deed). Instead, a warranty stands as a distinct and separate agreement, wherein the grantor commits to compensating the grantee for any title defects. Wagner v. Cutler , 757 P.2d 779 (Mont. 1988) (addressing the scope of a covenant of warranty contained in a special warranty deed under contract rules of interpretation). More importantly, the Montana Supreme Court has already declared that under Section 28-3-206, MCA “[a]ny uncertainty over ‘what was warranted’ in the deed should be interpreted most strongly against the party who drafted it.” Wagner, 757 P.2d at 782. Very clearly then, the law requires a reservation in a deed to be interpreted in favor of the grantor under Section 70-1-516, MCA; while at the same time, the law also demands title warranties be construed against the grantor under Section 28-3-206, MCA. In this context, it is argued that the after- acquired title rule serves to prevent the assertion of title in conflict with a warranty breach— regardless of when or how that title is acquired . Put differently, if enforcing the warranty proves to be a fair and effective recourse for cases involving after-acquired title, it is similarly fair, effective, and suitable in this scenario—where, by virtue of the reservation, title is “acquired” the moment the Deed is executed. See, End Note [3], s ee also, Rowell, 174 P.2d 223 at 227 (Citing a Pennsylvania case for the proposition that when grantors convey land which they do not own, and afterwards obtain the title thereto, they “will not be permitted to set up this after-acquired title to defeat [their] previous grant … for this would be to permit [them] to perpetrate a fraud on [their] grantee.”). So of course, there is room under Montana law to support such an expanded scope of the after-acquired title rule. In fact, Montana law may demand it under Wagner v. Cutler , 757 P.2d 779 (Mont. 1988) (title warranties to be construed against the grantor). Nevertheless, the next question then becomes: Is there room under Montana law to harmonize such an extended interpretation of the after- acquired title statute without being repugnant to the other statute—interpreting reservations in favor of the grantor? Indeed, when it comes to harmonizing
two statutes, Montana law is clear:
“When ascertaining the Legislature’s intent, we presume the Legislature does not pass meaningless legislation, and we harmonize statutes relating to the same subject to give as much effect as possible to each.”
Miske v. Mont. Dep’t of Nat. Res. & Conservation, 2023 MT 241, ¶ 25.
To be clear, the difference between a warranty deed and a quitclaim deed is monumental because the former passes after-acquired title as a matter of law and the latter does not. The distinction between the two is very simple. A warranty deed purports to grant the property itself. Whereas a quitclaim deed merely conveys only the grantor’s right, title and interest—if any—in the property. “A fee simple title is presumed to be intended to pass by a grant of real property, unless it appears from the grant that a lesser estate was intended.” Section 70-20-301, MCA . A deed conveying the “following described premises” (or similar language), expresses an intention to grant the fee, or the entire estate, in whatever is described. Henningsen , 221 P.2d 438 at 443. As such, the Warranty Deed in question here is more than a quitclaim deed. It conveyed the Property itself (less Leonard’s reserved 2/3 mineral interest) and is therefore sufficient to pass after-acquired title. However, the court in Dellit (seemingly fixated on the reservation to the exclusion of the separate warranty contract) rejected this construction because:
. . . it favors the Grantees by placing an implied grant above an explicit reservation. This interpretation devalues the reservation of ‘an undivided two-thirds of all’ mineral rights by holding the explicit fractional interest retains only as much meaning as remains after the implicit 1/3rd grant is satisfied.
Dellit , 518 P.3d at 835.
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N at i onal A ssociation of D i v i s i on O rder A nalys t s
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