Dorris Wayne (DW) Weaver, Marshall County Register of Deeds, would like to welcome you to this Web site, which is designed to serve both professionals and citizen. We hope that you find it both interesting and useful. Please enjoy your visit!
Dorris Wayne (DW) Weaver is the current Marshall County Register of Deeds. He was elected to office in August of 2002. Dorris Wayne (DW) Weaver is a lifelong resident of Marshall County. Dorris Wayne and wife reside in the City of Lewisburg.
Dorris Wayne is current member of the Marshall County Chamber of Commerce, the Lions Club, the Leadership Marshall, the Middle Tennessee Register of Deeds, the Tennessee Registers Association, and the County Officials Association of Tennessee.
Our mission: To record, index, maintain, and provide access to all real estate documents, uniform commercial code fixture filings, federal tax liens, military discharge, and other instruments, as prescribed by Tennessee Statutes.
Staff
Stacy Pearson serves as the Chief Deputy Register of Deeds. The Chief Deputy's responsibilities are bookkeeper, administrative work and oversees daily operations in the absence of the Register.
Cindia Bivins serves as the second Deputy Register. Her duties include handling walk-in clients as well as those contacting the office via telephone. Her other duties including receiving, processing, recording, indexing, scanning, and proofing daily work, over-the-counter work, and requests for faxes.
How to Find Us
The Register of Deeds' office is located inside the Courthouse Annex at 1103 Courthouse Annex on the first floor. Enter the main doors and go straight in the hallway. Our office is in the first door on the left.
Office Hours
8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. (Monday through Friday)
Holidays
The Register of Deeds' office is closed on the follow days in 2009:
Thursday, January 1
Monday, January 19
Monday, February 16
Friday, April 10
Monday, May 25
Friday, July 3
Monday, September 7
Wednesday, November 11
Thursday-Friday, November 26-27
Friday, December 24-25
History
The office of Register in Tennessee can be traced back to the period when this region was part of the English colony of Carolina. The office was provided for in the colony's first fundamental law, known as the "Concessions and Agreement" of 1665. This office was patterned along the English model which had been in existence at least since Norman times. The Register's general duties have always been to record various types of legal instruments and transactions, particularly those conveying the title to land. The Register's office in Carolina continued under the colony's "Fundamental Constitution" of 1715. The qualified voters elected three freeholders who became candidates for the office. The governor then appointed one of these three landowners to be Register.
When Tennessee became a state in 1796, the first constitution included a provision for a Register to be elected by the county court in every county. The term of the office was indefinite and the Register was to serve "during good behavior." The Tennessee Constitution of 1834 provided or the popular election of the Register, reflecting the trend of the Jacksonian era. Tennessee's Constitution of 1870 retained the office of Register and secured the term of four years. The 1978 amendments to the Tennessee Constitution retained the four-year term for the Register.
Dorris Wayne (DW) Weaver serving as the 17th Register of Deeds for Marshall County. Below is a listing of officeholders and the dates in which they served.
2002-Present Dorris Wayne Weaver
1990-2002 Barbara Simmons
1958-1990 Hill Walker
1950-1958 Roy Foster
1942-1950 Grady Finley
1934-1942 Grady Ralston
1926-1934 J.T. Harris
1918-1926 W.O. Whitehead
1910-1918 J.A. Clark
1902-1910 J.R. Reynolds
1898-1902 J.M. McCrory
1890-1898 G.D. Sanders
1874-1890 J.A. Yarbrough
1862-1874 J.N. Waters
1856-1862 W.N. Cowden
1846-1856 J.J. Elliott
1836-1846 John Elliott
Frequently Asked Questions
What is your mailing address?
1103 Courthouse Annex, Lewisburg, Tennessee 37091
What are your hours of operation?
8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday - Friday
Can the Register's office tell me who owns a particular parcel of property?
In accordance with the laws and statutes of the State of Tennessee, all indexes for recorded documents within the Register's office are named based. To search by address you may contact the Marshall County Assessor's Office at 931-359-3238.
How can I obtain a copy of a document?
Documents recorded since October 1, 1972 may be viewed and copied from the PROGRESS website www.ustitlesearch.net Documents recorded before October 1, 1972 can be obtained either by visiting the Register's office in person, or by sending a written request by mail. Information needed for copies include name of buyer/borrower or seller/lender, date of transaction or recording, and the address of the subject party. Charges for copies made at the Register's office are $.25 per page and up.
Is there a fee for recording documents?
Yes, for calculation of fees please visit our pricing calculator on www.ustitlesearch.net and click on Fee Calculator.
What methods of payment are accepted by the Register's office?
The Register's office accepts checks, cashier's checks, money orders or cash currency.
Can the Register of Deeds or the staff prepare or help prepare a document?
No. The State of Tennessee prohibits the Register's office and staff from practicing law or from giving legal advice. You are advised to consult with an attorney for assistance.
Can the Register's office tell me if there are any liens recorded on my property?
No. The Register's office does not perform title searches, which is the necessary step to take to determine if there is a lien against a particular parcel of land. You may contact a title company or an attorney to provide this service for you. However, the records of the Register's office are open to the public and are accessible by visiting us at the above address.
Can the Register's office provide a survey of my property?
In most cases, no. The Register's office records plats of subdivisions showing lots within a development; however, some surveys are recorded after obtaining the approval for recording purposes only by the Zoning Department.
Can I find bankruptcies, divorces and other court document in the Register's office?
Bankruptcies, divorces and other court documents are recorded and indexed as the court decrees. However, not all court documents are filed with the Register's office. This will vary according to the requirements within a court decree or an individual's personal choice.
Duties and Requirements
One of the most important functions of the register's office is the filing or recording of instruments which affect the legal status of real and personal property. With regard to real property, these instruments include deeds, deeds of trust (mortgages), financing statements under the Uniform Commercial Code (U.C.C.), assignments, plats, court decrees, leases, liens, releases and many other instruments With regard to personal property, financing statements dealing with fixtures under the U.C.C. and instruments relating to financing statements, such as amendments, continuation statements, assignments, releases, termination statements and other instruments are involved. Powers of Attorney are often recorded in the register's office. Also, some official instruments (county official bonds and certain official reports) are recorded or filed in the register's office. The register notes in a notebook the time and receipt of each instrument in the order they are received and maintains indexes of the records of the office. The register must be familiar with the requirements for acceptance applicable to each instrument. It is important to remember that a register is not a notary and does not have a statutory power to take acknowledgments, as do county clerks.
The register has important revenue functions, both for the collection of fees for performing the duties of the office and collection of two state privilege taxes - the transfer tax and the mortgage tax. Currently the state realty transfer tax is 37 cents per $100 of value or consideration and the rate of the mortgage tax is 11.5 cents per $100 or major fraction thereof over $2000 of indebtedness. The register must be knowledgeable concerning the many special rules and exceptions which apply to the collection of the realty transfer and mortgages taxes. The register must be knowledgeable about the required statements on instruments evidencing transfers of real estate or certain interests in real estate and instruments of indebtedness.
Other Matters
Since office management is an important component of the register's duties, registers should know about personnel procedures and both state and federal laws. Also, the register should have a basic understanding of potential liability, including both personal liability and county liability, and the Tennessee Governmental Tort Liability Act.
Glossary of Terms
Affiant: One who makes an affidavit.
Affidavit: A document that gives a written or printed declaration or statement of facts, which is confirmed by an oath or affirmation.
Affidavit of Heirship: Same as affidavit, but specifically establishing heirs of a decedent.
Certified Copy: A true copy, attested to be true by the office holding the original.
Debtee: Person lending.
Debtor: One who owes a debt.
Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure: A deed given by an owner/borrower to a lender to prevent the lender from bringing foreclosure proceedings.
Easement: A right created by grant, reservation, agreement, prescription, or necessary implication which one has in the land of another. It is either for the benefit of land such as a right to cross. A to get to B, or "ingress" such as a public utility easement.
Egress: A term concerning a right to come and go across the land (public or private) of another. Usually a part of the term ingress and egress.
Encumbrance, Incumbrance: A claim, lien, charge, or liability attached to and binding real property. Any rights to, or interest in, land which may exist in one other than the owner.
Fair and Voluntary Sale: A sale by the owner freely without constraint at a price sufficient to warrant confirmation when required, not a forced sale as in closing an estate or foreclosure.
Fair Market Value: Price at which a willing seller and a willing buyer will trade. A fair, economic, just and equitable value under normal conditions.
Federal Tax Lien: A lien attaching to property for nonpayment of a federal tax (estate, income, etc.). A federal tax lien differs from other liens in that it is not automatically wiped out by foreclosing on a mortgage or trust deed recorded before the tax lien (except by judicial foreclosure)
First Mortgage: A mortgage having priority over all other voluntary liens against certain property.
General Warranty Deed: A deed in which the grantor agrees to protect the grantee against any other claim to title of the property and provides other promises.
Grantee: The one who receives an interest.
Grantor: The one who relinquishes an interest.
Grantor-Grantee Index: The record of the passing of title to all the properties in a county as kept by the county recorder's office. Property is checked by tracing the names of the sellers and buyers (chain of title).
Holder of Indebtedness: Person or institution loaning money.
Ingress and Egress: A right to enter upon and pass through land.
Instrument: Any writing having legal form and significance, such as a deed, mortgage, will, lease, etc.
Joint Tenancy: An undivided interest in property, taken by two or more joint tenants. The interests must be equal, according under the same conveyance, and beginning at the same time. Upon the death of a joint tenant, the interest passes to the surviving joint tenants, rather than to the heirs of the deceased.
Judgment: The decision of a court of law. Money judgments, when recorded, become a lien on real property of the defendant.
Judgment Lien: A lien against the property of a judgment debtor. An involuntary lien.
Lease: An agreement by which an owner of real property (lessor/grantor) gives the right of possession to another (lessee/grantee) for a specified period of time and for a specified consideration.
Lessee: A person to whom the property is rented under a lease. A tenant.
Lessor: One who rents property to another under a lease. A landlord.
Legal Description: A method of geographically identifying a parcel of land, which is acceptable in a court of law.
Lien: An encumbrance against property for money, either voluntary or involuntary. All liens are encumbrances but all encumbrances are not liens,
Lis Pendens: A legal notice recorded to show pending litigation relating to real property and giving notice that anyone acquiring an interest in specific property subsequent to the date of the notice may be bound by the outcome of the litigation.
Lot: Generally, any portion or parcel of real property. Usually refers to a portion of a subdivision.
Mechanics Lien: A lien created by statute for the purpose of securing priority of payment for the price or value of work performed and materials furnished in construction or repair of improvements to land, and which attaches to the land as well as the improvements.
Modification Deed of Trust: A document that alters, adds, or cancels some of the terms or stipulations but leaves the general purposes or effect of the document intact.
Mortgage: A written instrument that creates a lien upon real estate as a security for the payment of specified debt.
Mortgagee: Person lending.
Mortgagor: Person borrowing.
Partial Release: A release of a portion of property conveyed by a mortgage.
Plat: A map dividing a parcel of land into lots, as in a subdivision.
Power of Attorney: An authority by which one person (principal) enables another (attorney in fact) to act for him.
Quit Claim Deed: A deed that conveys only the grantor's rights or interest in real estate without stating the nature of the rights and with no warranties of ownership.
Recordation: Filing instruments for public record with a recorder. (Usually a county official)
Recording: Filing documents affecting real property as a matter of public record, giving notice to further purchasers, creditors, or other interested parties. Recording is controlled by statute and usually requires the witnessing and notarizing of an instrument to be recorded.
Recording Fee: The amount paid to the recorder's office in order to make a document a matter of public record.
Register of Deeds: A term used in some states to describe the person in charge of recorded instruments.
Right of Survivorship: The right of a survivor of a deceased person to the property of said deceased.
Secured Party: Mortgagee, beneficiary (under a deed of trust) pledgee or any other party having a security interest.
Special Warranty Deed: A deed in which the grantor limits the title warranty given to the grantee to anyone claiming by, from, through or under him, the grantor. The grantor does not warrant against title defects arising from conditions that existed before he owned the property.
Substitution of Trustee: A document which is recorded to change the trustee under a deed of trust.
Tax Lien: (1) A lien for nonpayment of property taxes. Attaches only to the property upon which the taxes are unpaid. (2) A federal income tax and state tax lien may attach to all property of the one owing the taxes.
Tenancy by the Entirety: An estate that exists only between husband and wife with equal right of possession and enjoyment during their joint lives with the right of survivorship, when one dies, the property goes to the surviving tenant.
Tenancy in Common: Ownership of two or more with undivided interest without the right of survivorship.
Transfer Tax: One paid upon the passing of title to property or to a valuable interest.
Trust Deed: See Mortgage.
Trustee: (1) One who is appointed, or required by law, to execute a trust. (2) One who holds title to real property under the terms of a deed of trust.
Trustee's Deed: A deed by a trustee under a deed of trust, pursuant to foreclosure proceedings.
Undivided Interest: Land shared among co-owners, no one having exclusive rights to any portion of the property.
Warranty Deed: One that contains a covenant (a promise written into deeds and other instruments agreeing to performance or non performance of certain acts, or requiring or preventing certain uses of the property) that the grantor will protect the grantee against any and all claims.
