State by state
Who actually conducts your closing, state by state
Three different answers, depending on the state: a lawyer, a licensed title or settlement agent, or a neutral escrow holder. It is state law, it is not close to uniform, and it decides who is in the room, who is liable, and what shows up as a line on your closing statement.
Most published answers to this come from custom rather than authority, which is why sources disagree and why some of them are simply out of date. Every answer below names the statute, bar opinion or regulator publication behind it — and where no authority could be found, it says so rather than repeating a common belief.
50 of 50 states answered so far. Every answer below rests on a named primary source — a statute, a bar opinion, a regulator publication or a statewide form. Where none exists, the row says so instead of guessing, and research on the remaining states is ongoing.
| State | Answer | What the authority actually says |
|---|---|---|
| Alabamalicensed here | Title or settlement agent | Alabama law does not make every residential closing an attorney closing. Preparing instruments affecting secular rights is reserved to lawyers, while title and abstract companies may conduct their own title business. |
| Alaskalicensed here | Title or settlement agent | Alaska is not a mandatory attorney-closing state. The Real Estate Commission directs a closing brokerage to arrange the transaction through a title company, lending institution, escrow company or attorney with the parties’ consent. |
| Arizona | Escrow holder | Arizona authorizes licensed escrow agents and title insurance agents to handle real-property escrows under written conditions; an attorney is not required to conduct the ordinary residential closing. |
| Arkansaslicensed here | Title or settlement agent | Arkansas is not a mandatory attorney-closing state. The Title Insurance Act licenses title agents and agencies, and the Insurance Department’s title rule recognises escrow and closing fees as their authorised activity. |
| Californialicensed here | Escrow holder | California is not an attorney-closing state. A neutral escrow holder carries out written instructions, holds documents and funds, records instruments and disburses when conditions are satisfied. |
| Colorado | Title or settlement agent | Colorado permits a person or entity providing closing and settlement services to receive and disburse transaction funds, and separately regulates title entities performing those services; an attorney is not mandatory. |
| Connecticut | Attorney required | Connecticut law provides that no person may conduct the defined real-estate closing unless admitted as an attorney in the state and eligible to practice. |
| Delaware | Attorney required | Delaware treats the material legal functions of a real-estate settlement as the practice of law and requires Delaware-attorney participation rather than an independent lay settlement company conducting the closing. |
| Florida | Title or settlement agent | Florida expressly authorizes licensed title insurers, title insurance agents or agencies, and attorney agents to prepare closing documents, conduct the closing, and disburse funds. |
| Georgialicensed here | Attorney required | Georgia is an attorney-closing state. Bar Formal Advisory Opinions 86-5 and 13-1 make closing a real-estate transaction the practice of law and require a lawyer to control it from beginning to end; a witness-only lawyer is insufficient. |
| Hawaii | Escrow holder | Hawaii regulates neutral escrow depositories for transactions affecting title to real property; the escrow holder carries out the closing instructions and an attorney is not mandatory. |
| Idaho | Escrow holder | Idaho licenses escrow agencies to hold instruments, money, or title evidence under written conditions for real-property sales, transfers, and encumbrances; an attorney is not mandatory. |
| Illinoislicensed here | Title or settlement agent | Illinois treats drafting instruments affecting title as the practice of law, but the escrow holder need not be a law firm — a title-company closer ordinarily acts as the lender’s settlement agent. |
| Indiana | Title or settlement agent | Indiana recognizes title companies and title insurance producers acting as residential settlement or closing agents, and the Department of Insurance states that title companies handle property closings. |
| Iowa | Title or settlement agent | Iowa licenses nonparty closing agents to provide residential real-estate closing services, including the closing conference, document checks, and receipt and disbursement of funds. |
| Kansaslicensed here | Title or settlement agent | Kansas is not an attorney-closing state. K.S.A. 40-1136 includes handling escrow, settlements or closings and recording documents among a title agent’s authorised functions. |
| Kentucky | Title or settlement agent | Kentucky permits a layperson to conduct a real-estate closing so long as the closer does not give legal advice or answer questions requiring legal judgment. |
| Louisianalicensed here | Title or settlement agent | Louisiana does not require a lawyer. La. R.S. 9:3506.1 contemplates loan proceeds disbursed by a notary public or licensed title company at execution of the act of sale or act of mortgage — and a Louisiana civil-law notary holds far broader authority than a notary elsewhere. |
| Mainelicensed here | Title or settlement agent | Maine is not a mandatory attorney-closing state. Title 10, chapter 212-D defines a residential settlement agency broadly as whoever conducts settlement or disburses proceeds. |
| Maryland | Title or settlement agent | Maryland licenses title insurance producers to provide escrow closing and settlement services. |
| Massachusetts | Attorney required | Massachusetts reserves directing or managing a covered residential closing to an eligible Massachusetts attorney. |
| Michigan | Title or settlement agent | Michigan expressly recognizes a licensed title insurance company or its agent conducting the closing. |
| Minnesotalicensed here | Title or settlement agent | Minnesota closings are ordinarily conducted through a title company rather than requiring an attorney. |
| Mississippi | Attorney required | Mississippi reserves the legal direction and document work of a real-estate closing to an attorney. |
| Missourilicensed here | Title or settlement agent | Missouri is not an attorney-closing state. RSMo § 381.022 expressly authorises a title insurer, agency or unaffiliated agent to act as escrow, settlement or closing agent. |
| Montana | Title or settlement agent | Montana regulates title producers handling escrow settlement and closing funds without mandating an attorney. |
| Nebraska | Title or settlement agent | Nebraska regulates title agents performing escrow settlement and closing services without mandating an attorney. |
| Nevada | Escrow holder | Nevada licenses escrow entities to complete real-property transactions under escrow instructions. |
| New Hampshire | Title or settlement agent | New Hampshire recognizes title producers acting as settlement agents and handling closing funds. |
| New Jersey | Title or settlement agent | New Jersey permits a title company to prepare the settlement statement and conduct settlement functions; an attorney is optional. |
| New Mexico | Title or settlement agent | New Mexico regulates title insurers and agents performing escrow and closing services. |
| New York | Attorney required | New York reserves the legal work and supervision of a real-estate closing to admitted counsel. |
| North Carolina | Attorney required | North Carolina requires a lawyer to provide and control the legal services that make up a residential closing. |
| North Dakota | Title or settlement agent | North Dakota recognizes title insurers and agents providing escrow settlement and closing services. |
| Ohio | Title or settlement agent | Ohio recognizes title agents performing escrow settlement and closing services. |
| Oklahoma | Title or settlement agent | Oklahoma regulates title agents handling escrow settlement and closing funds without mandating an attorney. |
| Oregon | Escrow holder | Oregon licenses escrow agents to deliver funds and documents when written real-property conditions are met. |
| Pennsylvania | Title or settlement agent | Pennsylvania recognizes title agents performing settlement and closing services without mandating an attorney. |
| Rhode Island | Title or settlement agent | Rhode Island permits a licensed title insurance agent to conduct a residential closing without providing legal advice or guidance. |
| South Carolinalicensed here | Attorney required | South Carolina is an attorney-closing state: a licensed attorney has to run the closing. |
| South Dakotalicensed here | Title or settlement agent | No South Dakota law requiring an attorney to preside over an ordinary residential closing was identified. State law and official forms recognise non-attorney closing roles. |
| Tennessee | Title or settlement agent | Tennessee regulates title agents and agencies performing escrow and closing services without mandating an attorney. |
| Texas | Title or settlement agent | Texas title agents may serve as escrow and settlement agents and disburse closing funds. |
| Utah | Title or settlement agent | Utah licenses title producers and escrow officers to perform title and escrow closing functions. |
| Vermont | Attorney required | Vermont reserves title examination and the legal completion of a real-estate conveyance to counsel. |
| Virginia | Title or settlement agent | Virginia authorizes licensed settlement agents including qualifying non-attorney title entities. |
| Washington | Escrow holder | Washington licenses escrow agents to carry out written instructions and complete settlement. |
| West Virginia | Attorney required | West Virginia requires a licensed attorney to supervise and control the legal work of a real-estate closing. |
| Wisconsin | Title or settlement agent | Wisconsin recognizes title and settlement providers conducting closings without mandating an attorney. |
| Wyominglicensed here | Title or settlement agent | Wyoming is not an identified attorney-closing state. The Department of Insurance licenses title agents and treats the title insurer and the closing agent as ordinary — and possibly separate — participants. |
What the three arrangements actually mean
Attorney required. A licensed lawyer must conduct or control the closing and cannot delegate that responsibility. Georgia is the sharpest version: the State Bar treats closing a real-estate transaction as the practice of law, and a lawyer who merely witnesses signatures is not enough. For your budget it means a real line item with no equivalent in an escrow state.
Title or settlement agent. State law authorises a licensed non-attorney to hold escrow, supervise signing, record the instruments and disburse. The boundary is narrower than it looks in several of these states — conducting a closing is permitted, drafting instruments and giving legal advice is not, and courts have enforced that line.
Escrow holder. A neutral third party carries out written instructions from both sides, holds documents and funds, obtains satisfaction of the conditions, records, accounts and disburses. An escrow officer cannot give legal advice to either party, which surprises people who expect the closer to be on their side.
Why this page covers states I cannot lend in
The question is national and the answer should be too. I am licensed to originate in 14 states — marked in the table above — and this page offers nothing anywhere else. It exists because the cross-state version of this answer is genuinely hard to find, and because a national average is the wrong tool for a question where every state gives a different answer. 50 of 50 states are researched so far.
If you are moving between states, what actually changes when you cross a state line is the wider picture, and the state guides go through the closing in full for the states written up so far. To price a specific scenario, run your numbers — closing costs come from each state's own statutes rather than a national average.
Common questions
Which states require an attorney at closing?
Attorney involvement is set by each state and the requirements are not uniform. Georgia and South Carolina both require a licensed attorney to conduct or control a residential closing — in Georgia, bar Formal Advisory Opinions make closing a real-estate transaction the practice of law and a witness-only lawyer is insufficient. Most other states permit a licensed title or settlement agent to conduct the closing instead, and a few, California among them, run closings through a neutral escrow holder. The table on this page names the authority behind each answer.
What is the difference between an attorney state, a title state and an escrow state?
They describe who is responsible for conducting the closing. In an attorney state a lawyer must conduct or control it and cannot delegate that responsibility. In a title or settlement state a licensed non-attorney agent may receive funds, supervise signing, record the instruments and disburse. In an escrow state a neutral escrow holder carries out written instructions from both sides and disburses when the conditions are satisfied. The practical differences a client feels are who is in the room, who is liable, and what appears as a line on the closing statement.
Does an attorney-closing state cost more?
It produces a line item that does not exist in an escrow state, which is why buyers relocating from Arizona, Nevada or California frequently see an attorney fee on a Loan Estimate for the first time and ask what it is. Whether the total is higher depends on the whole state package — taxes on recording, title practice and settlement charges vary independently, so one line cannot be compared on its own.
Can a title company close my loan instead of a lawyer?
It depends entirely on the state. Where a state reserves conducting the closing to attorneys, a title company cannot substitute for that role. Where state law authorises title or settlement agents to handle escrow, settlement and recording, it can. In several states the boundary is narrower than it looks: a non-attorney may conduct the closing but may not draft instruments or give legal advice, which is a distinction courts have enforced.
Why do so many sources disagree about which states are attorney states?
Because the question is usually answered from custom rather than from authority, and because the rules change. Georgia allows the responsible lawyer to participate by live video under a 2025 advisory opinion, which contradicts older sources saying physical presence is always required. Every answer in the table on this page names the statute, bar opinion or regulator publication it rests on, and says plainly where no authority could be found rather than repeating a common belief.
Reference material, not legal advice, and not an offer to lend in any state. State law changes and authorities are revised; what applies to a specific transaction is worth confirming with the professionals conducting it. Jeff Moran, NMLS #483943, through C2 Financial Corporation, NMLS #135622. Equal Housing Opportunity.