Yes, a title company can prepare a quitclaim deed, and many prepare them routinely as a document service outside of a full closing. The work is ministerial: they fill in the grantor and grantee names, the legal description, and the recording formatting your county requires, then hand you a document ready to sign and notarize. What they will not do is tell you whether a quitclaim is the right deed for your situation, confirm the grantor actually owns what they’re conveying, or warn you about the tax and mortgage consequences that can follow. Those gaps are where quitclaim transfers go wrong.
What a Title Company Will and Won’t Do
Drafting a deed is paperwork. A title company preparing your quitclaim deed will pull the legal description from prior recorded documents, format the deed to meet the county recorder’s standards, and set up the signature and notary blocks correctly. That’s the service.
They are not evaluating whether a quitclaim deed is a better fit than a warranty deed or a transfer-on-death deed. They aren’t reviewing your mortgage. They aren’t running the tax math on gifting appreciated real estate to a family member. If you walk in and ask for a quitclaim deed, you’ll get one; the title company treats you as the person who has already decided what document you need.
State Rules on Who Can Draft Deeds
Some states draw a firm line between preparing legal documents and practicing law. A handful restrict non-attorneys from drafting deeds at all. Others allow title companies to prepare deeds only as part of a broader real estate closing, not as a standalone service. If you’re outside a purchase transaction and just want a deed drafted, check whether your state permits title companies to do that work independently.
When an Attorney Is the Better Call
For a straightforward correction of a misspelled name, or moving your own property into your own revocable trust, a title company’s drafting service is usually enough. For anything involving a mortgaged property, a family gift of appreciated real estate, or a dispute over ownership, a real estate attorney’s fee typically covers something the title company won’t provide: a look at whether the deed you’re asking for is the right one.
What a Quitclaim Deed Actually Conveys
A quitclaim deed transfers whatever interest the grantor happens to hold in the property. That might be full ownership, a fractional interest, or nothing. The grantor makes no promise about what they’re handing over. If it later turns out they didn’t own the property, or the title carries liens, the grantee has no recourse against the grantor under the deed itself.
A warranty deed is the opposite. There, the grantor guarantees clean title and takes on legal liability if someone else later claims an interest. A quitclaim promises nothing of the sort. It’s the grantor stepping aside from whatever claim they might have, no more.
That’s why quitclaims are rarely used in arms-length sales between strangers. They work when both sides already know the state of title and trust each other, or when no money is changing hands.
When a Quitclaim Deed Fits
Most quitclaim transfers fall into a handful of situations where the lack of warranties isn’t a problem because the parties already understand what’s being conveyed:
- Transfers between family members, such as a parent deeding property to a child or siblings sorting out an inherited home.
- Divorce or marriage changes, where one spouse transfers their interest to the other, or a new spouse is added to the title.
- Moving property into a revocable living trust for estate planning.
- Transferring property to an LLC the owner controls, often for liability protection.
- Fixing a title error like a misspelled name.
In each of these, nobody is relying on the deed itself to guarantee anything about the title.
Title Insurance: The Gap Nobody Mentions
Recording a quitclaim deed can void your existing owner’s title insurance policy. Most policies include a continuation of coverage provision that keeps the policy alive only as long as you retain liability through the warranties in your deed. A quitclaim contains no warranties, so the insurer’s obligation to the original policyholder can end the moment the deed is recorded. The new grantee is not covered by the old policy either.
Title insurers are also reluctant to write a new policy for someone who received property by quitclaim, because the deed offers no assurance that the grantor had anything to convey. Expect a full title search and possibly a request for a warranty deed before an insurer will issue coverage.
This is easy to miss when you’re moving your own property into your own LLC or trust. You assume your original coverage carries over. It may not, once the property sits in a different legal entity. Ask your title insurer about an endorsement before you record.
The Mortgage Problem
If the property still carries a mortgage, a quitclaim can trigger the lender’s due-on-sale clause, which lets the lender demand the full remaining balance immediately when the property changes hands. Failing to pay can lead to foreclosure.
Federal law carves out important exceptions. Under the Garn-St. Germain Act, lenders cannot enforce a due-on-sale clause on residential properties with fewer than five units when the transfer is:1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 12 U.S. Code 1701j-3 – Preemption of Due-on-Sale Prohibitions
- To a spouse or children of the borrower.
- Divorce-related, with the borrower’s spouse becoming the owner.
- Into a living trust where the borrower remains a beneficiary and continues to occupy the property.
- To a relative after the borrower’s death.
Those cover most everyday family quitclaims. They do not cover a transfer to an LLC or to an unrelated person. In those cases, the lender can call the loan. Check with your lender before recording.
Tax Consequences the Title Company Won’t Flag
A quitclaim that transfers property without payment is treated as a gift by the IRS. Two separate tax issues follow, and neither is on the title company’s radar.
Gift Tax Reporting
If the fair market value of the transferred property exceeds $19,000 in 2026, the grantor needs to file a gift tax return (Form 709).2Internal Revenue Service. Gifts and Inheritances Filing doesn’t necessarily mean tax is owed; the excess above the annual exclusion counts against the lifetime gift and estate tax exemption, which sits at $15,000,000 for 2026.3Internal Revenue Service. What’s New – Estate and Gift Tax Most people never reach it. Skipping the return still creates problems.
Carryover Basis
When you receive property as a gift, you inherit the giver’s cost basis rather than a fresh basis at current market value.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 1015 – Basis of Property Acquired by Gifts and Transfers in Trust If a parent bought a house for $80,000 and quitclaims it to you when it’s worth $350,000, your basis is $80,000. Sell for $350,000 and you owe capital gains tax on $270,000 of profit. Inherit the same property at death and you’d receive a stepped-up basis at fair market value, likely wiping out most of that gain. The difference is often tens of thousands of dollars, and it is the single most common financial mistake in family quitclaim transfers.
State and Local Transfer Tax
Many states and counties charge a real estate transfer tax when property changes hands. Most jurisdictions exempt transfers between spouses, divorce-related transfers, and often parent-child transfers, and corrective deeds without consideration are frequently exempt as well. Transfer tax declarations are typically required even for exempt transfers, so check your county recorder’s rules before filing.
Signing and Recording
A quitclaim isn’t effective just because it’s been drafted and signed. Every state requires the grantor’s signature to be notarized before the deed will be accepted for recording, and some states also require one or two witnesses. The notary verifies identity and confirms the signature is voluntary. The notary is not confirming the grantor owns the property.
After signing, record the deed at the county recorder’s office in the county where the property sits. Recording puts the public on notice that ownership has changed. An unrecorded deed is still binding between grantor and grantee, but it offers no protection against third parties who record first.
What It Costs
A quitclaim deed is one of the cheapest real estate documents you can produce. A title company’s drafting fee generally runs around $200 to $250, plus notary and county recording fees. Most simple transfers come in well under $500 total. A real estate attorney charges more, and the extra cost typically buys a review of whether the quitclaim is the right instrument at all, whether your title insurance and mortgage will survive it, and whether the tax consequences make a different approach smarter. For a corrective deed or a trust transfer, the title company’s service is usually enough. For a mortgaged property, an appreciated family gift, or any ownership question, the attorney’s fee is the better spend.