Nebraska Quitclaim Deed Instructions

Step 1: Find the Register of Deeds for the County Where the Land Is Located

A Nebraska deed is recorded with the register of deeds for the county where the land is located, which need not be the county you live in. In some counties the register is a separate elected office; in others the county clerk serves as register of deeds. Nebraska has 93 counties and no statewide directory of their recording offices on a state website, so find the office through the county's own site. It posts the address and hours, and whether the office takes documents by mail or through electronic recording.

Recording is what protects the grantee. Under the statute a deed takes effect against the grantor's creditors and later good-faith purchasers only from the moment it is delivered to the register of deeds for recording. It is void against any of them whose own deed or mortgage is recorded first. Between the parties themselves the deed is valid from the day it is signed and delivered. So the deed protects the grantee only once it is on the register's books.

Step 2: Set Up the First Page So the Register Will Accept It

Nebraska's recording statute sets the shape of a recorded document. The top of the first page carries a blank space at least three inches tall and the full width of the page, reserved for the register's recording information. If it is missing, the register adds a page and charges for it. Below that space, the first page states the title of the document and a return address. Printed forms keep one-inch margins at the sides and bottom, where only page numbers and similar notes may appear.

The whole document is letter or legal size, printed in black ink on white paper of at least 20-pound weight with no watermarks, legible enough to copy; eight-point type is presumed legible. Every signature is in black or dark blue ink with the signer's name typed, printed, or stamped beneath it, and no stamp or attachment may cover any part of the text. A deed signed before August 27, 2011, one signed outside the United States, or one whose signer has since died is exempt from the format rules.

Step 3: Fill In the Grantor

The grantor is the party giving up whatever interest they hold: a person, a married couple, a trustee, or a company. Give the full legal name exactly as it appears on the deed the grantor received, because the register indexes by name and a title examiner has to match the two. Where the grantor is a trust, the trustee signs as trustee; where it is a company, an officer signs with their title. Nebraska does not require the deed to state whether the grantor is married, but Step 7 explains why it matters.

The grantor's name, mailing address, and telephone number go on Form 521 as well, spelled exactly as on the deed. The form no longer asks for anyone's Social Security number. Step 9 goes through the form.

Step 4: Fill In the Grantee, and Where the Tax Statement Should Go

Name the grantee, the party taking the interest, by the full legal name that should appear on the next deed and on the tax bills. Nebraska's deed statutes ask for nothing more on the deed itself. Form 521 asks for the rest: the grantee's mailing address and telephone number in item 6, and in item 19 the name and address of whoever should receive the property tax statement, which may be the grantee or someone else. The county assessor takes the tax-record address from item 19, so a mistake there sends next year's bill to the wrong house.

A trust takes title through its trustee, so write "Jane Doe, Trustee of the Doe Family Trust"; a company takes it under the exact name on its Secretary of State filing. Two or more grantees need one more phrase, saying how they hold title, and Step 6 explains why the phrase decides who owns the property when one of them dies.

Step 5: State the Consideration, and Work Out the Documentary Stamp Tax

Nebraska taxes the grantor on every deed that transfers title or a beneficial interest, unless an exemption applies. Since July 18, 2026, the documentary stamp tax is $3.32 for each $1,000 of value or fraction of $1,000, raised from $2.32 by the 2026 Legislature to fund housing programs; the statute drops it back to $2.32 on January 1, 2032. For a sale, value is the full price, including any mortgage the grantee takes over. For a gift, or a deed reciting nominal consideration such as "one dollar and love and affection", value is the property's current market value, so a house worth $250,000 given to a grandchild carries $830 in tax. The register computes the tax, collects it before accepting the deed, attaches the stamps, and may not record without them. Every deed is presumed taxable unless the exemption appears on its face or proof is presented.

The exemptions that matter for a family deed are few and specific. A deed between spouses, a deed between former spouses conveying property acquired or held during the marriage, and a deed between parent and child are exempt when no actual consideration is paid. A child's spouse may be added as a co-owner on the same deed. A deed to a trust is exempt if a direct deed to the trust's beneficiary would have been, and a deed from a trustee to a beneficiary is exempt. So are a deed that only corrects an earlier one, a deed executed under a court decree, including a divorce settlement, a personal representative's deed to heirs, and a transfer-on-death deed. A deed to a family corporation or company is exempt under the rules the Department of Revenue's exemption list spells out. A deed to a grandchild, a sibling, a niece, or a friend, however affectionate, is taxed on market value. Write the exemption's number in item 25 of Form 521 and, where the register asks, on the deed itself.

Step 6: Add the Legal Description, and Say How Co-Owners Will Hold Title

Copy the legal description word for word from the current deed. For a platted lot that is the lot number, the block, and the name of the subdivision. For other land it is the government survey description or the metes and bounds. A street address is not a legal description, though Form 521 asks for it too.

If two or more people will own the property, the wording decides what happens when one of them dies. Nebraska has no statute stating the default. Its courts apply the common-law rule: a deed to two or more people creates a tenancy in common, separate shares that each pass by will or inheritance, unless the deed shows an intent to create a joint tenancy, in which the survivor takes the whole. So say it: "as joint tenants with right of survivorship, and not as tenants in common". That wording is needed for a married couple too, because Nebraska has no tenancy by the entirety. The statute lets an owner create either form by a deed naming themselves and another person as grantees, in one step, with the same effect as if a stranger had made it. A joint tenant who deeds the interest back to themselves, saying the deed is meant to sever the joint tenancy, ends the survivorship.

Step 7: If You Are Married and the Property Is Your Home, Both Spouses Sign

Nebraska's rule is short and strict. The homestead of a married person cannot be conveyed unless the deed is signed and acknowledged by both spouses. The homestead is the dwelling the owner lives in with its land, up to 160 acres outside a city or two adjoining lots inside one. No declaration has to be filed for the rule to apply: living there is enough. It does not matter that only one spouse is on the title. The Nebraska Supreme Court has held, most recently in 2017, that a deed or mortgage of a married person's homestead is void unless both spouses' signatures and acknowledgments appear on it. The statute's one concession is a time limit: a claim that a deed is invalid for this reason must be raised within the period the marketable-title statutes allow.

A spouse may sign through an attorney in fact acting under a power of attorney that grants the power to sell and convey real estate, and a conservator may act for a spouse under the probate code. Property that is not the homestead, a rental house or land the couple does not live on, may be conveyed by the owning spouse alone. Nebraska has no dower, curtesy, or community property that would give the other spouse a claim to it. A deed of the home from one spouse to the other is the exception the courts have recognized. The Nebraska Supreme Court held long ago that a deed from husband to wife need not be signed by the wife.

Step 8: Sign the Deed Before a Notary, in Person or Online

A deed must be signed by the grantor and acknowledged before it can be recorded, and Nebraska requires no witnesses. An acknowledgment means the grantor appeared before the notary, acknowledged signing the deed for the purposes it states, and was known to the notary or identified by satisfactory evidence. In Nebraska the acknowledgment is taken before a notary public or a judge or clerk of a court; in another state, before a notary or a court officer under that state's law. Sign in black or dark blue ink, with your name printed beneath. Where the grantor signs as a trustee or an officer, the acknowledgment says so.

Nebraska has allowed online notarization since 2020 under its Online Notary Public Act. A Nebraska notary who has registered with the Secretary of State as an online notary may take your acknowledgment over a live audio-video connection, identifying you through credential analysis and identity proofing or by personal knowledge. The statute counts that as appearing before the notary. The notary keeps a recording of the session for ten years. The result is an electronic deed, so check that the register of deeds accepts electronic recording before you book the session. Our Remote Online Notarization by State page compares the states.

Step 9: Fill In Form 521, the Real Estate Transfer Statement

Every grantee who has a deed recorded must file a completed Real Estate Transfer Statement, Form 521, with the register of deeds at the same time, and the register may not record the deed without it. Items 1 through 27 must be filled in and the grantee, or the grantee's representative, must sign it. The form asks for the county, the dates of the deed and the transfer, both parties' names, addresses, and telephone numbers, and the kind of property and deed. It asks whether the transfer was between relatives and which relation, the current market value, the address and legal description, where the tax statement should go, the purchase price, and the exemption number if one is claimed. The register forwards it to the county assessor, who uses it to change the tax record. Failing to file it is a misdemeanor with a fine of up to $500. The form is a public record.

Two items on the form are Nebraska's own. Item 26 asks whether the land is in an area with an active Air Force missile field, which covers all of Banner, Cheyenne, Kimball, and Scotts Bluff counties and parts of Deuel, Garden, Morrill, and Sioux. If so, the person acquiring the land signs an affidavit, in the form the statute gives, that they are not affiliated with a foreign adversary, and the register cannot record without it. And where the land lies outside a city or village, the grantor gives the grantee a water resources update notice at or before closing, saying whether any surface water rights or registered wells go with the land. If any do, the grantee files the notice with the Department of Water, Energy, and Environment within 60 days after recording. There is no fee, and the notice does not affect the deed's recording.

Step 10: Record the Deed, and Watch for the Tax Record to Change

Take or mail the signed and acknowledged deed, with Form 521, to the register of deeds for the county where the land lies, with the recording fee and the documentary stamp tax or the exemption. The fee is $10 for the first page and $6 for each additional page, set by statute for every county; a certified copy costs $1.50 a page. If the register disputes an exemption, the deed is not recorded until the tax is paid, and the taxpayer may claim a refund within two years. Include a stamped envelope or the return address on the first page for the recorded deed.

The register sends Form 521 to the county assessor, who moves the property to the grantee's name for tax purposes. Nebraska's homestead exemption, the property tax reduction for owners who are 65 or older, disabled, or qualifying veterans, does not pass with the deed. An owner who qualifies applies to the assessor between February 2 and June 30 each year, and a new owner applies afresh. Keep the recorded deed with the property's papers.

Where do I record a Nebraska quitclaim deed?

With the register of deeds for the county where the land is located, whether or not you live there; in some counties the county clerk holds that office. Nebraska has no statewide directory of recording offices on a state website, so each county's own site is where to find the address and hours. A deed takes effect against the grantor's creditors and later buyers only when it is delivered to the register for recording, and it is void against any of them who record first.

Is a Nebraska quitclaim deed to a family member exempt from the documentary stamp tax?

Only for some relatives. A deed between spouses, between former spouses conveying property acquired or held during the marriage, or between parent and child is exempt when no actual consideration is paid. A child's spouse may be added on the same deed. A deed to a grandchild, a sibling, a niece or nephew, or a friend is taxed on the property's current market value at $3.32 for each $1,000, the rate since July 18, 2026. A deed into a trust is exempt if a direct deed to the beneficiary would have been. Write the exemption number in item 25 of Form 521; every deed is presumed taxable until the exemption is shown.

Does my spouse have to sign a Nebraska quitclaim deed?

If the property is the home you live in, yes, whether or not your spouse is on the title. Nebraska's statute says the homestead of a married person cannot be conveyed unless both spouses sign and acknowledge the deed, and no homestead declaration has to be on file for the rule to apply. The courts have treated a deed of the homestead by one spouse alone as void, though a claim of invalidity must be raised within the period the marketable-title statutes allow. Property that is not the home may be conveyed by the owning spouse alone; Nebraska has no dower or community property.

What is Nebraska Form 521, and do I need it for a gift?

Form 521 is the Real Estate Transfer Statement the grantee files with every deed presented for recording, gift or not, and the register of deeds may not record a deed without it. It reports the parties, the kind of transfer, whether the parties are relatives, the current market value, the price, where the tax statement should go, and the number of any exemption from the documentary stamp tax. The register forwards it to the county assessor, who changes the tax record from it. Not filing it is a misdemeanor.

Does a deed to my spouse or my child give them survivorship rights in Nebraska?

Only if the deed says so. Nebraska's courts read a deed to two or more people, a married couple included, as creating a tenancy in common, with separate shares that pass by will or inheritance. The exception is a deed that shows an intent to create a joint tenancy. Write "as joint tenants with right of survivorship, and not as tenants in common" if you want the survivor to take the whole. Nebraska has no tenancy by the entirety. The statute lets you create a joint tenancy by a deed naming yourself and the other person as grantees.

Can I get a Nebraska quitclaim deed notarized online?

Yes. Nebraska's Online Notary Public Act lets a Nebraska notary who has registered with the Secretary of State take an acknowledgment over a live audio-video connection, after identifying you by credential analysis and identity proofing or by personal knowledge. The acknowledgment statute counts that as appearing before the notary. The notary records the session and keeps it for ten years. The deed comes out as an electronic document, so confirm that the register of deeds accepts electronic recording first.

Where do I get a Nebraska quitclaim deed form?

Nebraska has no official quitclaim deed form; the statutes say how a deed is signed, acknowledged, and recorded, and leave the words to the parties. A form written for no particular state can fail a Nebraska register in three places. It has no three-inch blank space across the top of the first page, no title and return address below that space, and no companion Form 521, without which the register will not record it. If you would rather start from something built for this state, our Quitclaim Deed Help page lists prepared forms and deed preparation services.