- Official section
- National V.A: General contract law and performance
- Broker weight
- 19% of the national broker portion
- Expected scored items
- Contracts account for about 17 of 100 items
Illinois exam glossary
Executed contract
Executed is a context word. It can describe a document that has been signed, or it can describe a contract whose promised performance has been completed. A strong exam answer does not guess which meaning applies. It checks signatures, money, deed delivery, possession, escrow conditions, recording, and any duty that survives the closing.
Last updated: August 1, 2026
What does this exam area cover?
Short answer: An executed contract, in the performance sense used to contrast it with an executory contract, is one whose material duties have been fulfilled. For a typical real estate sale, buyer payment and seller conveyance are the core exchange. The deed must be delivered with intent to pass title, not merely signed. Recording concerns public notice and priority. Deed delivery may merge conveyance terms into the deed, while collateral or expressly surviving promises can remain. In signature usage, a fully signed contract can be called executed even before closing.
This guide follows the PSI Illinois Candidate Information Booklet effective June 24, 2026, Illinois court authority on executory sale agreements, deed delivery, acceptance, merger, collateral provisions, misrepresentation, and mutual mistake, plus 765 ILCS 5 and 765 ILCS 65/1, all checked through August 1, 2026. Deed validity, delivery, escrow, land trusts, electronic recording, title priority, mortgage funding, tax, probate, entity authority, homestead, bankruptcy, fraud, and post-closing litigation require document-specific professional review.
What is on the official outline?
- Topic
- Resolve the meaning of executed
- What to know
- signed, dated, delivered, acknowledged, document execution, contract performance, completed, discharged, context, and ambiguity
- Best exam move
- Use surrounding facts to decide whether the question tests a signed paper or completed promises.
- Topic
- Verify contract signatures
- What to know
- buyer, seller, entity, trustee, agent, power of attorney, capacity, authority, initials, counterpart, electronic signature, and delivery
- Best exam move
- A signature can authenticate assent, but it does not prove every later transaction duty was performed.
- Topic
- Confirm buyer performance
- What to know
- earnest money, loan, cash to close, wire, certified funds, settlement charges, prorations, signatures, escrow, possession, and receipt
- Best exam move
- Identify whether the buyer paid the amount and performed the acts the contract actually required.
- Topic
- Confirm seller performance
- What to know
- disclosures, title cure, lien payoff, deed, affidavit, keys, possession, condition, repairs, personal property, and closing documents
- Best exam move
- Do not call the sale fully performed while a material seller delivery remains outstanding.
- Topic
- Audit reciprocal closing duties
- What to know
- concurrent performance, tender, escrow, settlement statement, funds, deed, title policy, affidavits, transfer declaration, possession, and keys
- Best exam move
- Closing is the coordinated exchange of promised performance, not a single signature.
- Topic
- Test deed execution
- What to know
- grantor, grantee, legal description, estate conveyed, signature, acknowledgment, notary, tax address, preparation, authority, and form
- Best exam move
- A deed must satisfy applicable requirements, but execution alone still does not establish delivery.
- Topic
- Test deed delivery
- What to know
- grantor intent, present operation, surrender of control, physical transfer, escrow, condition, revocability, evidence, timing, and acceptance
- Best exam move
- Ask whether the grantor intended title to pass through that delivery, not merely who held the paper.
- Topic
- Test grantee acceptance
- What to know
- actual acceptance, presumed acceptance, beneficial transfer, rejection, knowledge, conduct, possession, recording, and proof
- Best exam move
- A deed does not pass title where facts show neither acceptance nor a legally justified presumption.
- Topic
- Handle escrow delivery
- What to know
- escrowee, written instructions, conditional delivery, funding, title clearance, signatures, authorization, release, closing, and audit trail
- Best exam move
- Delivery to escrow can remain conditional until the agreed release conditions are fulfilled.
- Topic
- Separate recording
- What to know
- county recorder, filing time, instrument number, constructive notice, priority, indexing, acknowledgment, return address, rejection, and certified copy
- Best exam move
- Recording protects the public record; it is not interchangeable with signing, delivery, acceptance, or validity.
- Topic
- Confirm legal-title transfer
- What to know
- valid deed, grantor intent, delivery, acceptance, estate, grantee, legal description, escrow completion, and competing interest
- Best exam move
- Contract acceptance can create equitable rights, while operative deed delivery completes the legal conveyance.
- Topic
- Apply the merger doctrine
- What to know
- deed in full execution, conveyance promise, superseding instrument, intent, circumstances, deed terms, title, quantity, and quality of estate
- Best exam move
- Ask whether the contract provision concerns the conveyance that the deed was meant to complete.
- Topic
- Find collateral provisions
- What to know
- independent promise, repair, construction, rent, indemnity, document delivery, tax adjustment, personal property, warranty, and post-closing act
- Best exam move
- A collateral duty that is not performed by deed delivery can remain outside merger.
- Topic
- Find express survival
- What to know
- survive closing, survival period, representations, covenants, indemnities, escrow, adjustment, release, limitation, notice, and remedy
- Best exam move
- Read exactly which sections survive, for how long, and subject to what claim procedure.
- Topic
- Review merger exceptions
- What to know
- collateral promise, independent promise, party intent, surrounding circumstances, misrepresentation, mutual mistake, clear proof, fraud, and equity
- Best exam move
- Do not apply merger mechanically where a recognized exception or contrary intent is supported.
- Topic
- Distinguish complete and substantial performance
- What to know
- strict performance, substantial performance, material defect, minor omission, essential purpose, cure, offset, damages, good faith, and contract standard
- Best exam move
- Substantial performance can affect remedies, but it is not identical to exact full performance.
- Topic
- Confirm discharge
- What to know
- performance, mutual release, rescission, accord and satisfaction, novation, impossibility, operation of law, merger, cancellation, and documentation
- Best exam move
- Full performance is one discharge route, not the only way contractual duties can end.
- Topic
- Keep surviving records
- What to know
- signed contract, addenda, amendments, wire proof, settlement statement, deed, recording receipt, title policy, escrow release, keys, and correspondence
- Best exam move
- Completion should produce an auditable closing file, not erase the history of performance.
- Topic
- Address post-closing defects
- What to know
- title covenant, recording error, escrow shortage, repair promise, warranty, fraud, misrepresentation, mistake, notice, limitation, and claim
- Best exam move
- Classify the source of the surviving claim before assuming the purchase contract controls or vanished.
- Topic
- Protect brokerage boundaries
- What to know
- closing checklist, document delivery, record retention, no deed drafting, no title opinion, attorney, title company, lender, recorder, and referral
- Best exam move
- A broker can verify objective milestones but should not decide deed validity, merger, or post-closing legal liability.
Which distinctions produce the most mistakes?
- Terms
- Executed document vs. executed performance
- Difference
- An executed document is signed as required. Executed performance means the contract's material promises have been completed.
- Question cue
- Signature complete versus bargain complete.
- Terms
- Executed vs. executory contract
- Difference
- An executed contract has completed material performance. An executory contract still has material performance due.
- Question cue
- Performed versus pending.
- Terms
- Contract acceptance vs. closing
- Difference
- Acceptance ordinarily forms the deal. Closing performs the promised exchange of funds, title documents, deed, and possession.
- Question cue
- Agreement made versus agreement carried out.
- Terms
- Deed execution vs. deed delivery
- Difference
- Execution concerns signing and formal completion of the deed. Delivery requires intent that it operate to pass title and loss of grantor control.
- Question cue
- Paper signed versus conveyance activated.
- Terms
- Physical transfer vs. legal delivery
- Difference
- Handing over paper is evidence, but legal delivery turns on present conveyance intent, control, conditions, and the circumstances.
- Question cue
- Who holds it versus whether title should pass.
- Terms
- Delivery vs. acceptance
- Difference
- Delivery focuses on the grantor's operative intent. Acceptance focuses on the grantee receiving the conveyance.
- Question cue
- Grantor releases versus grantee receives.
- Terms
- Delivery vs. recording
- Difference
- Delivery makes the deed operative between the parties when requirements are met. Recording gives public notice and affects priority.
- Question cue
- Conveyance effect versus public record.
- Terms
- Legal title vs. possession
- Difference
- Legal title is ownership conveyed through the deed transaction. Possession is occupancy or control and can move at a different time.
- Question cue
- Who owns versus who occupies.
- Terms
- Merger vs. survival
- Difference
- Merger can make the deed supersede conveyance terms. Survival preserves specified or collateral duties after closing.
- Question cue
- Term absorbed versus term remains.
- Terms
- Full performance vs. substantial performance
- Difference
- Full performance satisfies the duty as promised. Substantial performance delivers the essential benefit despite limited defects, often leaving damages or offset.
- Question cue
- Exact completion versus essential completion with defect.
- Terms
- Performance vs. release
- Difference
- Performance discharges a duty by doing what was promised. A release ends a claim or duty through a separate agreement or instrument.
- Question cue
- Promise fulfilled versus right surrendered.
- Terms
- Closing statement vs. deed
- Difference
- The settlement statement accounts for transaction money. The deed is the instrument used to convey the real-property estate.
- Question cue
- Financial accounting versus title conveyance.
The C-L-O-S-E-D check
- Context: decide whether executed means signed, delivered, or fully performed in the question presented.
- Legal formation: confirm mutual assent, consideration, required writing, signatures, authority, property, price, and effective delivery of the contract.
- Obligations: list every buyer and seller duty, then mark performed, waived, discharged, surviving, disputed, or still pending.
- Settlement and conveyance: verify funds, prorations, title cure, escrow conditions, valid deed, operative delivery, acceptance, possession, and keys.
- Evidence and recording: retain the contract, amendments, receipts, settlement papers, deed, recording data, title policy, and closing communications.
- Deed merger and survival: separate conveyance terms from collateral promises, express survival, mistake, misrepresentation, warranties, and later claims.
- Question
- Was contract signed?
- Best evidence
- Required signatures and delivery
- Do not assume
- All duties finished
- Question
- Was buyer performance complete?
- Best evidence
- Funds and required documents
- Do not assume
- Deed valid
- Question
- Was seller performance complete?
- Best evidence
- Deed, title, possession, documents
- Do not assume
- Recording cures defects
- Question
- Was deed delivered?
- Best evidence
- Intent, control, escrow release
- Do not assume
- Signature alone passes title
- Question
- Was deed recorded?
- Best evidence
- Recorder receipt and instrument number
- Do not assume
- Recording equals formation
- Question
- Does a duty survive?
- Best evidence
- Survival text and collateral nature
- Do not assume
- Closing erases every promise
How do the rules work in scenarios?
Signed contract, performance pending
Scenario: Buyer and seller have signed and delivered a purchase agreement, but financing, title review, final payment, deed delivery, and possession remain.
- The agreement is executed in the signature sense.
- Major contract promises are unfinished.
- The sale remains executory in the performance sense.
Answer: It is a signed agreement, not yet a fully performed contract.
Deed signed but retained
Scenario: The seller signs a deed and locks it in a personal safe, intending to decide next month whether to complete the gift. The grantee never receives or accepts it.
- The seller executed the paper.
- The seller retained control and lacked present intent to pass title.
- No facts establish operative delivery or grantee acceptance.
Answer: Signing alone did not convey title.
Conditional escrow delivery
Scenario: Seller places a signed deed with the escrowee under written instructions to release it only when buyer funds and lender documents arrive. The conditions remain unsatisfied.
- Physical possession moved to the escrowee.
- Release and title passage remain subject to agreed conditions.
- The transaction has not completed simply because escrow holds the deed.
Answer: The deed remains conditionally held and the sale is still executory.
Core closing performance
Scenario: Buyer supplies all funds, seller's valid deed is released under satisfied escrow instructions, buyer accepts, possession is delivered, and no material core duty remains.
- Buyer performed the payment promise.
- Seller completed the operative conveyance and possession duties.
- The essential exchange is complete.
Answer: The contract is executed in the performance sense.
Recording is not the whole test
Scenario: A person records a deed bearing a forged grantor signature and argues that recording alone transferred valid title.
- Recording creates a public filing, not an authentic grantor act.
- Forgery defeats the claimed execution and authority.
- A recorder's acceptance does not adjudicate the instrument's validity.
Answer: Recording alone does not cure a forged or otherwise invalid deed.
Conveyance term merges
Scenario: The purchase contract promises a specified ownership estate, and the buyer knowingly accepts a delivered deed in full execution of that conveyance without a survival clause or other exception.
- The deed is intended to perform the conveyance promise.
- Illinois merger doctrine can supersede sale-contract terms covered by the deed.
- Exact language, intent, and recognized exceptions still require review.
Answer: The conveyance provision may merge into the accepted deed.
Collateral repair duty survives
Scenario: The contract requires seller to replace a furnace within 20 days after closing and states that the promise survives deed delivery. The sale closes on time.
- The deed completed the title conveyance.
- Furnace replacement is not performed by the deed.
- The contract expressly preserves the post-closing duty.
Answer: The core sale is executed, but the repair covenant remains enforceable as written.
What are the common exam traps?
- Trap
- Using executed without context
- Correction
- State whether you mean signed paper or completed contract performance.
- Trap
- Calling signatures full performance
- Correction
- Check funds, deed, title, escrow, possession, and every material duty.
- Trap
- Calling closing a single signature
- Correction
- Closing coordinates reciprocal documents, money, conveyance, and possession.
- Trap
- Treating a signed deed as delivered
- Correction
- Delivery needs present transfer intent and surrender of control under the circumstances.
- Trap
- Ignoring grantee acceptance
- Correction
- Title does not pass where neither actual acceptance nor a justified presumption exists.
- Trap
- Confusing escrow possession with release
- Correction
- Conditional instructions may prevent operative release until closing conditions are met.
- Trap
- Equating recording with delivery
- Correction
- Recording addresses public notice; legal delivery turns on grantor intent and control.
- Trap
- Assuming recording validates forgery
- Correction
- A public filing does not cure a forged signature or absent authority.
- Trap
- Ignoring deed formalities
- Correction
- Verify grantor, grantee, estate, description, signature, authority, acknowledgment, and recordability.
- Trap
- Applying merger to every promise
- Correction
- Test whether a promise is conveyance-related, collateral, independent, or expressly surviving.
- Trap
- Ignoring mistake or misrepresentation
- Correction
- Illinois merger doctrine has recognized exceptions that require evidence and legal analysis.
- Trap
- Equating substantial and perfect performance
- Correction
- Substantial performance can leave damages, offsets, cure duties, or unresolved materiality.
- Trap
- Assuming performance prevents fraud claims
- Correction
- Closing does not automatically erase fraud, title, warranty, or surviving-contract issues.
- Trap
- Discarding the closing file
- Correction
- Retain proof of signatures, funds, deed delivery, recording, escrow, and surviving duties.
- Trap
- Letting a broker give a merger opinion
- Correction
- Refer deed validity, delivery, title, merger, and post-closing liability to qualified counsel and title professionals.
Can you answer these original practice questions?
These questions are original study items aligned to the published outline. They are not copied, recalled, or predicted PSI questions.
1. In performance terminology, what is an executed contract?
- A contract whose material duties have been performed
- Any unsigned proposal
- Any void agreement
- Only a recorded mortgage
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A contract whose material duties have been performed
The label contrasts completed performance with an executory contract.
2. Can executed also mean signed?
- Yes
- No
- Only for leases
- Only in federal law
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Yes
Always use the question's context to identify the intended meaning.
3. Does a seller's signature alone deliver a deed?
- No
- Yes
- Only if dated
- Only if witnessed
Show answer and explanation
Answer: No
Delivery requires intent that the deed operate and surrender of control.
4. What is the grantee-side element of deed transfer?
- Acceptance
- Appraisal
- Listing
- Inspection
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Acceptance
Illinois authority recognizes actual acceptance or a legally justified presumption.
5. What does recording chiefly provide?
- Public notice and priority effects
- Automatic contract formation
- A cure for forgery
- Physical possession
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Public notice and priority effects
Recording is distinct from deed execution, delivery, acceptance, and validity.
6. What can happen to conveyance terms when the deed is accepted in full execution?
- They may merge into the deed
- They become a listing agreement
- They create a tax exemption
- They become earnest money
Show answer and explanation
Answer: They may merge into the deed
The parties' intent and recognized merger exceptions still matter.
7. Which promise is most likely to survive merger?
- An expressly surviving collateral repair covenant
- A conveyance term fully restated in the deed
- A superseded negotiation email
- An unaccepted offer
Show answer and explanation
Answer: An expressly surviving collateral repair covenant
It is independent of the deed conveyance and preserved by the contract.
8. Does substantial performance always mean perfect performance?
- No
- Yes
- Only at closing
- Only for buyers
Show answer and explanation
Answer: No
Limited defects can remain and support an offset or damages.
9. Can a duty remain after the core sale is fully performed?
- Yes
- No
- Only if oral
- Only if unrecorded
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Yes
Expressly surviving and collateral obligations can continue.
10. Who should evaluate disputed deed delivery and merger?
- Qualified counsel and title professionals
- The broker acting alone
- The home stager
- The photographer
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Qualified counsel and title professionals
These are legal and title questions beyond ordinary brokerage judgment.
How should you study this area?
- Session
- Session 1
- Focus
- Master both meanings
- Proof you are ready
- Classify 35 signed, delivered, acknowledged, fully performed, partly performed, discharged, executory, and surviving-duty facts.
- Session
- Session 2
- Focus
- Audit closing performance
- Proof you are ready
- Review 30 buyer-fund, seller-document, title, lien, proration, deed, possession, key, escrow, and settlement scenarios.
- Session
- Session 3
- Focus
- Prove deed delivery
- Proof you are ready
- Solve 35 signature, intent, control, physical transfer, escrow, condition, revocation, acceptance, and evidence problems.
- Session
- Session 4
- Focus
- Separate recording
- Proof you are ready
- Audit 30 county, acknowledgment, filing, indexing, notice, priority, forgery, authority, delivery, and recordability facts.
- Session
- Session 5
- Focus
- Test merger and survival
- Proof you are ready
- Classify 35 conveyance, collateral, independent, survival, warranty, repair, mistake, misrepresentation, release, and post-closing issues.
- Session
- Session 6
- Focus
- Run C-L-O-S-E-D
- Proof you are ready
- Audit two Illinois closing files, score at least 90 percent, and explain which duties performed and which survived.
Do not count recognition as mastery. Close the notes and explain the rule, apply it to a new fact pattern, and identify why each distractor fails.
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Questions students ask about Executed Contract: Illinois Real Estate Exam Guide
What is an executed contract in real estate?
In the performance sense, an executed contract is one whose material promises have been completed. In an ordinary sale, that usually means the buyer has supplied the required purchase funds and the seller has made the required conveyance, with deed delivery, possession, and other closing duties handled as agreed. A collateral or expressly surviving duty can remain after the core sale performs.
Does executed always mean fully performed?
No. Legal and business usage also calls a signed document executed. A contract can therefore be executed by the parties in the signature sense while it remains executory in the performance sense. Exam questions usually reveal the intended meaning through facts about closing, payment, deed delivery, or unfinished duties.
Is a signed purchase contract an executed contract?
It is an executed document if all required parties signed it. It is generally still executory as a transaction if inspections, title work, financing, purchase payment, deed delivery, or possession remain. State both meanings when wording is ambiguous, then answer from the tested timeline.
When is an Illinois real estate sale fully performed?
The exact contract controls. A typical closing completes the reciprocal core promises when required funds are delivered, the deed is validly delivered with intent to pass title, escrow conditions are satisfied, and possession and documents are handled as agreed. Recording ordinarily protects notice and priority but should not be confused with contract formation or the grantor's delivery intent.
Does signing a deed transfer Illinois real estate?
Not by itself. Illinois court authority states that even an executed deed conveys no title unless it is delivered, with the grantor intending the deed to pass title and to surrender control. Acceptance by the grantee also matters. A signature, possession of a paper, delivery into a conditional escrow, and operative delivery are different facts.
Is recording the deed the same as delivering it?
No. Recording places the instrument in the county's public land records and affects constructive notice and priority. Delivery asks whether the grantor intended the deed to operate and relinquished control under the transaction. Recording can be evidence, but it does not automatically cure forgery, lack of authority, failed delivery, an unsatisfied escrow condition, or another invalidity.
What happens to the purchase contract after deed delivery?
Illinois applies a merger doctrine under which a deed delivered in full execution of a land-sale contract can supersede contract provisions concerning the conveyance. The rule has exceptions, including collateral and independent provisions, and cases involving clear proof of misrepresentation or mutual mistake. The parties' intent, language, and circumstances matter.
Can contract duties survive an Illinois closing?
Yes. Express survival language can preserve duties such as repair escrows, indemnities, representations, post-closing document delivery, or adjustments. A promise that is collateral to and independent of deed conveyance may also avoid merger. Do not assume that keys and a recorded deed erase every written obligation.
What is the difference between performance and substantial performance?
Complete performance satisfies the promised duty as required. Substantial performance is a doctrine that can permit recovery despite limited defects, usually with an offset, when the essential bargain was delivered. It does not give parties permission to ignore exact conditions, deed requirements, material obligations, or a contract that demands strict performance.
Does full performance prevent every later claim?
No. Surviving warranties, fraud, misrepresentation, mutual mistake, title covenants, escrow duties, recording problems, latent issues, indemnities, and other legal claims can remain. Limitation periods, merger, waiver, release, notice, proof, and remedy rules require the actual documents and legal analysis.
Are these official PSI questions or legal advice?
No. The practice questions are original. The PSI Illinois outline, Illinois statutes, and Illinois court materials were checked through August 1, 2026. This guide is exam education, not legal, title, tax, escrow, recording, or closing advice. A live transaction requires review of the purchase contract, amendments, settlement papers, deed, delivery and acceptance evidence, escrow conditions, recording data, possession, releases, and survival clauses.
Primary sources
- PSI Illinois Candidate Information Booklet effective June 24, 2026
- Illinois Courts, official decision distinguishing an executory real estate agreement from completed legal-title transfer
- Illinois Courts, official real estate decision explaining deed merger, collateral promises, misrepresentation, and mutual mistake
- Illinois Courts, official decision explaining deed execution, delivery, grantor intent, control, and grantee acceptance
- Illinois General Assembly, 765 ILCS 5 Conveyances Act provisions on instruments and recording
- Illinois General Assembly, 765 ILCS 5/35c deed execution and acknowledgment requirements
- Illinois General Assembly, 765 ILCS 65/1 treatment of title and possession in real estate sale risk
The current official outline controls the tested scope. Statutes, regulations, and official agency materials control when a general study rule and a jurisdiction-specific rule differ.
Editorial status
Checked against primary sources
The Pass Illinois editorial team last checked this guide on August 1, 2026. Every practice question is an original study item, and the source links above let you verify the rules that support the lesson.