Rhode Island Quitclaim Deed Instructions

Step 1: Find the City or Town Clerk Where the Property Is Located

Rhode Island has no county recording offices. A deed is recorded in the records of land evidence of the city or town where the land is located, kept by the city or town clerk, or by a recorder of deeds in a city that has one. There are 39 cities and towns, and the state's Land Records page lists every one, with links to its land records and its assessor. It also notes, as of the day this page was checked, that no city or town accepted electronic recording, so a deed goes to the clerk's counter or through the mail.

Recording is what protects the grantee. Rhode Island's statute says a conveyance of land is void unless it is in writing, signed, acknowledged, delivered, and recorded in the land evidence records of the city or town where the land lies. The same section then softens that. A deed that has been delivered is valid between the grantor and grantee and their heirs, and against anyone who takes by gift or will or who has notice of it, even if it was never acknowledged or recorded. What recording adds is force against everyone else. A recorded deed is constructive notice to all persons of what it says, and a signed and delivered deed that is also acknowledged and recorded is operative against third parties. So a quitclaim deed left in a drawer binds the family, but it does not protect the person it was given to against the grantor's later buyers or lenders.

Step 2: Set Up the Deed on Rhode Island's Statutory Quitclaim Form

Rhode Island's statutory quitclaim deed is short. The grantor, "of" a named place, "for consideration paid, grant to" the grantee, of a named place, "with quitclaim covenants." Then come the description and any encumbrances, "Witness ___ hand this ___ day of ___," and the acknowledgment. The statutory forms are sufficient but not required, and they may be altered as circumstances require. A deed that substantially follows the form conveys a fee simple; no seal is needed, and no words such as "heirs" or "assigns."

The words "with quitclaim covenants" carry more than they do in most states, and the difference matters. In Rhode Island they mean the grantor promises, for the grantor and the grantor's heirs and executors, to warrant and defend the property "against the lawful claims and demands of all persons claiming by, through, or under the grantor." That is a promise about the grantor's own time as owner: no mortgage the grantor gave, no lien against the grantor, no deed the grantor signed to someone else. It is not a promise about anything that happened before the grantor took title. If you want a deed that promises nothing at all, leave the covenant words out and use a plain release; if you want the statutory form, understand that a modest promise comes with it. Label the deed "Quitclaim Deed" at the top, and give the name and address the clerk should return it to. The clerk must return a recorded deed within 180 days.

Step 3: Fill In the Grantor, and Decide Whether a Spouse Signs

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, and the grantor's residence, which the form calls for. The clerk indexes by name, and a title examiner has to match the two. Where the grantor is a trust, the trustees sign, and the trust instrument, or an affidavit or memorandum of trust in the form the statute prescribes, must be recorded. Where the grantor is a company, an officer signs with their title. A deed signed under a power of attorney is valid if the power is signed, acknowledged, and recorded with the same formalities as a deed.

Rhode Island abolished dower and curtesy in 1978, and replaced them with a life estate: real estate that a person owns in fee simple at death passes to the surviving spouse for life. That right attaches only to what the owner still holds at death. The statute says real estate the owner conveyed before death, with or without payment, is not subject to the life estate if the deed was recorded before the owner died. So a spouse who is not on the title does not sign, and no statute requires it. But a quitclaim deed from a married owner should be recorded promptly, because an unrecorded one leaves the property open to the surviving spouse's life estate. Where both spouses are owners, both are grantors and both sign.

Step 4: Fill In the Grantee, With an 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 roll. The deed must contain, or have endorsed on it, the grantee's name and residence or post office address, which is recorded as part of the deed. Leaving it out does not make the deed invalid, but the clerk may decline to record a deed without it. A trust takes title through its trustees, so write "Jane Doe and John Doe, Trustees of the Doe Family Trust," and record the trust instrument or an affidavit or memorandum of trust. A company takes it under the exact name on its Department of State filing.

Two or more grantees need one more phrase saying how they hold title, and in Rhode Island that includes a married couple. A conveyance to two or more persons, "whether they be husband and wife or otherwise," creates a tenancy in common, separate shares that pass by will or inheritance. The exceptions are a deed that declares the tenancy to be joint, one that conveys to those persons "and the survivors or survivor of them," and one where the intention to take as joint tenants manifestly appears. A married couple may instead take as tenants by the entirety, each owning the whole. The statute lets one spouse deed to both as tenants by the entirety, and lets any two or more people deed to themselves as co-tenants under any tenancy the law allows between them. So write "as joint tenants" or "as tenants by the entirety" after the names, and say nothing if separate shares are what you mean.

Step 5: Add the Legal Description

Copy the legal description word for word from the current deed: the lot on a recorded plat, with the plat's name and recording reference, or the metes and bounds, with the city or town. A street address is not a legal description. The assessor's plat and lot number, which the clerk and the assessor use, may be added; it is not a substitute for the description. The form provides for listing encumbrances after the description, so a mortgage the grantee is taking the property subject to goes there. Do not put a Social Security number on the deed; it becomes a public record.

Step 6: State the Sale Price, or the No-Stamps Statement

The form recites "for consideration paid" without a figure, but two statutes want more. Every deed presented for recording because of a sale of the property must contain, or have endorsed on it, the total dollar amount of the actual sale, which is recorded as part of the deed. The clerk may decline a deed that lacks it, though the deed is not invalid without it. And the conveyance tax statute says that where no consideration is actually paid, the deed must contain a statement to the effect that the consideration is such that no documentary stamps are required. A deed for a sale therefore states the price, and a deed for a gift, a transfer into a trust, or a transfer between spouses for nothing states that no stamps are required.

The tax counts the value of any lien that stays on the property as part of the consideration. So a deed to a relative who takes over the mortgage is, for the tax, a sale for the mortgage balance, and the price to state is that balance. Step 8 works out the tax.

Step 7: Sign Before a Notary, in Person or Online, With Names Printed

Every party signing the deed acknowledges it before a notary public, and Rhode Island asks for no witnesses and no seal. The certificate need not follow a set form, but it must show that the signers were known to the notary to be the persons who signed and that they acknowledged the deed as their free act and deed. The notary identifies the grantor by personal knowledge, by a passport, driver's license, or government identification card that is current or expired within three years, or by a credible witness. Type or print the name of every signer and of the notary directly beneath or beside the signature; the deed is valid without that, but the recording fee goes up by $2. A deed acknowledged in another state in the way that state's law allows is treated as properly acknowledged here.

Rhode Island made remote online notarization permanent on June 30, 2022. Personal appearance now includes communicating with the notary by audio-video technology at the time of the notarization. A notary located in Rhode Island who has registered with the Department of State and uses an approved technology provider may take your acknowledgment while you are anywhere. That includes abroad, if the deed concerns property in the United States and the act is not prohibited where you are. The notary identifies you by personal knowledge, by a credible witness, or by at least two different types of identity proofing, records the session, and keeps the recording for at least ten years. The certificate must say the act used communication technology. No city or town accepted electronic recording when this page was checked, so ask the notary about the Department of State's procedure for a paper deed. You sign the paper in view of the camera and mail it to the notary within thirty days for the certificate and stamp. The Department's Remote Online Notarization page explains the program, and our Remote Online Notarization by State page compares the states.

Step 8: Work Out the Conveyance Tax

Rhode Island's real estate conveyance tax falls on each deed by which realty sold is conveyed, when the consideration paid is more than $100. The rate is $3.75 for each $500 of the price, or fraction of $500, counting any lien or encumbrance that remains on the property at the transfer. On residential property, a second $3.75 per $500 is charged on the part of the price above $800,000. The tax is paid when the deed is presented for recording, by the grantor unless the parties agree otherwise. Payment is shown by documentary stamps that the clerk affixes to the original deed, and only the original is accepted for recording. The clerk then sends the tax to the Division of Taxation on its own return.

The tax has no family exemption, and it needs none, because it reaches only property sold. A deed for no consideration, whatever the relationship between the parties, is not a sale, and the statute's answer is the statement that no documentary stamps are required. The exemptions the statute lists include a deed given to secure a debt and a deed in which the United States, the state, or a city or town is the grantor. Two cautions. A relative who takes over the mortgage has paid consideration in the amount of the balance, and the tax applies to it. And a deed in lieu of foreclosure is a sale for the amount of debt forgiven, on the Division of Taxation's reading, and is taxed.

Step 9: Record the Deed and Pay the Fee

Take or mail the acknowledged deed to the city or town clerk for the place where the property is located, with the recording fee and the money for the stamps if the property was sold. The fee is set by state statute and is the same everywhere: $80 for a quitclaim deed and $1 for each additional page, plus $2 if any signer's or the notary's name is not printed beneath the signature. The clerk affixes the stamps, records the deed in the land evidence records, and must return it to the address you gave within 180 days. Keep the recorded deed with the property's papers.

Two things you may read elsewhere about Rhode Island deeds. The statute that once required every deed to recite compliance with the smoke detector law was repealed in 2004 with the rest of its chapter, so no recital is required by statute today. The fire safety code and the local fire department handle smoke and carbon monoxide inspections when a home is sold. The clerk can say whether the city or town asks for a certificate at recording. And Rhode Island's General Laws contained no transfer-on-death deed when this page was checked. A bill to adopt the uniform act was introduced in 2025. Unless that has since become law, a deed meant to take effect only at death has no statute to stand on here, and passing the property at death is a question for a will or a trust and for an attorney, not a quitclaim deed.

Where do I record a Rhode Island quitclaim deed?

With the city or town clerk for the city or town where the land is located, in its records of land evidence; Rhode Island has no county recording offices. The state's Land Records page lists all 39 cities and towns with links to their records. A conveyance is void under the statute unless it is signed, acknowledged, delivered, and recorded, though a delivered deed still binds the parties, their heirs, and anyone with notice of it. Recording is constructive notice to everyone else, so record promptly.

Does my spouse have to sign a Rhode Island quitclaim deed?

Only if your spouse is an owner. Rhode Island abolished dower and curtesy in 1978. In their place the surviving spouse takes a life estate in real estate the other spouse owned at death. The statute excludes property the owner conveyed before death by a deed recorded before the death. So a spouse who is not on the title does not sign, and the deed should be recorded without delay. Where both spouses are on the title, both sign.

Is there a transfer tax on a Rhode Island quitclaim deed to a family member?

Not on a gift. The conveyance tax is $3.75 for each $500 of the price when property is sold for more than $100, plus a second $3.75 per $500 on the part of a home's price above $800,000. A deed for no consideration is not a sale, whoever the grantee is, and it states on its face that no documentary stamps are required. A relative who takes over the mortgage, though, has paid consideration in the amount of the balance, and the tax applies to it.

What are the quitclaim covenants in a Rhode Island deed?

A limited promise the statutory form carries. The words "with quitclaim covenants" mean the grantor will warrant and defend the property against the lawful claims of anyone claiming by, through, or under the grantor: a mortgage the grantor gave, a lien against the grantor, an earlier deed the grantor signed. They promise nothing about claims that arose before the grantor owned the property. A deed that leaves the words out and simply releases the grantor's interest promises nothing at all.

How do two owners get survivorship on a Rhode Island deed?

By declaring it. A conveyance to two or more persons, a married couple included, creates a tenancy in common with no survivorship. The exceptions are a deed that declares the tenancy joint, conveys to them "and the survivors or survivor of them," or otherwise makes the intention to take as joint tenants plain. Write "as joint tenants" after the names. A married couple may take "as tenants by the entirety" instead, and an owner may deed to themselves and a spouse as tenants by the entirety in one deed.

Can I get a Rhode Island quitclaim deed notarized online?

Yes. Since June 30, 2022, a notary located in Rhode Island who has registered with the Department of State and uses an approved provider may take an acknowledgment by live audio and video from a signer anywhere. That includes abroad, if the deed concerns property in the United States. The notary identifies the signer by personal knowledge, a credible witness, or two types of identity proofing, records the session, keeps the recording at least ten years, and notes on the certificate that communication technology was used. For a paper deed the signer signs on camera and mails the original to the notary within thirty days.

Where do I get a Rhode Island quitclaim deed form?

Rhode Island prints a quitclaim deed form in its statutes, and any form that follows it in substance does the job. A form written for no particular state fails in the pieces around it. It has no line for the grantee's address, no place for the sale price or the no-stamps statement, and no printed-name lines beneath the signatures. Its survivorship wording may leave a married couple as tenants in common. If you would rather start from something built for this state, our Quitclaim Deed Help page lists prepared forms and deed preparation services.