Deeds & Land Records

 The Clerk of the Circuit Court's land records division records real estate documents such as:

• Assignments 
• Certificates of satisfaction
• Deeds
• Deeds of trust
• Plats

The clerk's office also dockets judgments and files UCC statements, which are liens on real estate.

Our land records trace back to the 1600's in our record room.  Many records are now accessible through the secure remote access online.  

For a document to be recorded, it must:

• Be accompanied by a self-addressed stamped envelope so that all documents may be returned once scanned, indexed, and verified.
• Be accompanied by the appropriate recording fee. View the Virginia's Circuit Court Deed Calculator to determine the fee. The clerk's office can accept fees paid by check, cash or money order. Checks should be made payable to Northumberland County Circuit Court Clerk.
• Do not include a social security number. In accordance with  Virginia law, the clerk's office will not knowingly record any document  that contains a social security number.
• Include original signatures, properly acknowledged.
• Include a Tax Map Number if the document pertains to real estate. You can determine the Tax Map Number by  contacting the commissioner's office at 804-580-7612 or visiting the Northumberland County Land Records page at https://www.co.northumberland.va.us/

View Virginia's Judicial System Deed Book as it includes forms for commonly used documents you might have reason to record with the clerk's office. These forms include:

• Certificate and Affidavit of Satisfaction
• Certificate of Partial Satisfaction
• Certificate of Release of Mechanics Lien
• Certificate of Release of Memorandum of Lis Pendens Attachment
• Memorandum for Mechanic's Lien Claimed by General Contractor Under Virginia Code 43-5

Please note that the clerk's office cannot accept any forms in which  grey boxes appear. To avoid the form printing with grey boxes, print the  form using the "Print for Submission to Court" button, rather than the  print feature on your Internet browser.

DEEDS

The following information must be on the first page:

• Prepared by licensed attorney with Virginia State Bar number and address, or Prepared by current land owner and address
• Tax Map Number (we do not accept PINs)
• Grantee's address
• Name of title insurance underwriter insuring such instrument or a statement that the existence of title insurance is unknown to the preparer
• Consideration and assessed value
• Exemption codes, if applicable

PLATS & SURVEYS

• Must not exceed 18"  x 24"
• Require a survey affidavit, unless boundary line(s) are being changed
• Boundary line changes require the signature of the Zoning Administrator.  Signature dated more than six (6) months prior to recording date must be resubmitted to Zoning Administrator prior to recording.

If you wish to access Northumberland County land records or record a  document, you may do so in person at the clerk's office weekdays, 8:30 a.m.  to 4:30 p.m. The recording office and records room are located in the new Courts building at: 

•     220 Judicial Place
     Heathsville, VA 22473

The online records include:

• All Plat Books and Plat Cabinets are now on the computer system
• Deed Book 87 through Deed Book 201 (1941 to 1981)
• Deed Book A through G (1847 to 1883)
• Index to Deeds January 1799 to December 1891
• Index to Wills 1735 through 1965

For a monthly fee, we also offer a secure remote access online subscription service available 24 hours a day.  A subscription may make sense if you frequently look up land records.  Refer to our SRA application.

Effective January 3, 2023, we will now be doing E-Recordings.