Title Examination Standards
Chapter 1, App.
Chapter 7. Marital Interests
§7.1. Marital Interests; Definition; Applicability of Standards; Bar or Presumption of Their Non-Existence.

The term "Marital Interest", as used in this chapter, means the rights and restrictions placed by law upon an individual landowner's ability to convey or encumber the homestead and the protections afforded to the landowner's spouse therein.

Severed minerals cannot be impressed with homestead character and therefore, the Standards contained in this chapter are inapplicable to instruments relating solely to previously severed mineral interests.

Marketability of title is not impaired by the possibility of an outstanding marital interest in the spouse of any former owner whose title has passed by instrument or instruments which have been of record in the office of the county clerk of the county in which the property is located for not less than ten (10) years after the date of recording, where no legal action shall have been instituted during said ten (10) year period in any court of record having jurisdiction, seeking to cancel, avoid or invalidate such instrument or instruments on the ground or grounds that the property constituted the homestead of the party or parties involved.

Authority: 16 O.S. § 4. Comment: See Title Examination Standard 6.7 as to use of powers of attorney. Comment 2: Following the decisions of the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Bishop v. Smith and the United States Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodges, same sex marriages are legal in Oklahoma. All standards that refer to a Marital Interest are equally applicable to same sex married couples. Any references to husband and wife, spouses, or married couples should be read to apply to all legal marriages. Authority: Bishop v. Smith, 760 F.3d 1070 (10th Cir. 2014); Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 (2015)

Adopted as A., October 31, 1947, 18 O.B.A.J. 1750 (1947); became 7 on renumbering in 1948, 19 O.B.A.J. 224 (1948). An amended standard, proposed by the 1970 Real Property Committee's Supplemental Report as Exhibit A, 41 O.B.A.J. 2676 (1970) was approved by the Real Property Section on December 3, 1970, and adopted by the House of Delegates on December 4, 1970, 42 O.B.A.J. 706 (1971). It substantially modifies the previous standard of the same number. The Comment was added on the recommendation of the 1983 Title Examination Standards Committee, see Committee Report, 54 O.B.J. 2379 (1983), approved by the Real Property Section, November 3, 1983, and adopted by the House of Delegates, November 4,1983.

The first two paragraphs were proposed as additions by the Report of the Title Examination Standards Committee, 55 O.B.J. 1871 (1984) and were approved by the Real Property Section, November 1, 1984, and adopted by the House of Delegates, November 2, 1984.

The 2017 Title Examination Standards Sub-Committee of the Real Property Law Section recommended adding a Comment to Standard 7.1, to amend the Comments to Standard 7.2 and to amend Standard 13.7 E in order to reflect results in the holdings of Bishop v. Smith, 760 F.3d 1070 (10th Cir. 2014) and Obergefell v. Hodges 576 U.S. ___ (2015) as to same sex marriages. The Real Property Section approved the proposal on November 2, 2017 and the House of Delegates adopted the amendment on November 4, 2017. (superseded document available)

The 2020 Title Examination Standards Sub-Committee of the Real Property Law Section recommended the following editorial changes to the Title Standards as they appear on OSCN to bring the printed handbook and OSCN into conformity. The Real Property Section approved the proposal, and the House of Delegates adopted the amendment on November 13, 2020. (superseded document available)