To file a quitclaim deed, you prepare the document with the grantor’s and grantee’s full legal names and the property’s legal description, have the grantor sign it in front of a notary (and any witnesses your state requires), then record it with the county recorder or register of deeds in the county where the property is located, along with the recording fee and any supplemental forms. The transfer is only effective against third parties once it is recorded.
A quitclaim deed transfers whatever ownership interest the grantor holds, with no promises that the title is clean or that the grantor owns anything at all. That is why it is typically used between people who already know the state of the title: spouses, divorcing spouses, parents deeding property to a child, or a homeowner moving property into a living trust. The filing steps below assume you are in one of those situations.
What to Gather Before You Fill Anything Out
Getting the details right up front is what keeps the recorder from rejecting your deed. Pull these together before you touch the form:
- Full legal names of the grantor and grantee, spelled exactly as they appear on the current deed of record and on government-issued identification. A mismatch between “Robert J. Smith” on the existing deed and “Bob Smith” on the quitclaim creates a title cloud that will complicate any future sale or refinance.
- The legal description of the property, copied word for word from the most recent recorded deed. This is the metes-and-bounds or lot-and-block description, not the street address. A small error here can invalidate the transfer.
- The Assessor’s Parcel Number, which appears on your property tax bill or on the county assessor’s website.
- The grantor’s marital status. Many states require this to be stated on the deed. In community property states, a married person generally cannot transfer real estate without the spouse’s consent or signature, even if only the grantor’s name appears on title. Listing yourself as single when you are married creates a title defect.
Use a blank form designed for your state. County recorders’ offices often post downloadable versions, and their formatting rules for margins, font size, and required language vary. A generic form pulled from the internet may not meet your county’s requirements.
Filling Out the Deed
The deed identifies three things: the grantor (the person giving up the interest), the grantee (the person receiving it), and the property. In addition to names and the legal description, you list the consideration, meaning the value exchanged. For family transfers, gifts, and trust transfers, this is typically stated as zero dollars or a nominal amount such as ten dollars. If money actually changed hands, list the real purchase price so local transfer taxes are calculated correctly.
Some states require extra language on the face of the deed. In community property states, a quitclaim between spouses that changes the character of the property from community to separate may need an explicit statement to that effect written directly on the deed. Without it, the transfer may not hold up if challenged later. If you are unsure what your state requires, call your county recorder before submitting. They will tell you what has to be on the document for them to accept it.
Signing and Notarization
In most states, only the grantor signs a quitclaim deed. The grantee’s signature is not required, because accepting a transfer of property does not need to be formalized the way giving it up does. The grantor must sign in the physical presence of a notary public, who verifies the signer’s identity and confirms the signature is voluntary. Notarization is required in virtually every state before a deed can be recorded.
A handful of states also require one or two witnesses to observe the signing and add their own signatures. Witnesses should have no financial interest in the property or the transfer. Do not sign the deed ahead of time and bring it to the notary already executed. Signing has to happen in front of the notary, and in front of any required witnesses, at the same time. A pre-signed deed will be rejected.
After the grantor signs, the notary applies their seal or stamp and completes the acknowledgment section. Check that the notary’s commission has not expired and that the date, county, and notary’s printed name are filled in. Recording offices scrutinize the acknowledgment closely, and missing details are one of the most common reasons deeds get sent back.
Recording the Deed With the County
A signed and notarized quitclaim deed is not effective against third parties until it is recorded with the county recorder or register of deeds in the county where the property is located. Recording creates the public record that puts anyone searching title on notice of the ownership change. Until then, a later buyer or creditor searching the public records has no way to know the transfer occurred.
How to Submit It
Counties generally accept deeds three ways: in person at the recorder’s office, by mail with a check for the recording fees, or through electronic recording. E-recording has expanded to roughly 2,000 jurisdictions. It involves scanning the signed document, uploading it through an authorized e-recording vendor’s portal, and receiving the recorded version back within minutes or hours instead of weeks. E-recording typically requires a contract with a vendor, so it is used more often by title companies and attorneys than by individuals handling a one-time transfer. For a single filing, in-person or mail is usually the simpler path.
Fees and Supplemental Forms
Recording fees vary by county and are usually charged per page. Expect anywhere from $15 per page in lower-cost jurisdictions to over $100 in others, with many counties falling in the $25 to $75 range for a standard deed. Some jurisdictions add flat fees on top. Call the recorder or check their website for the exact amount before you submit.
Your county may require supplemental forms alongside the deed. A common one is a change-of-ownership report, which tells the county assessor about the nature of the transfer so they can decide whether the property should be reassessed. If the transfer involves money, the county may also assess a documentary transfer tax based on the property’s value. Transfer tax rates range from nothing in states that do not impose one to several percent of the sale price in higher-tax jurisdictions.
Once the recorder accepts the deed and payment, they stamp it with a recording number and the date and time of recording. The original is typically scanned into the county’s system and mailed back to the address listed on the deed within a few weeks. Keep the recorded original in a safe place. That stamped document is your proof the transfer is part of the public record.
What Filing Does Not Do to the Mortgage
Recording a quitclaim deed does not remove or change any existing mortgage, and this is where people get caught most often. If your name is on the loan, you remain personally liable for it after you sign away your ownership interest. If you are the grantee, you now own property that someone else’s lender has a lien on.
Most mortgages contain a due-on-sale clause that lets the lender demand full repayment when the property changes hands. In practice, lenders rarely exercise this right as long as payments continue, but the risk exists. Federal law protects several common quitclaim scenarios. Under the Garn-St. Germain Act, a lender on a residential property with fewer than five units cannot accelerate the loan when the transfer falls into a protected category:1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 12 USC 1701j-3 – Preemption of Due-on-Sale Prohibitions
- Transfers to a spouse or children.
- Transfers resulting from a divorce decree, legal separation agreement, or property settlement.
- Transfers into a revocable living trust where the borrower remains a beneficiary, provided occupancy rights are not transferred.
- Transfers to a relative after the borrower’s death, or transfers by operation of law when a joint tenant dies.
These exemptions cover the situations where most quitclaim deeds are used. If your transfer does not fall into one of them and the property has a mortgage, talk to the lender before recording.
Existing Title Insurance
An existing owner’s title insurance policy may not survive a quitclaim transfer. Because the deed contains no warranties, some title insurers take the position that the original owner’s interest terminated when the quitclaim was signed, ending coverage with it. If you want to preserve your title insurance when transferring into a trust or to a spouse, ask your title company in advance whether a quitclaim will void the policy or whether a grant deed or warranty deed is the right instrument instead. Getting a new policy after a quitclaim can be difficult or expensive precisely because the deed carries no title guarantees.
Tax Consequences That Follow the Filing
The filing itself is straightforward. The tax consequences it sets off are not, and they depend on the relationship between the parties and whether money changed hands.
Gift Tax
When you transfer property for less than fair market value to someone other than your spouse, the IRS treats the difference as a gift. For 2026, you can give up to $19,000 per recipient per year without filing a gift tax return.2Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026 Because most real estate is worth far more than that, a quitclaim gift of a house to an adult child almost always requires you to file Form 709.3Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 709 (2025) Filing does not necessarily mean you owe tax, because the excess applies against your lifetime gift and estate tax exemption, but failing to file when required is its own problem.
Transfers to a U.S. citizen spouse are generally unlimited and do not require a gift tax return. If your spouse is not a U.S. citizen, the 2026 annual exclusion for gifts to that spouse is $194,000.2Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026
Cost Basis for the Grantee
Receiving property as a gift does not give you a fresh cost basis at current value. You generally inherit the donor’s original adjusted basis. If a parent bought a house for $80,000 and quitclaims it to you when it is worth $400,000, your basis for calculating gain when you sell is still $80,000, exposing you to capital gains tax on $320,000 of appreciation.4Internal Revenue Service. Property (Basis, Sale of Home, etc.) Inheriting the same property after the parent’s death would instead give you a stepped-up basis equal to fair market value at date of death.
Spousal and Divorce Transfers
Under IRC Section 1041, no gain or loss is recognized on transfers between spouses, or between former spouses when the transfer is incident to divorce, and the receiving spouse takes the transferor’s basis. A quitclaim between divorcing spouses does not trigger income tax or capital gains tax at the time of transfer. To qualify, the transfer must occur within one year of the divorce or be related to the end of the marriage.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 1041 – Transfers of Property Between Spouses or Incident to Divorce
Property Tax Reassessment
Recording a quitclaim tells the county assessor that ownership has changed, and many jurisdictions reassess the property when a change of ownership occurs. If you have owned a home for decades at an assessed value well below market, a transfer that triggers reassessment can spike the new owner’s property tax bill. Many states exempt certain transfers from reassessment, particularly transfers between spouses, transfers into revocable trusts, and some parent-to-child transfers, but the exemptions vary. Check with your county assessor before recording to see whether your transfer qualifies for an exclusion.
Medicaid Look-Back
Quitclaiming your home to a family member in the hope of qualifying for Medicaid long-term care coverage is one of the costliest planning mistakes people make. Federal law requires states to review all asset transfers made within the 60 months before a Medicaid application.6Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Transfer of Assets in the Medicaid Program – Important Facts for State Policymakers If you gave the home away for less than fair market value inside that window, the state imposes a penalty period during which you are ineligible for Medicaid coverage of nursing home or long-term care services.
The penalty length is calculated by dividing the transferred asset’s value by the average monthly cost of nursing home care in your state. A $300,000 home in a state where care averages $10,000 per month produces a 30-month penalty. The penalty clock does not start when you make the transfer. It starts when you apply for Medicaid and would otherwise qualify, meaning you could quitclaim the home now and not learn about the penalty until years later when care is needed. Talk to an elder law attorney before recording anything if this situation could apply to you.
Common Filing Mistakes
A few recurring errors send deeds back or create problems later. They are easy to avoid once you know to look for them.
- Using the street address instead of the legal description. Recorders reject deeds that identify the property only by mailing address. Use the legal description from the most recent recorded deed.
- Assuming the deed removes you from the mortgage. It does not. If your name is on the loan, you are still responsible for payments after signing away your ownership.
- Signing before you reach the notary. A pre-signed deed is invalid for recording. Sign only in the notary’s physical presence.
- Skipping the recording step. An unrecorded quitclaim may be valid between grantor and grantee, but it does nothing against third-party claims until it is on the public record.
- Ignoring the tax side. Filing without considering gift tax filing obligations, capital gains basis, Medicaid, or property tax reassessment can cost far more than the transfer itself.
Filing a quitclaim deed is a short process: prepare it carefully, sign it in front of the notary, record it with the county, and pay the fees. The parts that trip people up sit outside the filing itself, in the mortgage, the taxes, and the assumptions people carry into the transfer. Handle those before you bring the deed to the counter, and the filing is the easy part.