An uncle executed a warranty deed granting a parcel of land to his nephew. The uncle placed the deed in his bedroom closet and told his friend to get the deed and give it to the nephew if the nephew survived the uncle. Several years later, the uncle conveyed the land by quitclaim deed to a purchaser for $20,000. The uncle told the purchaser about the earlier deed to the nephew, and he told the purchaser that he planned to tear it up, but the uncle never did so. The purchaser properly recorded her deed. The uncle died the following year, leaving the nephew as his sole surviving heir. The friend thereupon delivered the uncle's deed to the nephew, which was the first time the nephew knew of the deed. A statute of the jurisdiction in which the land is located provides: "No conveyance or mortgage of real property shall be good against subsequent purchasers for value and without notice whose conveyance is first recorded according to law." Was the deed from the uncle to the purchaser effective?
