Maryland charges three taxes when a deed is recorded, and all three are figured on the consideration, the tax law's word for what is paid: the price plus any mortgage the grantee takes over. That single fact settles the question for a plain gift: a deed for which nothing is paid owes no recordation tax, no State transfer tax and no county transfer tax, whatever it is called. The exemptions in the law matter when money passes or a mortgage is assumed, and Maryland's list of exempt relatives is long.
This page explains how what is paid decides the tax, every exemption a family quitclaim deed can use, the county transfer tax's separate rules, and how the exemption is claimed on the intake sheet.
What Is Paid Decides
The recordation tax is applied to each $500 of consideration payable, and the State transfer tax is 0.5 percent of it. The statute defines the word the same way for both taxes: it includes the amount of any mortgage or deed of trust assumed by the grantee, and otherwise includes only the amount paid or delivered in return for the property, not the amount of any debt forgiven or no longer secured by the property. The figure must be stated in the deed or an affidavit, and the finance office computes the tax from that statement.
So the three cases a quitclaim deed presents come out this way. A gift with no mortgage: nothing paid, no tax. A gift of mortgaged property the grantee takes over: the assumed balance is taxed unless an exemption applies. A sale: the price plus any assumed mortgage is taxed unless an exemption applies. The exemptions below are where the second and third cases turn.
Recordation Tax Exemptions a Family Deed Uses
The recordation tax law lists more than thirty exemptions. These are the ones a deed between people meets.
- Between spouses, or between domestic partners. A deed between spouses or former spouses, or between domestic partners or former partners, is not subject to the tax at all. For partners it applies to a home, and the partner shows proof of the partnership, or of its ending for a former partner.
- To a relative, on the assumed mortgage. When property is transferred subject to a mortgage or deed of trust, the tax does not apply to the debt the new owner assumes if the transfer is to a spouse or former spouse; a son, daughter, stepson or stepdaughter; a parent or stepparent; a son-, daughter-, stepson- or stepdaughter-in-law; a parent-in-law or stepparent-in-law; a brother, sister, stepbrother or stepsister; a grandchild or stepgrandchild; a grandparent or stepgrandparent; or a domestic partner or former domestic partner. Siblings and in-laws are on it.
- A corrective deed. A deed that supplements or corrects one already recorded is not subject to the tax except to the extent something new is paid for it. A deed that fixes a name or a description, for nothing, pays nothing.
- From an estate. A deed out of a deceased person's estate is exempt as the Estates and Trusts Article provides.
- To or from a trust. Under the Trust Code, no recordation, transfer or other excise tax may be imposed on a transfer to a trust for which nothing is paid, and for that purpose a mortgage on the property does not count as payment. A deed out of a trust to a person it names is exempt if that person could have taken the property tax-free straight from the grantor, if it is made in the grantor's lifetime and the trustee bought the property for value, or if it follows the death of the maker of a revocable trust.
- A deed already recorded, recorded again in the same or another county, is not taxed again.
A transfer to a friend, an unmarried partner who is not a registered domestic partner, a cousin, or a niece or nephew is not on the list. If such a grantee takes over a mortgage or pays a price, the tax is due on it.
The State Transfer Tax Follows
The State transfer tax law does not keep its own list. It says a deed is not subject to the transfer tax to the same extent that it is not subject to the recordation tax under the exemptions it names. The list includes the spouse and partner exemption, the relatives-on-assumed-debt exemption, the corrective deed, the deed already recorded, the estate and trust exemptions, and the business exemptions. Whatever the first exemption removes from the taxable figure, the second removes as well. The law adds two of its own: deeds from a government body, and deeds of farmland to a certified farmland preservation group.
The County Transfer Tax Is Different
Baltimore City and eighteen counties impose a transfer tax of their own, from 0.5 percent to 1.5 percent of what is paid, and each county's exemptions are in its own code, not in the State statute. The State law that applies to every county transfer tax carries one exemption: a deed between spouses or former spouses, or between domestic partners or former partners, under a property settlement, divorce decree or the ending of a partnership is not subject to a county transfer tax, and for partners that applies to a home.
Beyond that, the county code governs. A county may also exempt part of the price on an owner-occupied home; the county finance office applies its own rules when it computes the tax. Our Maryland transfer and recordation taxes page lists each county's rates.
Claiming the Exemption
The exemption is claimed on the land instrument intake sheet. The recording law requires the sheet to name, by citation or a few words, each exemption claimed, and Section 3 of the form has a line each for the three taxes. Write the citation and a few words:
Recordation: Tax-Property § 12-108(d), transfer between spouses. State transfer: Tax-Property § 13-207(a)(3). County transfer: Tax-Property § 13-403, transfer under divorce decree.
The deed should make the relationship visible, by reciting it, and the statement of what is paid should match the claim. Where the law asks for proof, a partnership affidavit or a divorce decree, bring it. The county finance office decides the claim when it endorses the deed, and the clerk collects the State transfer tax on the finance office's figures. A claim the finance office does not accept means the tax is paid before recording. Our Maryland land instrument intake sheet page goes through the form.
Maryland Quitclaim Deed Tax Exemptions — Common Questions
Does a quitclaim deed avoid Maryland's transfer and recordation taxes?
The word "quitclaim" does nothing by itself. What matters is what is paid, because all three of Maryland's taxes, the recordation tax, the State transfer tax and any county transfer tax, are figured on the consideration payable, including any mortgage the grantee takes over. A quitclaim deed for which nothing is paid has nothing to tax. A quitclaim deed that recites a price, or under which the grantee assumes a mortgage, is taxed on that figure unless an exemption in the statute applies.
Is a gift to my child exempt?
A gift with no mortgage owes no tax because nothing is paid. Where the child takes over a mortgage, the assumed balance counts as paid, and the recordation tax statute exempts it: a transfer to a son, daughter, stepson or stepdaughter, among other relatives, is not taxed on the principal amount of debt assumed. The State transfer tax follows the same exemption. County transfer tax exemptions are in each county's own code.
Is a transfer between spouses exempt?
From the recordation tax and the State transfer tax, yes, in full. An instrument that transfers property between spouses or former spouses is not subject to the recordation tax, and so not to the State transfer tax, whatever is paid. The same exemption covers domestic partners and former partners for a home, on proof of the partnership or its ending. The county transfer tax law exempts deeds between spouses, former spouses and partners made under a property settlement, divorce decree or the ending of a partnership.
Is a deed into my living trust exempt?
Yes. Maryland's trust law says no recordation, transfer or other excise tax may be imposed on a transfer of real property to a trust for which nothing is paid, and a mortgage on the property does not count as payment for that purpose. A deed back out of the trust is exempt in three cases: the property goes to someone who could have taken it from the grantor without tax; the trustee paid value for the property and deeds it out while the grantor is alive; or the maker of a revocable trust has died.
How do I claim an exemption?
On the land instrument intake sheet, Section 3, which has a line each for the recordation, State transfer and county transfer taxes. The recording law requires each exemption claimed to be named there by citation or a few words, so write the section, for example "Tax-Property § 12-108(d), transfer between spouses". The county finance office reads the claim against the deed before it endorses the deed, and asks for proof where the law requires it, such as proof of a domestic partnership.
Official Sources
Maryland's laws are collected in the Maryland Code, arranged in named articles, and a citation such as Tax-Property § 12-108 is an address: the article, then the section. Each links to the section on the General Assembly's website and opens in a new tab.
- Tax-Property § 12-103 and § 13-203 — the recordation and State transfer taxes are figured on the consideration payable, which includes an assumed mortgage and excludes forgiven debt.
- Tax-Property § 12-108 — the recordation tax exemptions: (c) relatives and domestic partners on assumed debt, (d) spouses and domestic partners, (e) supplemental instruments, (f) previously recorded instruments, (dd) estates, (ee) trusts.
- Tax-Property § 13-207 — the State transfer tax is exempt to the same extent as the recordation tax under the listed subsections, plus transfers from governments and to agricultural preservation organizations.
- Tax-Property § 13-403 — the county transfer tax exemption for spouses, former spouses and domestic partners under a settlement, decree or dissolution.
- Estates and Trusts § 14.5-1001 — no recordation, transfer or excise tax on a transfer without consideration to a trust, or from a trust in the three listed cases; a mortgage does not count as consideration.
- Real Property § 3-104 — subsection (g)(3)(vi): the intake sheet identifies each claimed exemption by citation or explanation.
Checked against the Maryland Code on September 3, 2026.