To change the deed on your house, you draft a new deed naming the new owner, have the current owner sign it before a notary, and record it with the county where the property sits. You cannot edit or cross out the existing deed. The new document replaces it in the public record, and the choices you make along the way — deed type, mortgage handling, tax planning — decide whether the transfer is clean or creates problems that surface years later.
The Steps to Change a House Deed
Start by pulling a copy of the current deed from your county recorder’s office. Many counties allow online searches. You need this document because it contains the property’s legal description, a precise boundary description that is entirely different from the street address. That legal description must be copied onto the new deed exactly. Small errors here can cloud the title for years.
Collect the full legal names and mailing addresses of everyone involved. The person transferring the property is the grantor; the person or entity receiving it is the grantee. Check spellings against government-issued identification.
Blank deed forms are available from county recorder offices, office supply stores, and online legal form providers. Some counties publish their own approved forms, which tend to move through recording faster.
Once the deed is filled out, the grantor signs it in front of a notary public. The notary verifies identity, witnesses the signature, and applies an official seal. Some jurisdictions require one or two additional witnesses as well. The grantee typically does not need to sign.
After notarization, file the signed original with the county recorder’s office — sometimes called the register of deeds or county clerk — in the county where the property sits. The office stamps the document with official recording information, scans it into the public record, and mails the original back to the new owner. Expect that to take a few weeks.
Recording fees generally fall somewhere between $30 and $150, depending on the number of pages and whether your county charges a flat or per-page rate. Many counties require supplemental paperwork, such as a change-of-ownership form for the local tax assessor. Missing forms can trigger extra fees or penalties, so call the recorder’s office before you go in.
If the transfer involves a sale or consideration above a set threshold, a real estate transfer tax may also be due at recording. These taxes are set by state, county, or municipal governments and are usually calculated as a percentage of the sale price or property value. Not every state imposes one, and many exempt transfers between spouses, family members, or into trusts. Verify what your jurisdiction requires before you record.
Picking the Right Type of Deed
The deed type controls how much legal protection the new owner receives. Choosing wrong is one of the most common mistakes people make with self-prepared deeds.
Quitclaim Deed
A quitclaim deed transfers whatever ownership interest the current owner has, without promising that interest is valid or that the title is clean.1Legal Information Institute. Quitclaim Deed The new owner gets no guarantee the property is free of liens or that the signer actually owns it. If a title problem surfaces later, the new owner has no claim against the person who signed.
Quitclaim deeds work well between people who already trust each other: spouses adding or removing a name, parents transferring to children, or an owner moving property into their own living trust. They are fast and inexpensive, and they offer no protection if something goes wrong with the title.
Warranty Deeds
A general warranty deed offers the strongest protection. The signer guarantees clear title and promises to defend that title against any claims, including claims that predate their ownership.2Legal Information Institute. Warranty Deed This is the deed type buyers expect in a standard home sale.
A special warranty deed sits between the two. The signer guarantees the title was clean during their ownership but takes no responsibility for problems that predate them. Special warranty deeds are common in commercial transactions and sales by banks or estates.
Corrective Deed
If you are fixing a typo or minor error on an existing deed rather than transferring ownership, a corrective deed may be enough. It identifies the mistake, states the correction, and references the original recording information. It does not transfer ownership. For more significant errors, like a wrong legal description, most jurisdictions require an entirely new deed instead.
What to Do if There’s a Mortgage
This is where people run into serious trouble. Most residential mortgages contain a due-on-sale clause that gives the lender the right to demand immediate repayment of the entire loan if you transfer ownership. Recording a new deed without accounting for this clause can put the property at risk of foreclosure.
Federal law protects several types of transfers on residential properties with fewer than five units. On a protected transfer, the lender cannot enforce a due-on-sale clause:
- Adding a spouse or children as owners.
- A transfer to a spouse under a divorce decree or separation agreement.
- Moving the property into a living trust where the borrower remains a beneficiary.
- A transfer to a relative on the borrower’s death.
These exemptions come from the Garn-St. Germain Depository Institutions Act and override contrary language in the mortgage.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 12 US Code 1701j-3 – Preemption of Due-on-Sale Prohibitions Transfers outside these categories — deeding the property to a friend, a business partner, or an LLC you don’t wholly own — can give the lender grounds to call the loan due. If you are not certain your transfer qualifies, talk to a real estate attorney before recording.
Tax Consequences to Weigh First
Changing a deed can trigger tax obligations that catch people off guard. The three biggest areas are gift tax reporting, capital gains basis, and Medicaid eligibility.
Gift Tax Reporting
When you transfer property without receiving fair market value in return, the IRS treats it as a gift. If the value exceeds the annual gift tax exclusion, which is $19,000 per recipient for 2026, you must file IRS Form 709 even if no tax is ultimately owed.4Internal Revenue Service. Gifts and Inheritances Since almost any real estate exceeds that threshold, nearly every property gift triggers a filing requirement.
Filing does not necessarily mean writing a check. Gifts above the annual exclusion reduce your lifetime gift and estate tax exemption, which is $15,000,000 for 2026.5Internal Revenue Service. What’s New – Estate and Gift Tax Most people never owe actual gift tax, but skipping the return can create penalties and complications. Transfers between spouses generally qualify for the unlimited marital deduction and do not require Form 709.6Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 709
The Carryover Basis Trap
This is where gifting property gets expensive. When you give someone property during your lifetime, they take your original cost basis: the price you paid, plus improvements, adjusted over time.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 US Code 1015 – Basis of Property Acquired by Gifts and Transfers in Trust If you bought a house for $80,000 thirty years ago and gift it to your child when it’s worth $400,000, your child’s tax basis is $80,000. When they sell for $400,000, they owe capital gains tax on $320,000 of profit.
Compare that to inheriting the same property. If the house passes through your estate after death, the recipient’s basis resets to the fair market value at the date of death.8eCFR. 26 CFR 1.1014-1 – Basis of Property Acquired From a Decedent Using the same numbers, the inherited basis would be $400,000, and an immediate sale would produce zero capital gains. This stepped-up basis is one of the most significant tax benefits in the code, and people forfeit it every time they gift appreciated property instead of letting it pass through their estate. For high-value real estate, the tax difference can easily reach six figures.
Medicaid Look-Back Period
Transferring property for less than fair market value, including gifting it to a child or moving it into certain trusts, can create problems if you apply for Medicaid long-term care benefits within five years of the transfer. Federal law establishes a 60-month look-back period, during which the state reviews all asset transfers.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 US Code 1396p – Liens, Adjustments and Recoveries, and Transfers of Assets If the state finds an uncompensated transfer within that window, it calculates a penalty period during which Medicaid will not cover nursing facility costs, even if you otherwise qualify. The penalty length equals the value of the transferred asset divided by the average monthly cost of nursing home care in your state, so transferring a $300,000 house can result in years of ineligibility.
Don’t Lose Your Title Insurance or Homestead Exemption
Two things people rarely think about before recording a new deed: their title insurance policy and their property tax exemptions.
Many owner’s title insurance policies limit coverage to the named insured “so long as the Insured retains an estate or interest in the Land.” When you quitclaim property into a trust, transfer it to a family member, or deed it to an LLC, you may no longer be the insured party. Some policies explicitly exclude voluntary transfers to trusts, and the coverage simply vanishes. Contact your title insurance company before recording and ask whether you need an endorsement to keep coverage in place. It is a cheap fix before the transfer and an expensive problem after.
Homestead exemptions and other property tax benefits are similarly vulnerable. Many jurisdictions require the owner of record to live in the property as a primary residence to qualify. Changing the deed, even to a trust or LLC you control, can trigger a reassessment or disqualify the property from the exemption. Rules vary considerably, so check with your county property appraiser before recording.
When to Bring in an Attorney
Simple deed changes can often be handled without an attorney if you use the correct form and follow your county’s recording requirements. Adding a spouse after marriage, or moving your home into a living trust you have already set up with legal help, are typical examples. Some states, however, require an attorney to prepare or review deeds as a matter of law.
For anything involving a sale, a mortgage on the property, a divorce, Medicaid planning, or significant tax consequences, a real estate attorney is worth the cost. A lawyer will catch what a blank form cannot: whether the transfer triggers a due-on-sale clause, whether a quitclaim or warranty deed is appropriate, and whether the deed language actually accomplishes what you intend. Attorney-prepared deeds typically run a few hundred dollars, a fraction of what it costs to fix a defective transfer after the fact.