Most people don't go looking for a quitclaim deed. They're dealing with a marriage, a divorce, a death in the family, or an estate plan, and they find out along the way that a deed is part of it.
It's also one of the simplest ways to change who owns a property. This guide walks you through it step by step, using your state's rules.
Start with your situation, not the legal terms. "I got married and want my husband on the house" is a perfectly good place to begin.
Examples: Do I need a notary in Florida? How do I record a deed in Nevada?
Please keep it general. We can't review your deed or advise on your specific case, so leave out names, addresses, and other personal details.
Find your situation below. Each one explains how a quitclaim deed handles it and what to know before you sign.
A quitclaim deed from you to you and your spouse puts them on the title, and its wording sets how you'll own the property together. The loan stays in your name; your spouse becomes an owner, not a borrower.
Your former spouse signs a quitclaim deed passing their share to you, and recording it brings the county records in line with the divorce. Taking them off the mortgage is a separate step with the lender.
A quitclaim deed is a simple way to put property in a relative’s name, whether it’s a gift or a sale. The guide walks through the paperwork, the tax side and what happens to a mortgage.
A quitclaim deed from your parent adds you to the title now. The guide explains what that means for capital gains, Medicaid and control of the property, and the documents that pass property at death.
Moving your property into your own revocable living trust is a job for a quitclaim deed. Write the trust’s name exactly as the trust document gives it, and record the deed so the trust holds the property.
How the property was titled decides your next step. When several heirs inherit it together, a quitclaim deed is a natural fit for passing their shares to the one keeping it.
A misspelled name, a wrong lot number or the wrong ownership wording is put right with a new quitclaim deed, recorded alongside the original. A name that has simply changed since the deed was signed needs no fix at all.
Filling out the deed is usually the easy part. The questions come with everything around it: who signs, whether you need a notary or witnesses, where it gets recorded, and which forms, taxes, and fees apply.
Those rules depend on where the property is located, not where you live. Your state's page covers all of them.
Choose Your StateA few minutes on the basics makes every later step easier. The guide below explains what a quitclaim deed is, what it can and can't do, and what happens after you sign. Legal terms are explained as they come up, so you don't need to know any of them ahead of time.
Read the Complete GuideA quitclaim deed transfers whatever ownership interest one person has in real estate to someone else. An ownership interest is the set of rights a person holds in a property. Someone may hold all of those rights, or a share of them, or, and this is the part that matters, no valid rights at all.
The key phrase is whatever ownership interest. The deed transfers only the rights the signer actually has, and promises nothing beyond them.
If the person signing owns the entire property, the deed transfers that ownership. If they own only part, it transfers only that part. If they turn out to own nothing at all, the quitclaim deed transfers nothing, and the person receiving it has no recourse.
Deeds use their own words for the two sides, and you will meet them on every form. The grantor is the current owner giving up their interest, and is usually the person who signs. The grantee is the person or company receiving it. That is all those two words mean.
Mary owns a home in her own name. She signs a quitclaim deed transferring the home into her living trust, an estate-planning arrangement that holds property during her lifetime and directs where it goes after she dies. Because Mary already knows exactly what she owns, a quitclaim deed is a practical way to move the property.
That example shows why quitclaim deeds are common between people who already know and trust each other, whether family members, spouses, former spouses, or an owner moving property into their own trust. In many of those situations, nobody needs a guarantee from the other side.
Common misunderstanding:
A quitclaim deed does not guarantee that the title is clear. It transfers ownership rights, but it makes no promise that the property is free of liens, which are legal claims against it for things like unpaid debts, taxes, judgments, or work done on the property. It says nothing about title defects, meaning problems in the ownership record such as an unresolved claim, an error, or a missing signature. Boundary disputes and competing ownership claims are not covered either.
A quitclaim deed changes who owns the property. It does not touch the debts, claims, or disputes attached to it.
A quitclaim deed does not:
The mortgage point is worth repeating.
The deed and the mortgage are two separate documents. Taking someone off the deed does not take them off the loan, and putting someone on the deed does not make them responsible for it. Changing who is responsible for the loan takes the lender's involvement, most often a refinance, and sometimes an assumption or another arrangement the lender approves. It is the most common misunderstanding about quitclaim deeds.
None of these limits get in the way of the transfers quitclaim deeds handle every day. They just tell you what to take care of alongside your deed, such as talking to the lender if there’s a mortgage.
The difference between a quitclaim deed and a warranty deed comes down to promises. A warranty in a deed is a promise about ownership or title. A quitclaim deed generally makes no such promises. A warranty deed does.
| Issue | Quitclaim Deed | Warranty Deed |
|---|---|---|
| What it transfers | Whatever ownership interest the grantor has | Ownership, together with promises about the title |
| Title protection | No promise of clear title | Includes promises about title quality |
| Common use | Family, spouse, trust, divorce, or correction transfers | Traditional real estate sales |
| Best for | Transfers between people who already know the situation | Buyers who want protection |
A warranty deed is used in a normal sale because the buyer wants protection. It carries promises from the grantor that they hold good title and have the right to transfer the property, though exactly which promises, and how far they reach, depends on state law and on the wording of the deed itself. A quitclaim deed is used when the parties already know each other and are not asking for any of that.
Some states also use deeds that sit between these two. California's standard deed for a sale, for example, is a grant deed, which carries two promises, both about what happened while the seller owned the property. Your state page names the deeds used where the property is located.
Gather this before you start filling anything out. It prevents most of the mistakes that get deeds rejected at the recorder's counter.
Three of those are worth a word of explanation. The current owner is whoever the existing deed and the land records actually show as holding the property, which is not always the person you would expect. The new owner is the person or company receiving it, called the grantee on the deed itself. The parcel number is the identifying number the county or local tax office assigns to the property, and some recording offices want it on the document while others do not.
What is being paid is explained further down, under What to Put for the Amount, because in many states that figure decides the tax.
The legal description matters more than anything else on the list. It is the official description of the land as it appears in deeds and county records, and it is not the street address. A street address identifies a mailbox. The legal description identifies the land, and it is what the deed records depend on. Copy it exactly, character for character.
Tip:
Do not take the legal description from a property tax bill or an online map. Both are frequently abbreviated or wrong. Use the current recorded deed or the official county land records.
Want to see how this comes together on the page? Check out our filled-out quitclaim deed example for a plain-English walkthrough.
Here is the whole process in order. Each step is covered in more detail elsewhere on this page, because the answer to most of them depends on where the property is located.
Every one of those steps has a state answer, and several have a county answer as well. Check the instructions for the state where the property sits before you prepare or sign anything.
Almost every deed form asks what is being paid. The word for it is consideration, and it means whatever the new owner gives in exchange. On a sale that is the price. On a gift it may be nothing at all.
Older deeds and many blank forms carry a traditional phrase: ten dollars and other good and valuable consideration. It dates from a time when a deed had to show that something was exchanged, and it tells a reader nothing about what actually happened. Some states no longer accept it. Kentucky requires the grantor and the grantee to swear to the real price, or to state that the transfer is a gift and give the property's fair cash value.
The figure matters because many states calculate transfer tax from the amount stated on the deed. It is not a formality. Say what actually changed hands. If nothing did, your state page explains how to word it.
A mortgage can count as part of the amount, and states disagree about whether it does.
Florida treats the balance of a mortgage or other lien on the property as consideration, whether or not the new owner takes the debt on, which catches families who believed they were making a gift. California excludes the value of a lien that stays in place. Check your state page before you write a number down.
Many states will not record a deed unless it says who prepared it. The line is short — some form of this instrument was prepared by, then a name, and often an address. Wisconsin says drafted rather than prepared. It goes at the top of the first page in some states and at the end of the deed in others.
It is not a claim to be a lawyer. If you filled the form in yourself, you are the preparer and your own name belongs on that line. In North Carolina the register does not check further.
Where it is required, leaving it off is enough to get the deed handed back at the counter. Florida and Tennessee both refuse a deed without it. Virginia goes further for a house or small residential property, where the first page has to say the deed was prepared by the owner or by a Virginia attorney. Idaho does not ask for it at all. Your state page says which of those applies to you.
If more than one person will own the property after the transfer, the deed has to state how they hold it together. This wording, sometimes called vesting, determines what happens when one owner dies, whether the property has to go through probate, and in some cases whether a creditor of one owner can reach it. Probate is the court process for handling what a person owned after they die. Some ownership arrangements avoid it and others do not.
Most people preparing their own deed never think about this and accept whatever the form defaults to. It deserves more attention than that.
Tenants in common means each owner holds a separate share. When one owner dies, that share passes through their estate rather than automatically to the other owners, unless some other planning tool is in place. It is useful when co-owners want to leave their share to someone else, for example children from a previous marriage.
Joint tenancy with right of survivorship means the surviving owner or owners receive the deceased owner's interest automatically, without probate. Whether it actually works that way depends on state law and on the exact wording of the deed, which is why the phrasing is worth getting right. It is widely available and commonly chosen by couples and co-owners who want the property to pass simply.
Tenancy by the entirety is open only to married couples, and only in the states that recognize it — roughly half. The couple holds the whole property together rather than in separate shares. It works like joint tenancy with survivorship and adds meaningful creditor protection: in most states that offer it, a creditor of one spouse alone generally cannot force a sale of the home. That protection is why couples with business or professional liability often choose it where it is available.
This option exists in some of the nine community property states, which are Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. What a married couple acquires during the marriage in one of them generally belongs to both of them equally, and this way of holding title builds on that. What the survivorship wording adds is automatic transfer at death, so the surviving spouse does not need probate to take full ownership.
The tax advantage usually mentioned alongside it comes from somewhere else. Community property generally receives a stepped-up basis on both halves when the first spouse dies, rather than only on the deceased spouse's half, and that reset follows from the property being community property rather than from adding survivorship to the title. On a home that has appreciated substantially, the difference can be worth a great deal at a future sale. A couple whose home is already community property does not have to re-title it to get that treatment. Whether a particular property counts as community property is its own question: what one spouse owned before the marriage, or inherited during it, is usually separate property.
Do not guess on ownership wording.
A few words change what happens later, and correcting it after recording requires another deed and everyone's cooperation. Which options are available depends on your state, and so does the exact phrasing the recorder expects. Check your state page before you sign.
In most states, the grantor signs the quitclaim deed in front of a notary public, an official whose role is to confirm who is signing and to complete the notary wording a recorder requires. Some states require witnesses in addition to the notary. A few require the grantee to sign as well, and states with strong homestead protections may require both spouses to sign regardless of whose name is on the deed.
The notary is not reviewing whether the deed is a good idea. Their job is to verify identity, take the acknowledgment, and complete the notary block correctly. The acknowledgment is the wording confirming that the signer appeared, was identified, and acknowledged signing the document. A notarized deed is not a reviewed deed.
Remote Online Notarization (RON) lets you meet a notary over secure live video instead of appearing in person. When each state's rules were last checked, on September 9, 2026, it was up and running in 41 of the 50 states. In the other nine it was either not available or available only in part: Alabama, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
Before using online notarization for a deed, confirm two things separately: that your state authorizes it for real property documents, and that the specific county recording office will accept a remotely notarized deed. The second does not always follow from the first.
Each state's status, with a link to the official source it was checked against, is in our Remote Online Notarization by State guide.
After the deed has been signed and properly notarized, it should be recorded with the county recording office where the property is located. Recording puts the ownership change into the public land records, which helps protect the new owner's interest against later competing claims. An unrecorded deed creates problems that can surface years later.
The recording office goes by different names depending on the state: County Recorder, Recorder of Deeds, Register of Deeds, Clerk and Recorder, Chancery Clerk, or another local title.
Many counties accept deeds by mail, most welcome walk-in recordings during business hours, and a growing number participate in electronic recording (eRecording) through approved providers. Available options vary by county.
Before submitting, check the county's website or call the recording office to confirm accepted submission methods, recording fees, payment options, formatting requirements, and any required supplemental forms. Formatting rules are real — margins, paper size, and font requirements get documents rejected.
Helpful Tip: If you mail your deed, use a service with tracking and include a self-addressed stamped envelope if requested so your recorded deed comes back to you promptly.
Before You Record
After recording, the county will return the original recorded deed or provide a recorded copy, depending on its normal procedures. Keep it. You will need it the next time the property changes hands.
This is where state-specific rules matter most, and where do-it-yourself deeds most often go wrong.
Some states charge a transfer tax when real estate changes ownership. It goes by different names from state to state: deed tax, documentary tax, realty transfer fee, and others. Some states charge none at all. Some counties and cities add their own on top of the state's.
Many states exempt family and spousal transfers from transfer tax — but the exemption usually has to be claimed on the deed or an accompanying form. It is rarely automatic. Miss the form and the recorder charges the tax.
States also require various supplemental documents: transfer declarations, certificates of value, affidavits, assessor forms, tax statements, water-right disclosures, or local cover sheets. A certificate of value is a form that reports the value or the details of a transfer so the county can use it for tax or assessment purposes. An affidavit is a written statement made under oath, and several states require one alongside certain deeds.
Separately, watch for property tax reassessment. In states where a transfer can reset the assessed value, a deed between family members can trigger a permanent increase in the annual tax bill — unless an exclusion applies and you file the right claim form. California is the best-known example, but it is not the only one.
Plain-English rule:
Do not assume a quitclaim deed is tax-free just because it is not a sale. Do not assume tax is due without checking exemptions either. The answer depends on your state, your county, and the reason for the transfer.
Nearly all of these are avoidable. Slow down, use the current recorded deed as your reference, read your state page, and call the county recording office before you submit. Recording clerks answer this kind of question all day and are usually glad to tell you what they need.
Quitclaim deed rules are not the same everywhere. Choose the state where the property is located for recording office names, notarization and witness rules, transfer taxes, required forms, and special state requirements.
Many people do, especially for simple family, spouse, trust, or correction transfers. What matters is accurate information, the correct legal description, proper notarization, and following your state and county recording process.
No. A quitclaim deed changes who is listed on title, but it does not remove anyone from a mortgage loan. The loan is a separate contract with the lender. Changing who owes it takes the lender's agreement, usually through refinancing, and sometimes through an assumption or another arrangement the lender approves.
Yes, and it is one of the most common uses. It does not add them to the mortgage. The ownership wording matters, because it determines what happens when one spouse dies and whether a creditor of one spouse can reach the home. See our guide on adding a spouse to the deed.
Usually not, when the transfer is one federal law protects. For a loan on residential property with fewer than five dwelling units, the Garn-St Germain Depository Institutions Act lists transfers a lender may not use a due-on-sale clause against. They include a transfer where your spouse or children become an owner, a transfer to your spouse under a divorce or separation decree, and a transfer into a living trust where you remain a beneficiary and the right to live there does not change. The federal regulation adds conditions: it covers a home you live in, a spouse or child receiving it must live there or plan to, and for a living trust you must stay a beneficiary and keep living there. Transfers outside that list, and loans on larger buildings, are not covered. Read your loan documents before signing a deed, and notify your servicer afterward.
Yes. A quitclaim deed is the usual way to move property into your own revocable living trust: you deed it from yourself to yourself as trustee. Name the trust exactly as the trust document does, including the trustee's name and the date the trust was signed, and let your lender know once the deed is recorded.
Some states require witnesses in addition to notarization, and others do not. A few require the person receiving the property to sign as well. Check the state page for the property location before signing.
The deed becomes part of the public land records. The county returns the recorded document or provides access to a copy. Some states or counties require additional tax or assessor filings afterward, and you should update your homeowner's insurance to reflect the new ownership.
Not by tearing it up or asking the county to undo it. Once recorded, the other person owns what you gave them. Reversing it requires a new deed signed by them, or a court order. This is the reason to be sure before recording rather than after.
No. This guide provides general educational information only. It is not legal advice and does not replace advice from a qualified professional familiar with your specific situation and the laws of your state.
Most of what this guide describes is set by state law, and those sources sit on the state pages, where they belong. A handful of points above are federal, and this is where they come from.
You do not need any of this to use the guide. It is here so that you, or an attorney, can check the exact wording. U.S.C. stands for the United States Code, the collected federal statutes, and the numbers are only an address: a title, then a section, the way a street name and a house number get you to one front door. Each link opens the official text in a new tab.