A husband and wife sell a home; however the wife does not sign the contract; the title company issues warranty deed without wife's signature. Is the sale legal?
Assuming that the wife has some kind of legal interest in the land, it is highly unlikely that this is a valid transfer. First, the statute of frauds requires that contracts relating to land be in writing; hence, an oral agreement to sell the property on the part of the wife would not be effective. Second, just because a title company issues a title insurance policy does not mean that the transfer has occurred. Instead, it sounds like the title company just opened itself up to a claim by the buyer (or dispossessed seller) for warranting clear title where title was not passed. The wife would need to sign something documenting her transfer of the property to the buyer.
A counterargument the buyer could make is that the husband had legal agency or power of attorney to sign the contract and deed for the wife. This is a pretty weak argument, however, as typically such agreements must be executed with the same or greater level of formality as the document that is seeking to use the power or agency. That does not appear to have happened here.
Finally, please note that this is not legal advice and that we have no client-attorney relationship. Every case and matter is different, and I have made a number of assumptions. Further, I am not licensed in TX, so I would strongly recommend that if you need to move forward, you consult with a TX lawyer, particularly in regards to community law aspects of TX law.
