What is a patent-to-present title search?

A patent-to-present title search follows a tract of land from the first conveyance out of the United States (or the state) all the way to the current owner. Every deed, every estate, every severance of minerals, every easement and right-of-way that touches the land is read, indexed and placed in order. The result is a complete chain of title, not a snapshot.

Who orders one

Most residential closings never need it. A 40- or 60-year search is enough to insure a house. Patent-to-present is for situations where an old interest can still matter:

• Mineral and oil and gas title, where a severance in 1910 still controls who gets paid today.

• Solar, wind, battery storage and pipeline projects, where a lender or underwriter wants every easement and reservation on the ground before construction.

• Quiet-title actions and curative work, where the gap you are trying to fix is older than the 60-year window.

• Large agricultural tracts assembled from many small parcels over a century.

What it actually involves

The work starts at the recorder's office, in the county where the land sits. For most Indiana and Illinois counties the recent decades are online, but the early chain is in deed books and tract indexes that only exist on paper or microfilm at the courthouse. An abstractor pulls the patent, then walks forward: each grantor must have received the land from somebody, and that somebody must have received it from the party before. Estates, divorces and tax sales are checked in the clerk's office. Mineral reservations are tracked separately, because minerals can leave the surface chain and never come back.

A finished report includes the chain of title, a searched-names list, every open mortgage and lien with its release, easements and rights-of-way, mineral severances, and copies of the instruments. For multi-tract projects we deliver one report per tract and a project summary.

How long it takes

It depends on the county and the age of the land records. Where the index is online and the early books are well kept, a single tract runs about a week. Where the index is handwritten and the county has not scanned its early books, it can take longer because the work happens in person. Our coverage page shows typical turnaround by order type for each county, and we quote a date before we start.

What to send us

The county, a parcel number or legal description, and the reason for the search (energy project, mineral ownership, curative). If you have a prior abstract, commitment or runsheet, send it; it shortens the work. Order a search or call (812) 287-9678.