In all the great business centers of the United States there are Title Guarantee Companies, who for a consideration--to be paid by the seller--furnish an abstract of title, and insure its validity. In smaller places the local lawyers know how to make up an abstract and one should be employed. Never trust the search of the inexperienced. An abstract of title is a memorandum taken from the records of the office where deeds are recorded, and showing the history of the title from the Government up to the present time. The seller should furnish the buyer with a certificate from the proper county officer, showing whether or not all taxes have been paid up to the last assessment. In addition to this, before the money is paid and the deed accepted, the purchaser should be satisfied that there are no mortgages, liens, attachments or other claims against the property. If such claims exist and are known to the buyer, he may assume them as a condition of the sale. PARTIES TO A DEED The person selling the land and making the deed is known in law as the Grantor. The person buying the property is known as the Grantee. A deed is a form of contract, and in order to have its terms and statements binding on the maker, he must be twenty-one years of age, or over, and he must be of sound mind. The grantee need not be twenty-one, nor of sound mind in order to make the terms of the deed binding on the grantor. In some states, if the grantor be a married man, his wife must sign the deed with him. This should be seen to, for without the wife's signature the grantee will not have a clear title, for the woman could still claim an interest in the property equal to her dower right. Also, if the grantor is a woman, her husband, for the reasons given, should join with her in the execution of the deed. The preparation of a deed should not be left to the unskilled. DIFFERENT DEEDS There are three kinds of deeds, viz.: General warranty deeds, special warranty deeds, and quit-claim deeds. The general warranty deed, if it can be had, is the one every purchaser should get. In the general warranty deed the grantor agrees for himself, "his heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns," that at the time of making the deed he is lawfully in possession, "seized" is the legal term, of the estate described in the deed, that it is free from all incumbrance, and that he will warrant and defend the grantee and his heirs and assigns against all claims whatsoever. In the quit-claim deed the grantor conveys to the purchaser his interest in or right to the property under consideration. The quit-claim grantor does not guarantee the title to the property, nor warrant the grantee against any other claims. He simply, by the deed, quits his claim to the property. The special warranty deed covenants and warrants only against the acts of the grantor and those claiming title under him. MAKING A DEED