty deed, this type of deed provides significant liability protection for the grantor (seller), and less protection for the grantee (buyer). In a special warranty deed, the grantor only warrants against defects in the title during his or her ownership, and that he or she has an actual right to the title, and is authorized to sell it. Unlike a deed with full warranty, however, it does not guarantee that there are no other claims on the title of the property before the grantor owned the property, nor does it bind the grantor to defend against them. Because of the risk of unknown claims on the title, special warranty deeds are less common than traditional warranty deeds for residential real estate transactions.

A special warranty deed, once acknowledged, should be recorded in the recorder's office in the county where such lands are located. If it is acknowledged in Illinois, acknowledgements may be taken before a notary public, United States commissioner, county clerk, or any court, judge, clerk, or deputy clerk of such court. When they are taken before a notary public or United States commissioner, they must be attested by his or her official seal; and if taken before a judge or clerk of a court, the acknowledgements must be attested by the seal of the court (765 ILCS 5/20).

A lawful deed includes the grantor's full name and marital status, as well as the grantee's full name, marital status, mailing address, and vesting. Vesting describes how the grantee holds title to the property. For Illinois residential property, the primary methods for holding title in co-ownership are tenancy in common, joint tenancy and tenancy by entirety. A grant of ownership of real estate to two or more persons creates a tenancy in common, unless a joint tenancy or tenancy by the entirety is specified. (765 ILCS 1005/1, 1005/1c.).

As with any conveyance of real estate, special warranty deeds must comply with all state and local recording standards, including a complete legal description of the parcel. Recite the source of title to establish a clear chain of title, and detail any restrictions associated with the property.

Include all relevant documents, affidavits, forms, and fees with the along with the deed for recording as well. Pursuant to 35 ILCS 200/31-10, documents conveying real property are subject to a documentary transfer tax. An Illinois Real Estate Transfer Declaration is required (35 ILCS 200/31-25), unless an exemption is claimed. See 35 ILCS 200/31-45 for a list of exemptions.

A Notarial Record Form is also required, unless an exemption is claimed. A list of exempt conveyances can be found on page 1 of the Notarial Record Form (5 ILCS 312/3-102). Some Illinois counties require a Plat Act Affidavit of Metes and Bounds pursuant to 765 ILCS 205/1 with all deeds, assuring that the land has not been divided or identifies specific types of division according to the plat act. Contact the local recorder for additional details about supplemental document requirements.

This article is provided for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Consult an attorney with questions about special warranty deeds or for any other issues related to the transfer of real property.

(Illinois Special Warranty Deed Package includes form, guidelines, and completed example)

Our Promise

The documents you receive here will meet, or exceed, the Douglas County recording requirements for formatting. If there's an issue caused by our formatting, we'll make it right and refund your payment.

Save Time and Money

Get your Douglas County Special Warranty Deed form done right the first time with Deeds.com Uniform Conveyancing Blanks. At Deeds.com, we understand that your time and money are valuable resources, and we don't want you to face a penalty fee or rejection imposed by a county recorder for submitting nonstandard documents. We constantly review and update our forms to meet rapidly changing state and county recording requirements for roughly 3,500 counties and local jurisdictions.

4.8 out of 5 - ( 4434 Reviews )

James S.

November 21st, 2024

Forms used, created quitclaim deed that the county accepted without a second look (turns out they see deeds.com forms regularly via erecording and in person). Will be back for any real estate related forms I need and they carry. Will always be my first stop. Also, will use erecording next time, mad I didn't see it this time.

Reply from Staff

Thanks for the kind words James, glad we could help. Look forward to seeing you again.

Thomas G.

November 21st, 2024

Wasn’t what I expected

Reply from Staff

Sorry to hear that your expectations were missed. Your order has been canceled. We do hope that you find something more suitable to your expectations elsewhere. Do keep in mind that purchasing legal forms should not be an exploratory endeavor.

Jimmy P.

November 20th, 2024

They sent me everything I would need to do this. Easy purchase -Easy download. Great!! I'll be back here for all my document needs.

Reply from Staff

We appreciate your business and value your feedback. Thank you. Have a wonderful day!

Carol H.

October 8th, 2022

Easy to understand, quick access, inexpensive, and I took it to my registrar's office and he said the warranty deed was good to go. Thanks for saving me a bundle in lawyer's fees.

Reply from Staff

We appreciate your business and value your feedback. Thank you. Have a wonderful day!

A. S.

February 27th, 2019

First, I am glad that you gave a blank copy, an example copy, and a 'guide'. It made it much easier to do. Overall I was very happy with your products and organization... however, things got pretty confusing and I have a pretty 'serious' law background in Real Estate and Civil law. With that said, I spent about 10+ hours getting my work done, using the Deed of Trust and Promissory note from you and there were a few problems: First, it would be FANTASTIC if you actually aligned your guide to actually match the Deed or Promissory Note. What I mean is that if the Deed says 'section (E)' then your guide shouldn't be 'randomly' numbered as 1,2,3, for advice/instructions, but should EXACTLY match 'section (E)'. Some places you have to 'hunt' for what you are looking for, and if you did it based on my suggestion, you wouldn't need to 'hunt' and it would avoid confusion. 2nd: This one really 'hurt'... you had something called the 'Deed of Trust Master Form' yet you had basically no information on what it was or how to use it. The only information you had was a small section at the top of the 'Short Form Deed of Trust Guide'. Holy Cow, was that 'section' super confusing. I still don't know if I did it correctly, but your guide says only put a return address on it and leave the rest of the 16 or so page Deed of Trust beneath it blank... and then include your 'Deed of Trust' (I had to assume the short form deed that I had just created) as part of it. I had to assume that I had to print off the entire 17 page or so title page and blank deed. I also had to assume that the promissory note was supposed to be EXHIBIT A or B on the Short Form Deed. It would be great if someone would take a serious look at that short section in your 'Short Form Deed of Trust Guide' and realize that those of us using your products are seriously turning this into a county clerk to file and that most of us, probably already have a property that has an existing Deed... or at least can find one in the county records if necessary... and make sure that you make a distinction between the Deed for the property that already exists, versus the Deed of Trust and Promissory note that we are trying to file. Thanks.

Reply from Staff

Thank you for your feedback. We'll have staff review the document for clarity. Have a great day!

Cindy H.

January 16th, 2021

It was easy and quick. Such a pleasure to use since we live out of town. So convenient. Definitely would recommend.

Reply from Staff

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Lenore B.

January 13th, 2019

Thank you for making this deed available. The guide was such a big help.

Reply from Staff

Thanks Lenore, have a great day!

willie jr t.

November 23rd, 2020

Awesome! Thanks so so much!

Reply from Staff

Thank you!

Johnny B.

December 24th, 2019

This site was a breeze using.

Reply from Staff

We appreciate your business and value your feedback. Thank you. Have a wonderful day!

Jean K.

February 25th, 2021

The website worked fine and I would have been happy to pay the extra money except the deed I needed was "not available". Ended up calling the courthouse anyway.

Reply from Staff

Thank you for your feedback. We really appreciate it. Have a great day!

Joseph K.

May 1st, 2020

I'm very impressed. We're a small nonprofit, and we usually walk our documents into our county offices for recording. So I was a little bit skeptical about how things would work if we did it electronically. But it was a smooth, quick, painless, and reasonably priced process. I expect that this will be our preferred method even after county offices re-open.

Reply from Staff

Thank you for your feedback. We really appreciate it. Have a great day!

Kimberaley J.

May 24th, 2021

I had no problem printing out the forms, very easy. Also when I called, customer service was very helpful and very polite.
Thank you for that, have a great day.

Reply from Staff

Thank you!

Doris M G.

June 9th, 2022

Excellent. Everything has gone well and the deed guide has helped so much. Thank you.

Reply from Staff

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Michael B.

November 17th, 2020

I'm very pleased with the service provided by Deeds.com. After a format issue caused my scanner, it was a very smooth and speedy process. Highly recommended.

Reply from Staff

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Lajeanne F.

March 31st, 2019

Your service was as you promoted and I was able to get a copy of my deed and find the information on it I needed.
Thank you.

Reply from Staff

Thank you for your feedback. We really appreciate it. Have a great day!