A Muniment or Muniment of Title is a legal term for a document

Document

The term document has multiple meanings in ordinary language and in scholarship. WordNet 3.1. lists four meanings :* document, written document, papers...

, or other evidence

Evidence (law)

The law of evidence encompasses the rules and legal principles that govern the proof of facts in a legal proceeding. These rules determine what evidence can be considered by the trier of fact in reaching its decision and, sometimes, the weight that may be given to that evidence...

, that indicates ownership

Ownership

Ownership is the state or fact of exclusive rights and control over property, which may be an object, land/real estate or intellectual property. Ownership involves multiple rights, collectively referred to as title, which may be separated and held by different parties. The concept of ownership has...

 of an asset

Asset

In financial accounting, assets are economic resources. Anything tangible or intangible that is capable of being owned or controlled to produce value and that is held to have positive economic value is considered an asset...

. The word is derived from munimentum, the Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 word for a defensive fortification

Fortification

Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defence in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs...

. In other words, "muniments of title" means the written evidence which a land owner can use to defend title to his estate.

An example of Muniment of Title would include but is not limited to using a death certificate

Death certificate

The phrase death certificate can describe either a document issued by a medical practitioner certifying the deceased state of a person or popularly to a document issued by a person such as a registrar of vital statistics that declares the date, location and cause of a person's death as later...

 of a joint tenant

Concurrent estate

A concurrent estate or co-tenancy is a concept in property law which describes the various ways in which property is owned by more than one person at a time. If more than one person own the same property, they are referred to as co-owners, co-tenants or joint tenants...

 to prove that Title

Title (property)

Title is a legal term for a bundle of rights in a piece of property in which a party may own either a legal interest or an equitable interest. The rights in the bundle may be separated and held by different parties. It may also refer to a formal document that serves as evidence of ownership...

 resides with living joint tenant.

Muniments may take the form of myriad documents relating to property

Property

Property is any physical or intangible entity that is owned by a person or jointly by a group of people or a legal entity like a corporation...

 and the ownership thereof, including deed covenants and restrictions, title deeds, and several others. The definition of "muniment" may differ in statute

Statute

A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs a state, city, or county. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. The word is often used to distinguish law made by legislative bodies from case law, decided by courts, and regulations...

s state by state.

For example, states often have their own version of a Marketable Record Title Act (MRTA) which will extinguish various interests, restrictions, or claims to a property within a certain time period unless renewed during that time period by muniments.

"A muniment of title is any documentary evidence upon which title is based. Muniments of title are deeds, wills, and court judgments through which a particular land title passes and upon which its validity depends. Muniments of title need not be recorded to be valid notwithstanding that the recording statutes give good faith purchasers certain rights over the rights of persons claiming under unrecorded muniments of title. Muniments of title do more than merely "affect" title; they must carry title and be a vital link in the chain of title."

In the medieval period, muniments would often be stored in dedicated chambers (for example, above the warming house

Warming house

The warming house was an important room or building in a mediaeval monastery in Western Europe. It was here that a communal fire was kept so that the monks could warm themselves after long hours of study in the cloister or other work...

within a monastery) and in chests designed specifically to aid preservation.