To fill out a quitclaim deed, you copy the property’s legal description from the current recorded deed, enter the full legal names of the grantor and grantee, list a consideration amount, sign in front of a notary, and record the completed deed with your county land records office. The form itself is short. Getting each field right, and understanding what the transfer triggers, is the part that takes care.
Information to Gather Before You Start
Pull your current recorded deed and your most recent property tax bill before you open the form. Everything on a quitclaim deed traces back to those two documents.
- Full legal names. The grantor (the person giving up their interest) and the grantee (the person receiving it) must appear exactly as their names show on prior title records. A shortened first name or a missing middle initial can get the deed rejected at recording or cause confusion in a later title search.
- Legal description of the property. This is the formal boundary description from your current deed or the county subdivision plat. It uses metes and bounds, lot and block numbers, or a rectangular survey reference. Copy it word for word from the most recent recorded deed. A street address alone is not enough.
- Assessor’s Parcel Number. Sometimes called a tax ID or APN. You’ll find it on your property tax bill or the county assessor’s website.
- Consideration. The price or value exchanged. For gifts and family transfers, people commonly list a nominal amount like ten dollars. That figure signals the transfer is not an arm’s-length sale while satisfying the legal requirement that something of value changed hands.
- “Prepared by” and “Return to” fields. Most forms ask for the name and address of whoever drafted the deed and the person who should receive the original after recording.
Type or print every entry in black ink. Recorders scan deeds into digital archives, and anything illegible or in light ink risks rejection.
Signing and Notarization
Only the grantor signs. The grantee is receiving an interest, not giving one up, so no grantee signature is required. The grantor must sign in front of a notary public, who checks government-issued identification and attaches an official seal certifying the signer’s identity. Without that notarized acknowledgment, no recording office will accept the deed.
A few states also require witnesses. Florida, Connecticut, Louisiana, and South Carolina each require two witnesses. Georgia requires one. In the remaining states, notarization alone satisfies execution. Where witnesses are required, they should have no financial interest in the property being transferred.
Notary fees are modest. Statutory caps in most states fall between $2 and $25 per signature, with the typical charge $5 to $10. Banks, shipping stores, and law offices commonly offer notary services, and many county recorder offices have a notary on staff.
Recording the Deed
After notarization, file the deed with your county’s land records office. Depending on the jurisdiction, it goes by County Recorder, Register of Deeds, or Clerk of Court. You can file in person, by mail, or through an electronic recording platform in many counties. E-recording networks now cover more than 3,600 jurisdictions, so check the recorder’s website before making a trip.
Recording fees vary. A standard one-page deed generally runs $10 to $90, with additional charges for extra pages. Some jurisdictions also impose a documentary transfer tax based on property value, with rates from nothing to roughly 2.5 percent depending on the locality. Gifts between close family members often qualify for a transfer tax exemption, but you typically still need to file an exemption form or affidavit.
Many recorders also require a change-of-ownership report or similar supplementary form. It helps the county assessor decide whether the transfer triggers a reassessment. Even when no reassessment applies, the form usually accompanies the deed or must be filed shortly after.
Once the recorder accepts the deed and fees, the document is scanned into the public record and stamped with a recording number and timestamp. That number is your proof the transfer is on file. The original deed is returned to the address in the “return to” field, usually within a few weeks.
Why Recording Matters
A signed and notarized quitclaim deed is legally valid between grantor and grantee even without recording. Recording protects the grantee against everyone else. If the grantor later sells the same property to a buyer who has no knowledge of the unrecorded deed, that buyer can end up with superior title in most states. Once the deed is in the public record, every future buyer, lender, and creditor is treated as having legal notice. Don’t sit on a signed deed.
Fixing Mistakes After Recording
Errors happen. A misspelled name, a transposed number in the legal description, or the wrong vesting language can turn up after the deed is on file. The fix depends on how serious the mistake is.
- Minor typos and misspellings. Most jurisdictions allow a scrivener’s affidavit, sometimes called an affidavit of correction. The person who drafted the deed signs a sworn statement identifying the specific error and what the deed should have said. It’s recorded alongside the original.
- Substantive errors. If the legal description is wrong, a party’s name is entirely incorrect, or the vesting type needs to change, a correction deed is the standard remedy. It references the original recording number, identifies each error, and states the corrected information. Both parties typically sign.
- Starting over. When errors are extensive or the parties prefer a clean record, executing and recording a new quitclaim deed is sometimes the simplest path. That requires cooperation from all parties and a second round of fees.
Catch errors early. The longer a flawed deed sits in the record, the harder it is to correct, especially once someone relies on it in a later transaction.
What to Weigh Before You Sign
A quitclaim deed is easy to sign and hard to unwind. A few consequences catch people off guard.
Gift Tax and Capital Gains
If you use a quitclaim deed to give property to someone other than your spouse, the IRS may treat the transfer as a taxable gift. For 2026, you can give up to $19,000 per recipient per year without filing a gift tax return. Married couples who elect gift-splitting can double that to $38,000. Above the annual exclusion, you must file IRS Form 709, though you likely won’t owe tax until your cumulative lifetime gifts exceed the $15,000,000 estate and gift tax exemption.1Internal Revenue Service. What’s New — Estate and Gift Tax Transfers to a U.S. citizen spouse are generally covered by the unlimited marital deduction and don’t require a return.2Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 709
The larger tax question is capital gains. When you give property away, the recipient inherits your original tax basis, known as carryover basis.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 US Code 1015 – Basis of Property Acquired by Gifts and Transfers in Trust Property passed at death instead receives a stepped-up basis equal to fair market value on the date of death.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 US Code 1014 – Basis of Property Acquired from a Decedent For appreciated property, the difference between a lifetime quitclaim and an inheritance can be tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Mortgages
Transferring mortgaged property by quitclaim does not remove the grantor’s obligation on the loan. The grantor stays personally liable unless the lender agrees to a formal assumption or release. Most mortgages also include a due-on-sale clause that lets the lender demand full repayment when ownership changes.
The Garn-St. Germain Act blocks lenders from accelerating a loan on residential property with fewer than five units for certain transfers: to a spouse or children, to a relative on the borrower’s death, to a spouse under a divorce decree or property settlement, and into a living trust where the borrower remains a beneficiary and continues to occupy the property.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 12 US Code 1701j-3 – Preemption of Due-on-Sale Prohibitions Outside those categories, the lender has the legal right to call the balance due. Talk to the lender before you record.
Medicaid Look-Back
Giving away your home through a quitclaim deed can disqualify you from Medicaid long-term care benefits if you apply within five years. Federal law imposes a 60-month look-back on asset transfers, and any transfer for less than fair market value triggers a penalty period of Medicaid ineligibility for nursing facility services.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 US Code 1396p – Liens, Adjustments and Recoveries, and Transfers of Assets Certain home transfers are exempt: to a spouse; to a child under 21 or a blind or permanently disabled child; to an adult caretaker child who lived in the home for at least two years before you entered a facility and provided care that delayed institutionalization; and to a sibling with an existing equity interest who lived there for at least one year before you became institutionalized.
Title Insurance and Property Tax
Existing title insurance protects only the named insured. A quitclaim contains no warranties about the quality of title, so the insurer usually has no continuing liability, which effectively ends the policy. The grantee should consider a new owner’s policy, especially if the property has a complicated history.
Property taxes deserve the same attention. Many jurisdictions offer homestead exemptions that reduce taxes on owner-occupied homes, and a quitclaim can trigger loss of the exemption, a reassessment to current market value, or both. Transfers between spouses and into revocable trusts are often exempt from reassessment, but adding a non-spouse to the deed or removing yourself from title can reset the assessed value. Call your county assessor before recording to confirm the local impact.