To change a deed, you don’t edit the existing one. You prepare a new deed that transfers ownership from the current owner to the new owner, sign it in front of a notary, and record it with the county where the property sits. The paperwork is not complicated. The tax and mortgage consequences are where people get hurt, so it’s worth understanding the whole picture before you sign anything.
Pick the Right Type of Deed
The deed type controls what guarantees the new owner receives about the title. Choose wrong and you either strip away protections the new owner should have or promise things you can’t back up.
- Quitclaim deed. Transfers whatever interest you currently hold, with no guarantees. If a lien or competing claim surfaces later, the new owner has no recourse against you. This is the usual choice for family transfers, divorcing spouses, and moves into a trust you control.
- General warranty deed. The strongest protection for the new owner. You guarantee the title is clean all the way back through every prior owner, and you’re personally liable if a claim appears. This is standard in arm’s-length sales.
- Special warranty deed. A middle ground. You guarantee the title only for the period you owned the property. Defects from before your ownership are the new owner’s problem. Common in commercial and corporate transfers.
For transfers between people who trust each other, a quitclaim is usually the simplest and cheapest option. If the new owner wants real protection, a warranty deed and a title search are worth the extra effort.
Fill Out the Deed Correctly
A deed needs several specific pieces of information, and errors here get the deed rejected at the recorder’s window or create title problems years later.
- Full legal names of the current owner (grantor) and new owner (grantee), spelled exactly as they appear on official documents. Trusts and LLCs go on by their full legal names.
- Legal description of the property. Not the street address. This is the technical description using lot and block, metes and bounds, or subdivision references. Copy it exactly from the current deed. Small transcription errors create ambiguity about which property is actually being transferred.
- Assessor’s Parcel Number. The county’s tax ID for the parcel, printed on the property tax bill and available on the county assessor’s website.
- Vesting language. How the new owners will hold title: joint tenancy with right of survivorship, tenants in common, or community property in states that recognize it. Each has different consequences when one owner dies, and this is one of the most common and most expensive mistakes in do-it-yourself transfers.
Most deeds also require a statement of consideration, meaning the value exchanged. In a sale it’s the purchase price. For gifts and family transfers, language like “ten dollars and other good and valuable consideration” or “love and affection” is typical. Some jurisdictions require the statement; others don’t. Check with your county recorder or use a locally approved form.
Blank deed forms are available from county recorder websites and legal document providers. Use a form designed for your state. Formatting requirements, required statutory language, and even margin sizes vary by jurisdiction, and a form from the wrong state will likely be rejected.
Sign in Front of a Notary
Only the grantor needs to sign. The grantee’s signature isn’t required in most states. Fill in every field before signing, and check the legal description, names, and vesting language one more time. Corrections after notarization usually mean starting over.
The grantor signs in front of a notary public, who verifies the signer’s identity with a government-issued ID, confirms the signing is voluntary, completes the notarial certificate, and affixes the seal. Without proper notarization, the county will reject the deed.
A handful of states also require witnesses. Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Connecticut all require two witnesses for certain deed types, and whether the notary can double as a witness varies. If you’re in one of these states, confirm the rules with your county recorder before your signing appointment.
Record the Deed With the County
A signed and notarized deed transfers ownership between the parties, but recording it with the county is what protects the new owner against everyone else. Until the deed is on file, a later buyer or creditor could claim they had no notice of the transfer.
Take the original deed to the county recorder or county clerk in the county where the property is located. Many offices accept mailed submissions, and a growing number allow electronic recording. Recording fees vary but generally run from about $10 to $100 or more depending on page count and local fee schedules.
A real estate transfer tax may also be due at recording, calculated as a percentage of sale price or assessed value. Rates vary widely by state and sometimes by county. Many jurisdictions exempt certain transfers, including those between spouses, transfers into a revocable trust where the grantor stays a beneficiary, and transfers resulting from a divorce decree. Claiming an exemption usually requires a separate form, so ask the recorder what paperwork you need before you arrive.
Record promptly. Every state has a recording act that decides who wins when two people claim the same property, and in most states a later buyer who pays value and records first can defeat an earlier unrecorded transfer. The practical rule is the same everywhere: record as soon as possible after signing.
The Mortgage Doesn’t Change With the Deed
This is where do-it-yourself transfers go sideways. Signing over the deed does not remove the grantor from the mortgage. A deed transfers ownership. A mortgage is a separate contract with the lender. If you quitclaim your house to an ex-spouse in a divorce, you’ve given up ownership, but the bank will still come after you if the payments stop.
The only ways to remove the original borrower from mortgage liability are refinancing the loan in the new owner’s name alone or getting the lender to formally release the borrower. Neither happens automatically when a new deed is recorded.
Most mortgages also contain a due-on-sale clause that lets the lender demand full repayment when the property changes hands. Federal law carves out important exceptions for residential properties with fewer than five units. Under the Garn-St. Germain Act, a lender cannot enforce the due-on-sale clause when the transfer is:
- To a spouse or child of the borrower
- The result of a divorce decree or separation agreement
- Into a living trust where the borrower stays on as a beneficiary and continues to live in the property
- To a relative after the borrower’s death
These exceptions cover the most common family scenarios, but not everything.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 12 U.S. Code 1701j-3 – Preemption of Due-on-Sale Prohibitions Transferring to an unrelated person, to a business entity you own, or to a trust where you give up your beneficiary interest can still trigger the clause.
The new owner also inherits whatever liens are attached to the property. Unpaid property taxes, contractor liens, and judgments don’t disappear when the deed changes hands. A title search before the transfer identifies these so they can be resolved first.
Tax Consequences People Miss
Gift Tax
When you transfer property for less than its fair market value, the IRS treats the difference as a gift. In 2026, you can give up to $19,000 per recipient without any gift tax reporting requirement. Married couples can combine their exclusions to give $38,000 per recipient.2Internal Revenue Service. Gifts and Inheritances
If the value exceeds the annual exclusion, file IRS Form 709 by April 15 of the year after the transfer. Filing doesn’t necessarily mean you owe tax. The excess counts against your lifetime gift and estate tax exemption, which in 2026 is $15,000,000 per person.3Internal Revenue Service. What’s New – Estate and Gift Tax Most people will never owe federal gift tax, but skipping the Form 709 is still a compliance problem.
Capital Gains and the Basis Trap
Something that surprises many families: when you give property away during your lifetime, the recipient inherits your original cost basis. If you bought a house for $80,000 and gift it to your child when it’s worth $400,000, your child’s basis is still $80,000. If they sell for $400,000, they owe capital gains tax on a $320,000 gain.
Property that passes through inheritance is treated differently. An heir receives a stepped-up basis equal to fair market value at the date of death. In the same example, a child who inherits the house rather than receiving it as a gift has a basis of $400,000, and selling immediately would trigger zero capital gains tax. For appreciated property, the difference can run to tens of thousands of dollars. Do the math before choosing between a lifetime gift and holding the property until death.
Property Tax Reassessment
Many states reassess property taxes when ownership changes. If the property has been in the same family for decades and the assessed value is well below market, a transfer can trigger a reassessment that dramatically raises the annual bill. Some states exempt transfers between parents and children or between spouses, but these exemptions vary and have been narrowed in several states in recent years. Check with the county assessor before transferring to understand the potential tax impact.
Consider a Transfer on Death Deed Instead
If your only goal is to pass property to someone when you die without probate, a transfer on death deed may be a better fit than changing the deed now. More than 30 states currently allow them. You sign and record the deed during your lifetime, but it has no effect until you die. You keep full ownership and control, you can sell the property or revoke the deed at any time, and the beneficiary has no rights until your death.
The advantage is that you avoid the gift tax, carryover basis, and mortgage complications above. The beneficiary receives a stepped-up basis and takes ownership automatically without probate. The catch: not every state recognizes these deeds, the rules on qualifying property and proper revocation vary, and the deed must be recorded before your death. An unrecorded transfer on death deed found among your belongings has no legal effect.
After the Deed Is Recorded
Once the recorder processes the deed, the transfer becomes part of the permanent public record. The office mails the original back to the new owner or the person who submitted it. Keep it in a safe place, though the recorded copy in the county’s records is the one that legally matters.
Recording updates the county’s ownership records, and future tax bills should go to the new owner. If the mailing address for tax statements needs to change, contact the county assessor’s office directly rather than assuming the recorder handled it. Missed tax bills turn into late penalties and, eventually, tax liens.
One more thing worth knowing: existing title insurance does not follow the property to a new owner. The previous owner’s policy ends when their ownership interest ends. If the new owner wants protection against title defects or undiscovered liens, they need to buy their own policy. For transfers between family members where no title search was done, a new owner’s policy is relatively cheap insurance against the cost of defending a title claim later.