Wyoming Quitclaim Deed Instructions

Step 1: Find the County Clerk for the County Where the Property Is Located

Wyoming deeds are recorded by the county clerk of the county where the land lies. A deed acknowledged before a notary is entitled "to be recorded in the office of the county clerk in the county where the land lies," and the clerk must "receive and record at length all deeds" left for that purpose and endorse the day and hour of filing on each. The Secretary of State publishes a list of the county clerks with every clerk's name, address, telephone number, email, and website. The clerk records only an original signed document, or an electronic document under the electronic recording act, or a properly certified copy.

Recording is what protects the grantee. Every conveyance that is not recorded "shall be void, as against any subsequent purchaser or purchasers in good faith and for a valuable consideration of the same real estate ... whose conveyance shall be first duly recorded." A recorded deed is notice to later purchasers from the moment it is delivered to the clerk. So a quitclaim deed left in a drawer binds the grantor, but a later buyer from the same grantor who records first takes the property. Record it promptly.

Step 2: Set Up the Deed

Wyoming's statute gives the quitclaim deed its own form: "A. B., grantor (name and place of residence), for the consideration of (the consideration) conveys and quitclaims to (grantee) all interest in the following described real estate (description) situate in the county of ___, in the state of Wyoming. Dated this ___ day of ___." A deed "in substance in the form prescribed," when otherwise duly executed, is "a sufficient conveyance, release and quitclaim" of all of the grantor's then-existing legal and equitable rights in the property. It does not carry title the grantor acquires later unless words are added saying so, and it needs no word of release to work. Words of inheritance are not needed either; every conveyance passes all the grantor's estate unless a lesser one is expressed. Title the deed "Quitclaim Deed" at the top.

Two things the clerk needs belong on the form. The clerk "shall not record any document until the address of the grantee" is furnished, so put the grantee's mailing address on the deed. And give the name and address the clerk should return the deed to. Where the grantee is a trustee, the deed must also define the trust: the trustee's name, the trust's name, and the date of the trust agreement, or a reference to where the trust instrument is recorded.

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. The statutory form asks for the grantor's name and place of residence. Give the name exactly as it appears on the deed the grantor received, because the clerk 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.

Wyoming abolished dower and curtesy, and no statute requires a spouse who is not an owner to join a deed of ordinary property. The homestead is different, and the rule has two parts. A deed conveying the homestead must contain "in substance the following words: 'Hereby releasing and waiving all rights under and by virtue of the homestead exemption laws of this state.'" It must also be "freely and voluntarily signed and acknowledged by the owner and the spouse of the owner." A deed of the homestead that lacks either is void, whichever name is on the title. The homestead is the home protected by Wyoming's homestead exemption laws. The statute excuses only "any conveyance of property directly from husband to wife" from the rule, in those words. Where both spouses are on the title, both are grantors and both sign in any case. A surviving spouse's claim to an elective share of the estate at death is a separate matter that a deed does not settle.

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 assessor's roll, with the grantee's mailing address, which the clerk must have before recording. A trust takes title through its trustee, and the deed must define the trust as Step 2 describes; a company takes it under the exact name on its Secretary of State record.

Two or more grantees need one more phrase saying how they hold title. Wyoming's statute says how a joint tenancy or a tenancy by the entirety is created: "by designating in the instrument of conveyance or transfer, the names of such joint tenants or tenants by the entirety." An owner may do it in a deed to themselves and others, without a straw man. So write "as joint tenants with right of survivorship" after the names if that is what you mean, and leave the words out if the grantees are to hold separate shares. Spouses have a shortcut: unless the deed specifies another form of ownership, naming the grantees "as husband and wife," "spouses," or similar words "shall be deemed to establish a tenancy by the entirety," in which each owns the whole and the survivor keeps it.

Step 5: Add the Legal Description

Copy the legal description word for word from the current deed. Wyoming descriptions run by lot and block on a recorded plat, or by section, township, and range with the quarter section, often with a metes-and-bounds course, and the statutory form asks for the county. A street address is not a legal description. The clerk charges an extra dollar for each section, block, lot, or tract description over ten, and $2 for each description by book and page over two, so a long description costs a little more to record. Do not put a Social Security number on the deed; it becomes a public record.

Step 6: State the Consideration, and Complete the Statement of Consideration

The statutory form recites the consideration. For a sale, that is the price. For a gift, write "for no consideration" or "for love and affection." Wyoming has no transfer tax, but every deed that transfers title goes to the clerk with a statement of consideration, "a statement under oath by the grantee or his agent" disclosing the names, addresses, and contact information of the grantor and grantee, the date of transfer and of sale, the legal description, "the actual full amount paid or to be paid for the property," the terms of sale, and an estimate of the value of any personal property included. "No instrument evidencing a transfer of real property may be accepted for recording until the completed sworn statement is received by the county clerk." The state board of equalization prescribes the form for county clerks and assessors to use.

The statement is confidential. It is not a public record, it serves the county assessor and the state only as data for sales-price ratios, and no single statement may be used to change the assessed value of the property it describes. Falsifying it, or disclosing one, is a misdemeanor. For some transfers the statement may leave off the price, the terms, and the personal property estimate. Those are a gift of more than half the actual value, a transfer between husband and wife or parent and child for only nominal consideration, a corrective instrument without added consideration, a transfer to the same party, and a few business transfers. The statement itself is still filed. Step 8 says more about the tax that Wyoming does not have.

Step 7: Sign Before a Notary, in Person or by Remote Notarization

Deeds "shall be acknowledged by the party or parties executing same, before any notarial officer," and the certificate of acknowledgment is what entitles the deed to record. No witnesses are required. You appear before a notary public with the deed, and the notary determines from satisfactory evidence that you are who you claim to be and that the signature is yours, made knowingly and willingly. Satisfactory evidence means the notary's personal knowledge of you, or an identification credential, a passport, driver's license, or other government identification that is current or expired within the last three years, or the oath of a credible witness the notary knows or can identify. The certificate names the county and state and the person acknowledging, states the act performed and the date, is signed by the notary with the notary's title, and carries the official stamp with the notary's name, identification number, and commission expiration. The statute prints a short form. An acknowledgment taken in another state by that state's notary has the same effect.

Wyoming allows remote notarization, both on an electronic record and, as "remote ink notarization," on a paper one. "Appearing before" a notary includes interacting with a remotely located person by an electronic notarization system or other communication technology that lets the two see and hear each other. The notary identifies you by personal knowledge, by a credible witness, or by two or more technologies such as knowledge-based authentication, credential analysis, and identity proofing, records the entire session, and keeps the recording. A notary must notify the Secretary of State before performing remote acts, and the venue of the act is where the notary is physically located. The certificate must say the act was performed using an electronic notarization system or communication technology. The Secretary of State's Notary Public page and its summary of the 2021 notary law explain the rules. Confirm that the county clerk will accept the result before you book. Our Remote Online Notarization by State page compares the states.

Step 8: Understand Why There Is No Transfer Tax

Wyoming imposes no real estate transfer tax, documentary stamp tax, or deed tax. Nothing is owed to the state or the county on the value of a conveyance, whether it is a sale or a gift, and no exemption has to be claimed. The cost of recording a deed is the clerk's fee in Step 9 and nothing else.

What Wyoming has instead is the statement of consideration in Step 6, which exists so that assessors can compare sale prices with assessed values across a county. It is filed for a gift as well as a sale, though a gift of more than half the value may omit the price. Because it is not a tax return, there is nothing to pay and nothing to compute. The only offense is lying on the form or disclosing it.

Step 9: Record the Deed and Pay the Fee

Take or mail the acknowledged deed, with the statement of consideration and the fee, to the county clerk of the county where the property is located. The recording fee is set by state statute and is the same in every county: $12 for the first page and $3 for each additional page, plus $1 for each grantor or grantee of a different surname over five and $1 for each land description over ten. The clerk endorses the day, hour, and minute of reception, records the deed, and returns it to the address you gave. Keep the recorded deed with the property's papers.

Wyoming also has a transfer on death deed. An owner may record a deed that names a grantee beneficiary and "expressly states that the deed ... is effective on the death of the owner." It is valid only if it is executed and recorded with the county clerk before the owner dies. It may be revoked by a recorded revocation at any time, and the beneficiary takes subject to the owner's mortgages and other encumbrances. The clerk reports each transfer on death deed to the state health department, which may assert a lien for medical assistance the owner received. That deed, not a quitclaim deed, is the one Wyoming provides for passing property at death outside a will, and an attorney can say whether it suits the estate plan.

Where do I record a Wyoming quitclaim deed?

With the county clerk of the county where the property is located. The Secretary of State's list of the county clerks gives every clerk's address, telephone number, email, and website. A deed that is not recorded is void as against a later good-faith purchaser for value from the same grantor who records first, so record it promptly.

Does my spouse have to sign a Wyoming quitclaim deed?

For the homestead, yes. A deed conveying the homestead is void unless it contains, in substance, the words "hereby releasing and waiving all rights under and by virtue of the homestead exemption laws of this state" and is signed and acknowledged by both the owner and the owner's spouse, whichever name is on the title. The statute's only exception is a conveyance directly from husband to wife. Wyoming abolished dower and curtesy, so a spouse who is not an owner need not sign a deed of other property. Where both spouses are on the title, both sign.

Does Wyoming charge a transfer tax on a quitclaim deed?

No. Wyoming has no real estate transfer tax or deed tax, on a sale or a gift, and there is no exemption to claim. Every deed that transfers title goes to the county clerk with a sworn statement of consideration, which is confidential and serves the assessor's sales-ratio statistics, but nothing is paid on it. A gift of more than half the property's value, or a transfer between spouses or parent and child for nominal consideration, may leave the price off the statement.

What is the Statement of Consideration?

A form sworn to by the grantee or the grantee's agent that must accompany every deed transferring title before the county clerk may record it. It gives the names, addresses, and contact information of the grantor and grantee, the dates of transfer and sale, the legal description, the full price paid or to be paid, the terms, and the value of any personal property included. It is not a public record and is used only as statistical data for property assessment, never by itself to change the assessed value of the property it describes. Falsifying it is a misdemeanor.

How do two owners get survivorship on a Wyoming deed?

By naming them as joint tenants in the deed. Wyoming's statute creates a joint tenancy or a tenancy by the entirety "by designating in the instrument of conveyance" the names of the joint tenants or tenants by the entirety, and an owner may do it in a deed to themselves and others. Write "as joint tenants with right of survivorship" after the names. A deed to spouses that calls them "husband and wife" or "spouses" creates a tenancy by the entirety unless it specifies another form of ownership.

Can I get a Wyoming quitclaim deed notarized online?

Yes. A Wyoming notary who has notified the Secretary of State that they perform remote notarial acts may take your acknowledgment by an approved electronic notarization system or other live audio-video technology while you are somewhere else. That may be on an electronic deed or, by remote ink notarization, on a paper one. The notary identifies you by personal knowledge, a credible witness, or two or more identity technologies, records the entire session, and states on the certificate that communication technology was used. Confirm that the county clerk accepts the result before you book.

Where do I get a Wyoming quitclaim deed form?

The statute itself prints one, and any deed in substance in that form, signed and acknowledged, gets the core wording right. What a form written for no particular state gets wrong is the pieces around it. It has no place for the grantee's address, without which the clerk will not record it, no homestead waiver wording and spouse's line, no definition of a trust grantee, and no statement of consideration. If you would rather start from something built for this state, our Quitclaim Deed Help page lists prepared forms and deed preparation services.