Colorado Quitclaim Deed Instructions

Step 1: Identify the Correct County Clerk and Recorder

Colorado deeds are recorded with the County Clerk and Recorder in the county where the property is located. Each of Colorado's 64 counties keeps its own records. Use the Secretary of State's county clerk and recorder roster to find the recording office for your county.

That office keeps the recorded copy of your current deed, so you can obtain one there if you no longer have it. If the property crosses a county line, record the deed in each county. You decide how much of what was paid belongs to the land in each county, and each clerk collects that share of any documentary fee.

Step 2: Enter the Preparer, Return Address, and Consideration

Include the name and address of whoever prepared the deed if your form has a space for them. Add clear return instructions so the clerk knows where to send the deed after recording. Follow the office's submission instructions for any return-envelope requirement.

The form also asks for consideration, meaning what is being given in exchange for the transfer. Enter the actual amount paid or describe the gift accurately. A deed can transfer property without a payment; you don't need to invent a sale price to make a gift effective.

If a mortgage, other debt, or a payment between family members is involved, establish the full terms before completing this line or the TD-1000. A token amount written on the deed doesn't determine the documentary fee when the actual consideration is higher.

Step 3: Enter the Grantor Information

Use the grantor's full legal name exactly as it appears on the current deed. The grantor is the current owner transferring their interest. If your name has changed, the new deed should show how the old and current names relate, so a title search can follow the change.

You can transfer only what you own. If two people own the property and both are transferring their interests, name both as grantors. If a company or trust holds title, give its name and show who has the right to sign for it. A trustee, for example, signs in that role, not as the owner of a personal share.

Fill in the grantor's address where the form requests it. Colorado's short-form quitclaim deed doesn't call for a marital-status statement, but see Step 7 before assuming one signature is enough.

Step 4: Enter the Grantee Information

The grantee is the person who will receive your interest in the property. Give each grantee's full legal name and address, including a road or street address when applicable. Without that address, Colorado law says the clerk must return the deed without recording it.

This address identifies the new owner; it isn't necessarily where the recorded deed should be returned. If the grantee receives mail elsewhere, include a mailing address too and keep the return instructions clear.

If you're adding someone while keeping an interest yourself, the new deed needs to name you as a grantee too. For example, a sole owner adding a spouse would appear as the grantor, with both spouses named as grantees. Step 5 explains the choices for how they hold title together.

Step 5: Choose the Ownership Wording Carefully

If more than one grantee will hold the property, say how they hold it: as tenants in common, or as joint tenants with right of survivorship. These choices affect what happens when an owner dies.

Tenants in common own separate shares. When one owner dies, their share becomes part of their estate. It doesn't pass to the other owner just because they owned the property together. The shares can be unequal, so specify the intended shares if that is what you've agreed.

Joint tenants with right of survivorship hold the property so that, when one dies, the surviving joint tenant or tenants take that interest. Colorado accepts that phrase, as well as “as joint tenants” or “in joint tenancy.” Simply naming two people together, even spouses, doesn't create survivorship. For ordinary transfers to individual owners, silence means tenants in common.

A deed to two or more trustees, or others holding title on someone else's behalf, is treated differently: Colorado generally presumes joint tenancy for them. If you're transferring property to a trust, the names and roles on the deed need to match the trust.

Step 6: Add the Legal Description

Copy the complete legal description from the current recorded deed, including any attached exhibit. A street address helps a person find the property but is not a substitute for the description. The assessor's property record can help you find the deed; don't assume an abbreviated description on a tax record contains everything you need.

Include the county. Put the street address, or similar identifying numbers shown on the property, just before or after the legal description. You may also add the assessor's parcel or schedule number to help identify the land. If those details conflict, the legal description controls.

If you use a newly created legal description, include the name and address of the person who created it. For a new survey, that means the surveyor's name and address. The rule also applies to a new description drawn up another way. You don't need a new survey just to copy the description from your deed. If you're transferring only part of a parcel, make sure the proposed description meets any subdivision requirements before using the deed.

Step 7: Check Whether Your Spouse Needs to Sign

If your spouse owns an interest that is being transferred, your spouse signs as an owner. If you alone own the property, marriage by itself doesn't mean your spouse must sign.

A recorded homestead declaration is the key exception. Colorado's homestead protection shields some of a home's value from certain creditors. It usually arises on its own when the owner or the owner's family lives in a home that qualifies, and that automatic protection doesn't require a nonowner spouse to sign the deed. But if you or your spouse recorded a written declaration claiming the property as a homestead, both spouses must sign to convey it.

Search the land records for a recorded homestead declaration before deciding that one signature is enough.

A spouse can choose to join in the deed even when the law doesn't require it. The deed should say what rights that spouse is giving up; an extra signature alone doesn't tell you whether all the needed rights have been released.

A separate rule applies during a divorce or legal separation. Once the case is filed and the other spouse is served, or waives and accepts service, an automatic court order generally bars either spouse from transferring marital property without the other's consent or a court order. There are exceptions for ordinary business and necessities of life. Check the order before signing a deed as part of a divorce.

Step 8: Sign and Notarize the Deed

Arrange for each grantor to acknowledge the deed before a notary. An acknowledgment means you confirm that the signature is yours and that you signed of your own free will. You can sign at the appointment, or acknowledge a signature you made earlier. Colorado doesn't require separate witnesses to an ordinary quitclaim deed.

Bring an accepted ID, such as a driver's license or passport. Colorado also allows a notary to rely on knowing you personally or on a credible witness who meets the law's rules. If you plan to use one of those methods instead of ID, arrange it with the notary before the appointment. Leave the notary's certificate for the notary to complete, and check that the names, date, signature, and seal are filled in before you leave.

Colorado allows remote online notarization, where you meet a notary over secure live video. The notary needs approval for remote work and must be in Colorado during the session. You can be elsewhere in the United States. You'll use an electronic deed and a system that meets the state's rules. A regular video call won't do.

Before booking, compare the provider's delivery method with your county's electronic-recording instructions. Don't assume you can simply print the electronic deed and mail it. Our Remote Online Notarization by State page explains the available options.

Step 9: Complete the Real Property Transfer Declaration

The Real Property Transfer Declaration (TD-1000) gives the county assessor facts about the transfer to help value property for tax purposes. Colorado requires it with conveyance documents subject to the documentary fee. Either the grantor or the grantee must complete and sign it.

Report the actual sale price, any personal property included, whether the parties are related, and whether the transfer covers the whole property or only an interest. These details help the assessor understand the sale. For example, a sale between relatives may be below market value and may not show what other properties are worth. The form and its completion guide are under “Real Property” on the state's forms page.

A gift or another transfer exempt from the documentary fee does not require the TD-1000 under the statewide rule. Use your county's posted instructions for any exemption paperwork it requires with the deed. If the county requests a declaration for a genuine gift with no payment, report zero and explain the gift. If debt is part of the transfer, use the TD-1000 completion guide's instructions for reporting it.

The TD-1000 goes to the assessor and isn't part of the public deed record. If a required declaration is missing, the clerk still records the deed and notifies the assessor. The assessor then mails the grantee a notice giving 30 days to supply it. Missing that deadline can bring a penalty of $25 or 0.025% of the sale price, whichever is greater. The assessor can charge the penalty again each year the form remains missing, unless the property has since been transferred again.

Step 10: Record the Deed

Submit the signed and notarized deed, the TD-1000 when required, and the recording fee and any documentary fee due to the County Clerk and Recorder in the county where the property is located. Complete any town or city transfer-tax approval first if the property is subject to local requirements.

Before mailing or visiting, use the office's posted rules for paper size, margins, payment, return envelopes, and appointments. County details vary. Douglas County, for example, calls for a one-inch top margin and half-inch side and bottom margins. If your deed was notarized electronically, use a recording method the county accepts, as discussed in Step 8.

Signing isn't the final act between the parties: the deed must be delivered to and accepted by the grantee. Then record it promptly. A deed can bind you and the grantee before recording, but a later person who gains a competing right without notice of the deed may have the stronger claim if they record first. Recording puts the transfer in the public land records; it doesn't certify that the deed is legally correct.

Keep the returned deed and its recording number. Check the recorded image for all pages and confirm that the county indexed the owners' names correctly. Follow up with the assessor if the ownership or tax mailing address doesn't update, and let your insurer know about the ownership change.

Does my spouse have to sign a Colorado quitclaim deed?

Not just because you're married. A spouse signs if they own an interest being transferred, and both spouses must sign if either has recorded a homestead declaration under Colorado's homestead law. Automatic homestead protection alone doesn't require the nonowner spouse's signature.

Check the land records before relying on that distinction. A pending divorce or legal separation may also restrict the transfer even if only one spouse is on the deed; Step 7 explains the automatic court order.

How much is the documentary fee in Colorado?

No state documentary fee is due when total consideration is $500 or less. Above that, it is one cent per $100, or major fraction of $100, on the full consideration. A $200,000 transfer therefore has a $20 documentary fee; a $500,000 transfer has a $50 fee. Gifts and qualifying correction instruments are exempt.

Debt and other charges can count toward the fee, so don't base it just on the cash paid. The person submitting the deed pays the clerk. A town or city transfer tax may also apply.

What does it cost to record a deed in Colorado?

The current recording charge is $43 per deed: $40 plus $3 in surcharges, regardless of page count. Colorado replaced its per-page fee on July 1, 2025. Any documentary fee, local transfer tax, notary charge, or deed-preparation cost is additional.

Do I have to file a TD-1000 with the deed?

Yes, if the deed is subject to Colorado's documentary fee. Either the grantor or grantee completes and signs the TD-1000, which gives transfer details to the assessor. A gift or another transfer exempt from the documentary fee does not require it under the statewide rule, though the county may require exemption paperwork with the deed. The declaration is kept out of the public land record.

The clerk cannot reject a deed just because a required TD-1000 is missing. The clerk records it and notifies the assessor, who requests the declaration from the grantee. Failing to respond within 30 days of the mailed notice can result in a penalty.

What is the difference between a quitclaim deed and a warranty deed in Colorado?

A warranty deed makes promises about the title. A quitclaim deed makes none. The grantor passes along whatever interest they hold and says nothing about whether that interest is good, or whether they hold one at all. Colorado also has a special warranty deed. Its promise to defend the title is limited to claims arising through the grantor, rather than through earlier owners.

Does the grantee have to sign a Colorado quitclaim deed?

Ordinarily, no. The grantee is named as the recipient, but the deed's signature lines are for the grantors. Someone who is both a grantor and a grantee signs as a grantor. The grantee's name and address still belong on the deed, and either side may sign the separate TD-1000.

Where do I get a Colorado quitclaim deed form?

Start with our Quitclaim Deed Help page, which offers a Colorado quitclaim deed form and help preparing the deed. Colorado law gives short-form wording, but the form still needs the correct names, addresses, ownership terms, and legal description for your transfer.

A form written for no particular state may overlook Colorado details, such as the name and address of the person who created a new legal description. The TD-1000, when required, is a separate document.

Can I get a Colorado quitclaim deed notarized online?

Yes. An approved Colorado remote notary can notarize an electronic deed through a compliant live audio-video system while the notary is physically in Colorado. Arrange how the county will receive and record the electronic deed before the appointment.

Remote approval is separate from an ordinary notary commission. The notary must take the remote training and exam, obtain approval, and keep at least one approved provider on record. The session is recorded and retained for ten years, and the certificate states that audio-video technology was used.

Do I need witnesses for a Colorado quitclaim deed?

Colorado doesn't call for extra people to witness a standard quitclaim deed. Arrange for the grantor's notary acknowledgment. The notary may use a credible witness to verify who you are if you don't use ID. That person's role is to vouch for your identity, rather than witness the deed.

Can I find my current Colorado deed online?

Often, yes. Look for recorded-document searches on your county clerk and recorder's website. Search under the owner's name or the deed's recording number. Older deeds may be available only through the office, and copies may carry a fee. Order the full deed, with any exhibits, so you have the complete legal description for the new one.