Norfolk County Deed Records

Norfolk County deed records go back to 1793 and are kept at the Registry of Deeds in Dedham. The registry serves all 28 communities in the county and holds over 13.1 million land records. You can search deed records online for free or visit the office in person to find property transfers, mortgages, discharges, and other recorded documents tied to real estate in Norfolk County.

Norfolk County Registry of Deeds

The Norfolk County Registry of Deeds is the official keeper of all land records for the county. Register William P. O'Donnell leads the office as an elected county official. The registry is at 649 High Street in Dedham, with a mailing address of PO Box 69, Dedham, MA 02026. You can reach the office by phone at 781-461-6101 for customer service or 781-461-6122 for the main line. The fax number is 781-326-4742. You can also email Register O'Donnell directly at registerodonnell@norfolkdeeds.org.

Office hours run Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM. If you need to record a document, you must come in between 9:00 AM and 4:00 PM. The registry was set up in 1793 by Governor John Hancock. Since then it has built one of the most complete collections of land records in the state. The main website is norfolkdeeds.org, where you can find forms, fee schedules, and news about the office.

The registry serves four cities: Braintree, Franklin, Quincy, and Weymouth. It also covers 24 towns, from Avon and Bellingham to Wellesley, Westwood, and Wrentham. Any deed, mortgage, or land-related document for these communities must be filed and recorded here.

How to Search Norfolk County Deed Records Online

Norfolk County offers two free online search tools for deed records. The first is Massachusetts Land Records, the statewide system that covers all Norfolk County documents. The second is norfolkresearch.org, the registry's own dedicated search portal. Both tools let you look up records at no cost. You do not need an account to run a basic search.

The statewide Massachusetts Land Records site gives you access to every registry in the state from one place. It is run by the Secretary of State's office and links directly to Norfolk County's index. You can search by name, book and page, or document type. The Norfolk research portal at norfolkresearch.org works the same way but is specific to this county. Some users find it faster for local searches because it only pulls from the Norfolk County database.

The registry offers several search filters to narrow your results. You can search by grantor or grantee name using a single combined name search. A book and page search works if you already know where the document is recorded. Property address search is available for documents from 2003 forward, though older records may not turn up this way. You can also filter by document type, such as deed, mortgage, discharge, easement, lien, or plan. Town filters let you limit results to one or more of the 28 communities. Date range filters help cut down long lists of results for common names. Records go back all the way to 1793.

The registry is also active on Facebook and on Twitter/X at @norfolkdeeds. The office posts updates about closures, new services, and record milestones there.

The Massachusetts Land Records platform below shows the statewide search interface used to access Norfolk County deed records along with every other registry in Massachusetts.

The site links directly to Norfolk County's index and lets you pull up scanned images of recorded documents going back to the start of the registry in 1793.

The Norfolk County online search portal shown below is the registry's own search tool, offering fast access to the county's full index of deed records.

This portal is useful for name searches, book and page lookups, and filtering by town or document type across all 13.1 million records in the Norfolk County collection.

Note: Address searches at norfolkresearch.org work best for documents recorded after 2003. For older records, use a name or book-and-page search instead.

What Norfolk County Deed Records Contain

The Norfolk County Registry of Deeds holds over 13.1 million land records spread across 42,366 books. That is a large and detailed archive. Records run from 1793 to the present day. Most are now digitized and searchable online. Older handwritten records from the 1800s are also part of the collection and have been transcribed as part of the registry's History Comes Alive program.

Deed records in Norfolk County cover much more than just property sales. The registry holds mortgages, discharge documents that show a mortgage was paid off, easements, liens, plans, and other land-related papers. A standard deed shows the names of the seller (grantor) and buyer (grantee), a legal description of the property, the date of the transaction, and the amount paid if stated. Mortgages show the lender, borrower, loan amount, and property pledged as security.

The registry also holds historical records for areas that are now part of Boston. Before certain annexations, Roxbury (pre-1867), Dorchester (pre-1869), West Roxbury (pre-1872), and Hyde Park (pre-1911) were part of Norfolk County. Deed records for those areas during those years are still held here, not in Suffolk County. This is worth knowing if you research old Boston property titles.

Under Massachusetts General Laws, MGL Chapter 183 governs the recording of deeds and other instruments affecting real property. Recording a deed protects your ownership rights by giving public notice of the transfer. An unrecorded deed can create legal problems if a later buyer or creditor claims they had no knowledge of it. The law strongly favors recorded documents.

History Comes Alive and Notable Land Records

The Norfolk County Registry of Deeds runs a program called History Comes Alive. Through this effort, all handwritten land records from 1793 to 1900 have been transcribed into readable printed text. This makes old documents far easier to read and search. Handwriting from the 1800s can be hard to interpret, so the transcription work opens up centuries of land history to anyone who wants to look.

The registry has also published a Notable Land Records series. Volume 1, released in 2018, marked the 225th anniversary of the registry and was featured in the Library of Congress. Volume 2 came out in 2019 and highlights a striking fact: four United States Presidents were born in Norfolk County. John Adams (2nd president), John Quincy Adams (6th president), John F. Kennedy (35th president), and George H.W. Bush (41st president) all have roots here. The volume traces land records connected to these figures. The registry also maintains a collection of historical photos tied to county properties.

Recording Requirements and Deed Record Fees

Documents submitted to the Norfolk County Registry of Deeds must meet state standards to be accepted for recording. The first page of any document must have a three-inch margin at the top. All other pages need a one-inch margin. The document must be on white paper and printed clearly. Signatures must be original, and notarization is required for deeds and mortgages. The recording fee schedule is available at norfolkdeeds.org/services/fee-schedule.

Current recording fees in Norfolk County are: $155 to record a deed, $205 for a mortgage, $105 for a discharge, $35 for a homestead declaration, and $105 per sheet for plans. These fees cover the cost of recording and indexing your document in the registry's system.

Massachusetts also charges a real estate excise tax on deeds when property transfers hands. The rate is $4.56 per $1,000 of the sale price. You can estimate what you owe with the calculator at franklindeeds.com/excise-tax-calculator. The tax must be paid before the deed is recorded. The registry will not accept a deed without the tax stamps attached.

The Declaration of Homestead is worth noting. Under MGL Chapter 188, owners who live in their home can file a homestead declaration to protect up to $500,000 in home equity from creditors. The $35 recording fee for a homestead at the Norfolk County registry is one of the lower-cost protections available to property owners in Massachusetts. Details are at norfolkdeeds.org/services/homestead.

Note: Fees are set by state law and apply uniformly at all Massachusetts registries of deeds, though check the Norfolk County fee schedule to confirm current amounts before submitting documents.

How to Get Copies of Norfolk Deed Records

There are three ways to get copies of deed records from the Norfolk County Registry of Deeds. You can visit in person, request by mail, or download free copies online. The method you choose affects both the cost and the type of copy you receive. Only certified copies carry an official stamp from the registry.

In person, copies cost $1.00 per page. You can request copies at the counter during recording hours. Staff will pull the document from the index and print it for you. This is the fastest way to get what you need, and you can ask questions while you are there. Bring the book and page number if you have it, or the names of the parties and approximate date of the document. More details on getting copies are at norfolkdeeds.org/services/obtain-copy-of-deed.

By mail, the fee is $2.00 for the first page and $1.00 for each page after that, plus $1.00 for postage. Write to the registry at 649 High Street, PO Box 69, Dedham, MA 02026. Include as much detail as you can about the document you want. A check payable to Norfolk County Registry of Deeds should be included, or call ahead to ask about payment methods. Online copies from norfolkresearch.org or masslandrecords.com are free, but they are not certified. For most research purposes, an uncertified copy works fine. If you need the document for a legal proceeding or a real estate closing, you will need a certified copy from the office.

E-Filing and Consumer Notification Service

Norfolk County participates in electronic recording through partnerships with two platforms: Simplifile and ePN. Title companies, law firms, and lenders can submit documents electronically through these services without coming to the office. E-filing speeds up the recording process and reduces the chance of errors that come with paper submissions. Details about e-filing options are at norfolkdeeds.org/services/e-filing-information.

The registry also offers a free Consumer Notification Service. This tool sends you an email alert any time a document is recorded in Norfolk County that uses your name. It is designed to help property owners catch fraud early. Deed fraud has become more common in recent years, and this service gives you a way to know right away if someone files a document in your name without your knowledge. You can sign up at norfolkdeeds.org or through the statewide portal at cns.masslandrecords.com.

The registry FAQ page answers common questions about recording, copies, fees, and the online search tools. If you are new to using the registry or have a question about a specific document type, it is a good first stop before calling or visiting in person.

Cities in Norfolk County

Norfolk County includes 28 cities and towns. All deed records for these communities are filed at the Registry of Deeds in Dedham. The cities below have their own pages with local resources and search tools.

Other communities in Norfolk County include Avon, Bellingham, Braintree, Canton, Cohasset, Dedham, Dover, Foxborough, Franklin, Holbrook, Medfield, Medway, Millis, Milton, Needham, Norfolk, Norwood, Plainville, Randolph, Sharon, Stoughton, Walpole, Wellesley, Westwood, and Wrentham. All of these file deed records at the Norfolk County Registry of Deeds in Dedham.

Nearby Counties

These counties border Norfolk County. Each has its own registry of deeds. If you are not sure which county a property falls in, check the town name against the communities each registry serves.