North Carolina Quitclaim Deed Instructions

Step 1: Find the Register of Deeds, and Understand Why Recording Cannot Wait

A North Carolina deed is recorded with the register of deeds for the county where the land lies, which need not be the county where you live, and land that lies in two counties is recorded in each. North Carolina has 100 counties, and the state's county government websites page lists every one with a link to its website; the register's office is a department of each. The register's site says whether the office takes documents at the counter, by mail, or through electronic recording, which the statute allows.

North Carolina's recording statute is a pure race rule, and it is worth understanding before you sign. A conveyance of land is not valid to pass any interest against a lien creditor or a purchaser for value from the same grantor except from the time it is registered. It does not matter whether the later buyer knew about your deed. If your grandmother deeds you the house and you put the deed in a drawer, and she later sells the same house to a neighbor who records first, the neighbor owns it. A creditor who dockets a judgment against her before you record is ahead of you too. The register stamps the day and hour on every instrument and registers them in the order presented, and that order is the priority. So a North Carolina deed goes to the register the day it is signed.

Step 2: Set Up the First Page the Way the Register Requires

North Carolina prescribes no form of deed. A quitclaim deed here is any deed in which the grantor releases and quitclaims the property to the grantee without covenants of title. You will see the same document headed "Non-Warranty Deed," and the heading does not matter. What matters is the first page. The register of deeds shall not accept a deed for registration unless its first page carries an entry showing the name of the person who drafted it. "Prepared by: Jane Doe" is enough, and the register does not check who that is. The deed must state the type of instrument at the top of the first page, the mailing address of every grantor and grantee, and whether the property includes the primary residence of a grantor. That last statement is a tax-appraisal rule, and leaving it out does not invalidate the deed, but it belongs on the first page with the rest. The excise tax due, or that none is due, is reported when the deed is presented, and the register marks the deed with the amount paid.

The paper standards are statewide. Letter or legal size, typed or printed in black on white in a legible font of 9 points or larger, on one side of the page only. A blank margin of three inches at the top of the first page, and half an inch on the other sides and on every other page. Blanks and corrections may be made in pen. A deed that misses these is still recorded, but for a $25 nonstandard document fee on top of the recording fee.

Step 3: Fill In the Grantor, With Address and Residence Statement

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, and give the grantor's mailing address. Where the grantor is a trust, the trustee signs as trustee; where it is a company, an officer or manager signs with their title, and the notary's certificate may say so.

Two lines are peculiar to North Carolina. The deed states whether the property includes the grantor's primary residence, yes or no, because the county appraiser uses the answer. And a married grantor's spouse signs the deed too, whether or not the spouse's name is on the title, for the reason Step 6 explains. Stating "married" or "unmarried" after the name is not required, but it tells the register and the next title examiner why there is, or is not, a second signature.

Step 4: Fill In the Grantee, With Address, and Say How Co-Owners Take Title

Name the grantee, the party taking the interest, by the full legal name that should appear on the next deed and on the tax bill. Give the grantee's mailing address, which the deed must state. 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 North Carolina's rules were rewritten in 2020, so older advice may be out of date. A conveyance to two or more people creates a tenancy in common, separate shares that pass by will or inheritance, unless the deed expresses an intent to create a joint tenancy with right of survivorship. The statute lists the words that do it: "joint tenants with right of survivorship," "joint tenants," "joint tenancy," "with right of survivorship," and a few more. The shares are equal unless the deed says otherwise. For a married couple the rule runs the other way. A conveyance to two named people who are married to each other at the time creates a tenancy by the entirety, whether or not the deed calls them spouses, unless it expresses a contrary intention. So does a deed by one spouse to "myself and my spouse," which needs no signature from the receiving spouse. In an entirety, neither spouse can convey or mortgage the property without the other's written joinder, a judgment against one spouse alone does not attach to it, and the survivor takes the whole. A married couple named in a deed alongside other joint tenants hold their share as one entirety within the joint tenancy.

Step 5: Add the Legal Description and State the Consideration

Copy the legal description word for word from the current deed: the lot on a recorded plat with the plat book and page, or the metes and bounds, or the tract by reference to a recorded deed. A street address is not a legal description. The parcel identification number the county assigns is useful on the first page, but it is not one either. A minor slip in a recorded deed, a typographical error that changes nobody's rights, can be fixed afterward by recording a corrective notice affidavit. An error that would change what anyone owns cannot, and needs a new deed.

State the consideration. North Carolina deeds commonly recite "for valuable consideration" or the actual price, and for a gift they say the transfer is made for no consideration, or for love and affection. The recital matters because the excise tax in Step 8 is computed on the consideration or value of the interest conveyed, and because the person presenting the deed must report the correct tax to the register. Do not put a Social Security number on the deed; it becomes a public record the moment it is registered.

Step 6: If You Are Married, Your Spouse Signs Even If Only Your Name Is on the Deed

North Carolina is not a community property state, but it gives a surviving spouse something else: the right to elect a life estate in one-third in value of all the real estate the deceased spouse owned at any time during the marriage, or a life estate in the home the couple lived in, instead of a share of the estate. That right reaches property the deceased spouse sold or gave away years earlier, unless the surviving spouse waived it. The statute names the waiver. To bar the elective life estate, every conveyance of land by a married person must be executed by the other spouse as well, with the spouse's acknowledgment taken like the grantor's. That is why a North Carolina deed from a married grantor has two signature lines even when the property stands in one name. A deed signed by the owner alone is not void. It passes the owner's title, but the grantee takes it subject to the other spouse's possible life estate for as long as that spouse outlives the grantor.

There are exceptions. A deed from one spouse directly to the other needs no joinder, though it does not waive the grantor's own elective life estate in the property unless the deed expressly says so. A spouse who has signed a recorded deed of separation that allows each to convey alone need not join. Where the spouse is incompetent and has a guardian, the guardian signs. And property the couple hold as tenants by the entirety needs both signatures for a different reason: neither spouse can convey it without the other's written joinder at all. After an absolute divorce there is no spouse to join, and an entirety becomes a tenancy in common.

Step 7: Sign Before a Notary, or by Emergency Video Notarization

A deed must be acknowledged by the grantor before it can be registered, or the signature proved by a witness on oath, and no witnesses are otherwise required. The statute supplies a certificate that is sufficient anywhere in the state, in which the notary certifies that the grantor "personally appeared before me this day and acknowledged the due execution of the foregoing instrument." The same certificate serves a trustee, an officer, or an agent signing for someone else. The notary's seal, near the signature, must show the notary's name as commissioned, the words "Notary Public," the county of commission, and "North Carolina." The register checks that the certificate carries the officer's signature, the commission expiration date, and the seal before accepting the deed. A deed signed in another state may be acknowledged before that state's notary or any other officer the statute lists, and North Carolina accepts it.

North Carolina passed a remote electronic notarization law, but it works only through platforms licensed by the Secretary of State, and none has been licensed yet. Until the first license is issued, or July 1, 2027, whichever comes first, the online route is emergency video notarization. The notary must be physically in North Carolina, and you must be too. You tell the notary which county you are in, hold your photo identification up to the camera, say what you are signing, and sign on camera. For a paper deed you then send the notary a copy the same day and mail the original, and the notary compares the two, notarizes the original, and dates the act as of the video session. The certificate names both counties and states that it was signed under the emergency video rules, and the notary keeps a journal for ten years. Our Remote Online Notarization by State page compares the states.

Step 8: Work Out the Excise Tax, Which a Gift Does Not Owe

North Carolina's excise tax on conveyances is $1 for each $500, or fraction of $500, of the consideration or value of the interest conveyed, and the transferor pays it to the register of deeds before the deed is recorded. So a house sold for $300,000 carries $600 in tax, which the register marks on the deed. Where the land lies in two counties, the tax goes to the county holding the greater part by value.

The statute exempts a transfer by gift, and separately any transfer where no consideration in money or property is due or paid by the transferee to the transferor. It also exempts transfers by will or intestacy, by operation of law, by merger, and by an instrument securing a debt. A deed giving a house to a child, a parent, or a trust for no consideration owes nothing; the person presenting it reports that no tax is due, and the register marks the deed accordingly. A sale to a relative at a bargain price is taxed on the price paid. There is no state transfer tax return and no separate form. A few counties in the northeast corner of the state also collect a local land transfer tax of $1 per $100 under local acts of the General Assembly. The register's or tax office's website says whether yours is one of them, and those local acts carry their own exemptions.

Step 9: Check Whether the County Requires a Tax Certification Before Recording

In most North Carolina counties, the board of county commissioners may by resolution require the register not to accept a deed for registration unless the county tax collector has certified that no delinquent property taxes are a lien on the land. The statute lists the counties where that power exists, most of the state's hundred. Each county decides whether to use it, so the register's website is the place to check. Where the requirement is in force, you take the deed to the tax office first, or the register's office routes it there, and the certification is stamped or attached before the deed is recorded.

The statute carves out one exception: a deed submitted under the supervision of a closing attorney and carrying the words "This instrument prepared by: ____, a licensed North Carolina attorney. Delinquent taxes, if any, to be paid by the closing attorney to the county tax collector upon disbursement of closing proceeds" is accepted without the certification. That is for attorney closings, not for a family deed you prepare yourself.

Step 10: Record the Deed, With the Fee and the Tax

Take or mail the acknowledged deed to the register of deeds for the county where the land lies, with the recording fee and the excise tax if any is due. The fee is set by state statute and is uniform across all 100 counties: $26 for the first 15 pages and $4 for each additional page. Almost every quitclaim deed costs $26. A deed that does not meet the format standards in Step 2 costs $25 more. The register endorses the day and hour of presentation, which fixes your priority under the race rule, indexes the deed, and returns it to the address you give. Include a stamped envelope or the return address, and keep the recorded deed with the property's papers.

The mailing addresses and the residence statement on the deed are for the county tax office, which uses them to list the property to its new owner. If your reason for the deed was to pass the property at your death, be aware that North Carolina has no transfer on death deed for real estate, so the choice is between a lifetime deed, which is final once recorded, and a will or trust.

Where do I record a North Carolina quitclaim deed?

With the register of deeds for the county where the land lies, whether or not you live there, and in each county if the land crosses a county line. The state's county government websites page on NC.gov links to all 100 counties, and the register's office is a department of each. Record the deed the day it is signed. North Carolina is a pure race state, and an unrecorded deed passes nothing against a later buyer or lien creditor who records first, even one who knew about it.

Does my spouse have to sign a North Carolina quitclaim deed if only my name is on the title?

Yes, if you want the grantee to take the property free of your spouse's claim. A surviving spouse in North Carolina may elect a life estate in one-third in value of all the real estate the deceased spouse owned at any time during the marriage. The statute says that right is waived when the spouse joins in the conveyance. A deed signed by the owner alone still passes the owner's title, but the grantee holds it subject to the spouse's possible life estate. A deed from one spouse to the other needs no joinder, and a spouse who signed a recorded deed of separation allowing each to convey alone need not sign.

Do I owe North Carolina excise tax on a quitclaim deed to a family member?

Not on a gift. The excise tax is $1 for each $500 of consideration or value, paid by the grantor to the register before recording. The statute exempts a transfer by gift and any transfer where no consideration is due or paid by the transferee. A deed giving a house to a child or into a trust for nothing owes no tax; you report that none is due when you present the deed, and the register marks it. If the relative pays anything, the tax is figured on what is paid. A few northeastern counties add a local land transfer tax of 1 percent under local acts.

What happens if I sign a North Carolina deed and do not record it?

As between you and the grantor, the deed is good. Against anyone else it is not. North Carolina's recording statute says a conveyance is not valid to pass any interest against a lien creditor or a purchaser for value from the same grantor until it is registered. It makes no exception for a later buyer who knew about the earlier deed. If the grantor sells or mortgages the property again, or a judgment is docketed against the grantor, whoever records first wins. That is why the deed goes to the register the day it is signed.

Does a deed to my spouse and me automatically make us tenants by the entirety in North Carolina?

Yes. Since the 2020 rewrite of the co-ownership statutes, a conveyance to two named people who are married to each other at the time creates a tenancy by the entirety, unless the deed expresses a contrary intention. It does not matter whether the deed describes them as married. So does a deed by one spouse to "myself and my spouse," which the receiving spouse need not sign. In an entirety, neither spouse can convey or mortgage the property without the other, a judgment against one spouse alone does not reach it, and the survivor takes the whole. Any two other people take as tenants in common unless the deed uses survivorship words.

Can I get a North Carolina quitclaim deed notarized online?

By video, with limits. North Carolina's remote electronic notarization law is in force only through platforms licensed by the Secretary of State, and none has been licensed yet. Until the first license or July 1, 2027, whichever is first, a notary may perform an emergency video notarization. The notary and you must both be physically in North Carolina, and you show your photo identification on camera and say which county you are in. For a paper deed you send the notary a copy the same day and mail the original, which the notary compares and notarizes. The certificate names both counties and states that the emergency video rules were used.

Where do I get a North Carolina quitclaim deed form?

North Carolina has no official deed form; the statutes say what a recorded deed must carry and leave the wording to the parties. A form written for no particular state fails at the register's counter in ways a North Carolina form does not. It has no "prepared by" line for the drafter's name, without which the register may not accept the deed. It has no line stating whether the property includes the grantor's primary residence, and no second signature line for a spouse who is not on the title. And it is not laid out with the three-inch blank margin the register's stamp needs, which costs $25 more. If you would rather start from something built for this state, our Quitclaim Deed Help page lists prepared forms and deed preparation services.