Transfer of Title, Deeds, Recording, and Closing
Deeds
Every deed needs a grantor, a grantee, words of grant, a legal description, and the grantor's signature; recording requires proper acknowledgment. General warranty deeds carry the six covenants (seisin, right to convey, against encumbrances, quiet enjoyment, warranty, and further assurances); special warranty limits the warranty period to the grantor's ownership; quitclaim conveys whatever interest the grantor has, with no warranty at all. Delivery with intent plus acceptance completes the transfer - recording is not required to make a deed valid between the parties.
Recording and title
Montana's recording statute is race-notice: a later purchaser wins only if it takes without notice and records first. Recording gives constructive notice; actual and inquiry notice also count. Title insurance comes in an owner's policy and a lender's policy, issued after a commitment listing the exceptions that will remain.
Legal descriptions
Montana relies heavily on the Public Land Survey System - township, range, section, aliquot parts - alongside metes and bounds and lot-and-block plats. Read a description carefully in questions; a call for a monument usually controls over distance.
Closing
Montana requires a realty transfer certificate but imposes no real estate transfer tax, so do not hunt for one on a settlement statement. Escrow companies and title companies commonly handle closing; no attorney is mandated.
Rule of thumb: ask two questions - did the grantor deliver with intent, and did the buyer record first without notice? Everything else is paperwork.