## Facts

- Mrs. J. M. McLaurin executed a printed-form deed purporting to convey a tract of land and an improved lot in the Town of McColl to her husband, J. M. McLaurin.
- In the granting clause, the deed conveyed the property to “J. M. McLaurin” but did not include words of inheritance (e.g., “and his heirs”).
- The habendum clause was left incomplete and did not identify the grantee (it contained a blank line where the grantee’s name should have appeared).
- The warranty clause, completed in handwriting, referenced “heirs and assigns,” but those words appeared only in that clause.
- After J. M. McLaurin’s death, his heirs and the executor disputed whether the deed conveyed a fee-simple estate that became part of his estate.
- The trial court ruled the deed did not convey fee simple, and the grantor’s successors appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether a deed conveys fee-simple title when the granting clause contains no words of inheritance, the habendum clause is incomplete, and words of inheritance appear only in the warranty clause.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of South Carolina affirmed the trial court’s order.
- The court held the deed did not convey fee-simple title to J. M. McLaurin.
- The court applied controlling precedent holding that words of inheritance appearing only in the warranty clause cannot supply the absence of such words from the granting or habendum clause.

## Legal Principles

- To convey a fee-simple estate, words of inheritance must appear in the granting clause or the habendum clause.
- Words of inheritance appearing only in a warranty clause do not define the estate conveyed and cannot cure the absence of inheritance language in the operative conveyance provisions.
- The granting and habendum clauses control the nature and quantity of the estate transferred; the warranty clause addresses title assurance rather than the estate granted.
- Courts apply deed formalities as written; an incomplete habendum clause and missing inheritance language in the granting clause prevent conveyance of a fee simple.

## Conclusion

The court held that, because the deed lacked words of inheritance in the granting clause and had an incomplete habendum clause, the reference to “heirs and assigns” in the warranty clause alone was insufficient to convey fee-simple title.


McLaurin v. McLaurin, 265 S.C. 149, 217 S.E.2d 41 (S.C. 1975)