The cost of a quitclaim deed usually runs between $50 and $500 in direct out-of-pocket expense once you add the recording fee, notary charge, and document preparation. That figure assumes a straightforward transfer that you either fill out yourself or hand to an attorney. The trap is what sits outside that number: transfer taxes on valuable property, a gift tax filing obligation, a carryover tax basis that can generate a huge capital gains bill years later, mortgage acceleration risk, and Medicaid penalties. Those indirect costs can easily run into tens of thousands of dollars.
What You Pay Up Front
Four line items make up the direct cost of getting a quitclaim deed prepared, signed, and recorded.
Recording fee. Every quitclaim deed has to be recorded with the local government office where the property sits, usually the County Recorder, Register of Deeds, or County Clerk. The fee gets the deed into public records so the ownership change has legal notice. Amounts vary by jurisdiction and sometimes by page count, but most fall in the $25 to $150 range.
Notary fee. Nearly every jurisdiction requires the grantor (the person transferring the property) to sign in front of a notary public. The notary verifies the signer’s identity, witnesses the signature, and affixes an official seal. Notary fees are modest, generally $5 to $25 per signature.
Document preparation. You have two options. Many county recorder websites publish blank quitclaim deed forms at no cost, and office supply stores and online legal form providers sell templates for $10 to $50. Hiring an attorney to draft the deed typically costs $200 to $500. The lawyer’s fee buys more than a filled-in form; it buys someone who can flag whether a quitclaim is even the right instrument, whether the legal description is accurate, and whether the transfer will trigger tax consequences. For property with a mortgage, transfers to anyone outside close family, or any situation involving Medicaid planning, the attorney fee is usually worth paying.
Title search (optional). A residential title search runs about $75 to $200. Because a quitclaim deed carries no promises about the quality of title, the grantee has no recourse against the grantor if a lien or unpaid tax shows up later. Skipping the search to save a couple hundred dollars can leave you holding a title that’s effectively worthless.
Real Estate Transfer Taxes
The largest government charge on most quitclaim deeds is the real estate transfer tax, calculated as a percentage of the property’s value and imposed at the state, county, or city level depending on where you are. On a $400,000 home, even a modest rate can produce a bill in the thousands.
Many of the reasons people typically use quitclaim deeds qualify for an exemption. Transfers between spouses, from a parent to a child, into a revocable living trust, or as part of a divorce settlement are frequently exempt. Check with your local recorder’s office before filing. The exemption does not apply automatically. You have to claim it on the required declaration forms at the time you record the deed.
The Gift Tax Filing You Probably Owe
When you transfer property by quitclaim deed without receiving fair market value in return, the IRS treats the transaction as a gift. You probably won’t owe any actual tax, but you will likely have to file a return, and that obligation catches many people by surprise.
For 2026, the federal annual gift tax exclusion is $19,000 per recipient. If the value of the interest you transfer exceeds that number, you must file IRS Form 709, the gift tax return, even when no tax is due.1IRS. Instructions for Form 709 Real estate almost always clears $19,000, so a Form 709 is standard for quitclaim transfers between non-spouses. A married couple can elect gift splitting to combine their exclusions and cover up to $38,000 per recipient, but both spouses have to file their own returns.
Any amount above the annual exclusion counts against your lifetime estate and gift tax exemption, which is $15,000,000 per individual for 2026.2IRS. What’s New – Estate and Gift Tax You will not owe gift tax unless total lifetime gifts exceed that figure. Failing to file Form 709 can bring IRS penalties, and it leaves no record of how much lifetime exemption you have already used. Transfers between spouses who are both U.S. citizens are generally unlimited and require no gift tax return.
Carryover Basis: The Biggest Hidden Cost
This is where a quitclaim deed can turn into the most expensive way to move real estate in a family. When you receive property as a gift, your tax basis is generally the same as the donor’s original basis, not the current market value.3IRS. Property (Basis, Sale of Home, etc.) – FAQ Tax professionals call this “carryover basis.” It can create an enormous capital gains bill when the recipient eventually sells.
An example makes the size of the problem clear. Your parent bought a house for $80,000 and quitclaims it to you when it is worth $350,000. Your basis is $80,000. If you sell later for $400,000, you owe capital gains tax on $320,000 of gain. Had you inherited the same property at your parent’s death, you would receive a “stepped-up” basis equal to fair market value on the date of death, and your taxable gain on the same sale might be close to zero. Federal long-term capital gains tax on $320,000 can easily exceed $50,000. The deed itself costs almost nothing. The tax consequence of the deed can cost more than a year of the recipient’s income.
Mortgage Acceleration Risk
If the property carries a mortgage, transferring ownership by quitclaim deed can trigger the loan’s due-on-sale clause, which lets the lender demand immediate repayment of the entire remaining balance. Being hit with that demand unexpectedly is a financial emergency.
Federal law provides important protection. The Garn-St. Germain Act bars a lender from enforcing a due-on-sale clause on residential property with fewer than five units when the transfer falls into certain protected categories: transfers to a spouse or children, transfers resulting from a divorce decree or property settlement, transfers into a living trust where the borrower remains a beneficiary, and transfers on the borrower’s death to a relative or by operation of law when a joint tenant dies.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 12 U.S. Code 1701j-3 – Preemption of Due-on-Sale Prohibitions
Transfers outside those categories, like a quitclaim to a business partner, an unrelated friend, or an LLC, can give the lender grounds to call the loan. And the transfer does not release the original borrower from the mortgage. If you quitclaim the property but your name stays on the loan, you remain personally liable if the new owner stops paying.
Medicaid Look-Back Penalties
Transferring property by quitclaim for less than fair market value can create serious problems if the grantor later applies for Medicaid long-term care benefits. Medicaid agencies review asset transfers made during the five years before an application. Any transfer for less than fair market value during that “look-back period” is presumed to have been made to qualify for benefits and triggers a penalty period during which Medicaid will not cover nursing home costs.
The penalty is calculated by dividing the value of the transferred property by the average monthly cost of nursing home care in the area. A $300,000 house in a region where care runs $10,000 per month produces a 30-month penalty. The applicant must pay privately during those months. The penalty applies even when the transfer was purely for family reasons and had nothing to do with Medicaid planning. Fair market value received is the only thing the rule looks at.
Put the pieces together and the true cost of a quitclaim deed depends far more on who is receiving the property, whether there is a mortgage, and what the eventual tax and care picture looks like than on the small filing fee you write a check for at the recorder’s office.