Also known as: after acquired title · after-acquired titles
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A doctrine providing that when a grantor executes a warranty deed purporting to convey an interest the grantor does not own, any title later acquired by the grantor to that same interest passes automatically to the grantee. The grantor is estopped from denying the validity of the earlier conveyance. Judgment liens and tax liens attach only to interests the debtor actually holds at the time of docketing or recording.
Austin Abbott executed a warranty deed conveying a warehouse parcel to Argonaut Shipping before Abbott held any interest in the property. Abbott later received a deed from the true owner. A judgment creditor docketed a lien against Abbott the day after the acquisition. The after-acquired title passed directly to Argonaut Shipping at the moment of acquisition, so the judgment lien never attached to the parcel.
Adrian Aguilar delivered a warranty deed to Aurora Biotech conveying mineral rights in a tract that Aguilar did not yet own. Aguilar later acquired those rights through a separate purchase. Aurora Biotech claimed the rights under the earlier deed. The after-acquired interest vested in Aurora Biotech by operation of the deed, preventing Aguilar from retaining the rights against the grantee.
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The doctrine typically requires a warranty deed containing covenants that estop the grantor from denying title. A quitclaim deed lacks those covenants and therefore does not trigger automatic passage of after-acquired title in most jurisdictions.
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Judgment liens attach only to interests the debtor actually owns at the time of docketing. Because after-acquired title passes automatically to the earlier grantee at the moment of acquisition, the debtor holds no attachable interest and the liens do not encumber the parcel.
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Tax liens attach only to property the taxpayer owns when the liens are recorded. The instantaneous passage of title under the doctrine leaves the grantor with no beneficial interest, so the liens cannot attach to the parcel conveyed to the grantee.
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The after-acquired title still passes automatically to the grantee by operation of the earlier warranty deed. Recording of the later deed is unnecessary for the estoppel to operate between the grantor and the original grantee.
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…to the grantee by operation of statute. (§ 1106; Schwenn v. Kaye, supra, 155 Cal. App.3d at pp. 951-953.) "[T]he doctrine of after-acquired title applies even if the grantee had knowledge of the deficiency." ( Schwenn v. Kaye, supra, 155 Cal. App.3d at p. 953.) Because even after-acquired interests pass from the grantor to the…