Tennessee Quitclaim Deed Instructions

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

A Tennessee deed is registered, which is the statute's word for recorded, with the register of deeds of the county where the land lies, which need not be the county where you live. Tennessee keeps no state directory of its 95 registers, so search for the county's name and "register of deeds." The office's page says whether it takes documents at the counter, by mail, or electronically.

Registration is what protects the grantee. A deed takes effect between the parties, their heirs, and anyone who has actual notice of it without registration. As to everyone else it takes effect only from the moment it is noted for registration on the register's books, and from that moment it is notice to all the world. An unregistered deed is null and void as to the grantor's existing and later creditors and as to good-faith purchasers from the grantor who have no notice of it. 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 creditors or later buyers.

Step 2: Set Up the Deed With Tennessee's Statutory Words

Tennessee's statute prints the form "I hereby quitclaim to A. B. all my interest in the following land," with the land described. That form or any equivalent, "varied to suit the precise state of facts," is sufficient "without further circumlocution." No seal and no words of inheritance such as "heirs" are needed in the wording, though the signing still needs a notary or two witnesses, as Step 7 explains; a deed passes all the estate the grantor has unless it expressly passes less. Title the deed "Quitclaim Deed" and give the name and address the register should return it to.

The register looks for several things the statutes require on the face of the deed before accepting it, and the form is the place to lay them out. A derivation clause: no deed may be registered unless it recites the source from which the grantor received the property. Where that source is a recorded deed, will, or decree, the clause gives the type of instrument, the office, and the book and page. If the grantor inherited, the deed says so and names the last recorded instrument. A "prepared by" line: the register may not receive a deed unless the name and address of the person who prepared it appear on it legibly. The statute's form is "This instrument was prepared by (name) (address)." The deed must also carry the parcel identification number assigned by the county assessor, or a sworn affidavit that it was requested and not promptly furnished, and the name and address of a property owner and of the person responsible for the property taxes. Leaving any of these out does not affect the validity of the transfer. But the register is told not to accept the deed.

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, 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.

Tennessee abolished dower and curtesy, the old rights a husband or wife had in the other's land, in 1977. No statute requires a spouse who is not an owner to join a deed of ordinary property. The family home is the one place to pause. Tennessee gives an owner a homestead exemption on the principal residence, a protection against creditors. The statute says that where a marital relationship exists the exemption "shall not be alienated or waived without the joint consent of the spouses." The same statute says a duly executed deed conveys the property free of the exemption. What those two sentences mean for a deed of the home signed by one spouse alone is a question the statute does not answer plainly. It is worth an attorney's view before a married owner signs a quitclaim deed of the residence without the other spouse. Where both spouses are on the title, both are grantors and both sign.

Step 4: Fill In the Grantee, 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, with the grantee's address. The deed must also give the name and address of the person or company responsible for the property taxes, which is usually the grantee, so the county knows where to send the bill. 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 in Tennessee the default cuts against survivorship. The statute abolishes survivorship in joint tenancy. The share of a joint tenant who dies passes to that tenant's heirs or estate, "in the same manner as estates held by tenancy in common," and not to the survivor. Tennessee's courts give effect to a deed that expressly provides for survivorship, so write "as joint tenants with right of survivorship" after the names if that is what you mean. A married couple is different. Tennessee's courts treat a deed to husband and wife as creating a tenancy by the entirety, in which each owns the whole and the survivor keeps it. The statutes let a married owner create one by deeding directly to the spouse with a statement of that intent, and let either spouse deed the whole to the other. Say which you mean in any case.

Step 5: Add the Legal Description, the Derivation Clause, and the Parcel Number

Copy the legal description word for word from the current deed: the lot on a recorded plat, with the plat's book and page, or the metes and bounds, with the county and the civil district if the old deed gives one. A street address is not a legal description. Do not put a Social Security number on the deed; it becomes a public record.

Directly after the description, write the derivation clause: "Being the same property conveyed to the grantor by deed of record in Book ___, Page ___, Register's Office for ___ County, Tennessee," or the equivalent for a will, a court decree, or inheritance. The statute puts the duty to prepare that recital on whoever prepares the deed. Then add the parcel identification number from the assessor's records or the tax notice, in the form the county uses. The register may not accept a deed without the number or an affidavit that it was requested and not furnished.

Step 6: State the Consideration, and Swear to It on the Deed

Tennessee's recordation tax turns on what was paid, so the deed has to say. For a freehold transfer, the grantee, the grantee's agent, or a trustee for the grantee must state under oath, on the face of the deed, "the actual consideration or value, whichever is greater." The oath is taken in the register's presence or before an officer who administers oaths. A false statement known to be false is perjury. Forms built for Tennessee place the oath as a short paragraph with its own signature and notary block after the grantor's signature, and Step 8 explains what figure goes in it for a quitclaim deed.

No oath of value is required for a transfer that is exempt from the tax, and the exempt transfers are listed in Step 8. A gift by quitclaim deed is not on that list, but its consideration is nothing, and for a quitclaim deed the tax is based only on the actual consideration. So the oath states that the actual consideration is zero, or whatever small sum changed hands, and the tax on it is zero. Two cautions: the law does not say whether a mortgage the grantee takes over counts as actual consideration, and the Department of Revenue taxes a quitclaim deed that uses words such as "to have and to hold" or "in fee simple" on the property's value, so keep the deed a plain quitclaim. Recite the consideration in the body of the deed too: "for and in consideration of love and affection," or the dollar figure.

Step 7: Sign Before a Notary or Two Witnesses, in Person or Online

A deed must be authenticated before the register will accept it, and Tennessee gives two ways. The grantor signs with an original signature and acknowledges the signature before a notary public or other officer, or the grantor signs before two subscribing witnesses, one of whom later proves the deed on oath. The notary is the usual route. The certificate says that the grantor "personally appeared before me," is a person "with whom I am personally acquainted (or proved to me on the basis of satisfactory evidence)," and acknowledged the deed. The statute adds that any certificate clearly showing an intent to acknowledge is valid, and that no specific wording is required. A deed acknowledged in another state before that state's notary or court clerk is properly acknowledged for Tennessee.

Tennessee's Online Notary Public Act lets a notary who holds an online commission from the Secretary of State perform an online notarization "without regard to the physical location of the principal," as long as the notary is physically in Tennessee. The notary sees you by two-way video and identifies you by personal knowledge or by a government identification you present on camera, with credential analysis and identity proofing. The notary keeps an electronic record with the recording for at least five years, and notes on the certificate that the notarization was online. The acknowledgment then reads "personally appeared before me by audio-video communication." The Secretary of State's notary search lets you look a notary up by name or county, shows whether the commission is an online one, and can be limited to online notaries. The deed is an electronic document, so ask the register whether it accepts electronic recording before you book. Our Remote Online Notarization by State page compares the states.

Step 8: Work Out the Recordation Tax, and Why a Quitclaim Deed Pays Less

Tennessee charges a recordation tax "for the privilege of having the same recorded" on every transfer of realty, at 37 cents for each $100. For most deeds it is figured on the consideration or the value of the property, whichever is greater, and value means what the property would bring at a fair and voluntary sale. For a quitclaim deed the statute makes an exception: "the tax shall be based only on the actual consideration given for that conveyance." A quitclaim deed for no consideration therefore pays no tax, and one for a real price pays on that price. The tax is paid by the grantee, collected by the register, and the register is forbidden to record the deed until it is paid.

Some transfers are exempt outright, and no oath of value is required for them. They include a deed that creates or ends a tenancy by the entirety between spouses, whether by one spouse deeding to the other or by the couple deeding to a third person who deeds it straight back in the same instrument. They include deeds dividing property among tenants in common, the release of a life estate to the remainder owners, and an executor's deed carrying out a will. Divorce decrees and deeds adjusting property between divorcing spouses are exempt. So are a transfer into a revocable living trust created by the transferor or the transferor's spouse, a transfer from the trustee back to either, and a trustee's deed distributing property to the trust's beneficiaries. There is also a mortgage tax on recorded debts, which does not concern a deed for a gift.

Step 9: Record the Deed and Pay the Fee

Take or mail the acknowledged deed to the register of deeds for the county where the property is located, with the recording fee and the recordation tax if any is due. The fee is set by state statute and is the same in every county. It is $10 for a document of up to two pages, plus $2 for each instrument in it, so $12 for a one- or two-page deed, and $5 for each page beyond two. The register notes the deed for registration, records it, and returns it to the address you gave. Keep the recorded deed with the property's papers.

Tennessee has no transfer-on-death deed. Bills to adopt the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act were introduced in 2025 and again in 2026 and were in committee when this page was checked. Unless that has since changed, a deed meant to take effect only at death has no statute to stand on here. 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 Tennessee quitclaim deed?

With the register of deeds of the county where the land lies, whether or not you live there; Tennessee calls it registering. The state keeps no directory of its 95 registers, so search the county's name and "register of deeds." A deed binds the parties without registration, but as to everyone else it takes effect only when it is noted for registration. An unregistered deed is void as to the grantor's creditors and good-faith purchasers without notice, so record promptly.

Does my spouse have to sign a Tennessee quitclaim deed?

Only if your spouse is an owner, with one caution. Tennessee abolished dower and curtesy in 1977, and no statute requires a non-owner spouse to join a deed of ordinary property. The homestead exemption statute, though, says that where a marital relationship exists the exemption may not be alienated or waived without the joint consent of the spouses. It also says a duly executed deed conveys the property free of the exemption. For a deed of the family home signed by one spouse alone, get an attorney's view. Where both spouses are on the title, both sign.

Do I owe Tennessee recordation tax on a quitclaim deed to a family member?

Not on a gift with nothing paid. The tax is 37 cents per $100 and is normally figured on the price or the property's value, whichever is greater. For a quitclaim deed the statute bases it only on the actual consideration given. A quitclaim deed for no consideration owes nothing, whether or not the grantee is a relative, and a quitclaim deed for a real price pays on that price. Two cautions: the law does not say whether a mortgage the grantee takes over counts as consideration, and the Department of Revenue taxes a quitclaim deed that uses words such as "in fee simple" on the property's value. Deeds between spouses that create or end a tenancy by the entirety, divorce transfers, and deeds into or out of the owner's revocable living trust are exempt in any form. The grantee still states the consideration under oath on the deed unless the transfer is exempt.

What is the derivation clause?

A recital, required on every deed before the register will accept it, saying where the grantor's title came from. It names the deed, will, or court decree, with the type of instrument, the office, and the book and page where it is recorded, or states that the grantor inherited and names the last recorded instrument. The person who prepares the deed is responsible for it. It usually reads "Being the same property conveyed to the grantor by deed of record in Book ___, Page ___."

How do two owners get survivorship on a Tennessee deed?

By saying so expressly. Tennessee's statute abolishes survivorship in joint tenancy, so a deed to two people that says nothing gives each a separate share that passes to that person's heirs. The courts give effect to a deed that expressly provides for survivorship, so write "as joint tenants with right of survivorship" after the names. A deed to a married couple is treated by the courts as creating a tenancy by the entirety, which carries survivorship. A married owner may create one by deeding directly to the spouse with a statement of that intent.

Can I get a Tennessee quitclaim deed notarized online?

Yes. A notary who holds an online notary commission from the Secretary of State may take your acknowledgment by two-way audio-video from wherever you are, as long as the notary is physically in Tennessee. The notary identifies you by personal knowledge or by a government identification with credential analysis and identity proofing, and keeps an electronic record with the recording for at least five years. The certificate says you appeared by audio-video communication. The deed is then electronic, so confirm that the register accepts electronic recording before you book.

Where do I get a Tennessee quitclaim deed form?

Tennessee's statute says the words "I hereby quitclaim to A. B. all my interest in the following land," or their equivalent, are sufficient, so any form that says that in substance gets the core wording right. A form written for no particular state fails in the pieces around it. It has no derivation clause, no "prepared by" line, no parcel number, no line for the person responsible for the taxes, and no oath of consideration. The register is told not to accept a deed without them. If you would rather start from something built for this state, our Quitclaim Deed Help page lists prepared forms and deed preparation services.