DEED (in O. Eng. dead, from the

See also:

• STEM (O. Eng. staefn, stemn, cf. Du. stain, Ger. Stamm, &c., probably related to " staff ")

stem of the verb " to do ")  , that which is done, an act, doing; particularly, in law, a contract in writing, sealed and delivered by the party bound to the party intended to benefit . Contracts or obligations under seal are called in English law specialties, and down to 1869 they took precedence in payment over simple contracts, whether written or not . Writing, sealing and delivery are all essential to a deed . The signature of the party charged is not material, and the deed is not void for want of a date . Delivery, it is held, may be complete without the actual handing over of the deed; it is sufficient if the act of sealing were accompanied by words or acts signifying that the deed was intended to be presently binding; and delivery to a third person for the use of the party benefited will be sufficient . On the other hand, the deed may be handed over to a third person as an escrow,l in which case it will not take effect as a deed until certain conditions are performed . Such conditional delivery may be inferred from the circumstances attending the transaction, although the conditions be not expressed in words . A deed indented, or indenture (so called because written in counterparts on the same sheet of parchment, separated by cutting a wavy line between them so as to be identified by fitting the parts together), is between two or more parties who contract mutually . The actual indentation is not now necessary to an indenture, The deed-poll (with a polled or smooth-cut edge, not indented) is a deed in which one party binds himself without reference to any corresponding. obligations undertaken by another party . See CONTRACT .