You can get a quitclaim deed from your county recorder’s office (sometimes called the registrar of deeds or county clerk), a law library at the county courthouse, an online legal document service, or an office supply store. The recorder’s office is usually the safest source because its forms already match local recording standards. Once you have the form, filing it means filling in accurate property and party details, having the grantor sign in front of a notary, and taking the signed deed to the recorder’s office to be entered into the public record.
Where to Get the Form
Your county recorder’s office is the most reliable place to pick up a quitclaim deed. The forms they hand out are formatted to meet local recording requirements, which keeps your document from being rejected on technical grounds. Many recorder offices also post downloadable versions on their websites.
Law libraries inside county courthouses are a second option. They carry standardized legal forms that comply with the jurisdiction’s recording rules, and librarians can point you to the right version without crossing into legal advice.
Online legal document services sell state-specific quitclaim templates you can fill out and print. They’re convenient, but there’s a catch. Recorders impose specific margin sizes, font requirements, and spacing standards so the document stays legible after scanning. A form with the wrong margins or print size can be rejected outright or hit with additional fees. If you buy a form online, check your recorder’s website for formatting specifications first.
Office supply stores stock generic deed forms too. Same warning: verify the layout matches your county’s rules. A short call to the recorder’s office before you fill anything in can save a trip and a rejected filing.
Information You’ll Need Before Filling It Out
Gather everything before you start writing on the form. Fixing errors on a recorded deed means filing a corrective instrument, which is slower and more expensive than getting it right the first time.
- Full legal names. The grantor (the person giving up their interest) and the grantee (the person receiving it) must appear exactly as their names read on government ID or on existing property records. A misspelling creates confusion in the chain of title.
- Legal description of the property. A street address isn’t enough. You need the formal description with lot numbers, block identifiers, and subdivision names as recorded in the county plat maps. Pull it from a prior deed, or request it from the local tax assessor. Some properties use a metes-and-bounds description that traces the boundaries directly.
- Parcel identification number. Most jurisdictions assign each property a unique tax parcel number (also called an assessor’s parcel number or property identification number). It ties the deed to the correct tax account and makes the property searchable in public records.
- Consideration. This is the value exchanged for the property interest. In family transfers and other non-sale situations, people commonly list a nominal amount like $10. A quitclaim deed can be valid without monetary consideration since many of these transfers are gifts, but some recording offices expect a dollar figure on the form.
Typewritten entries are preferred because they reduce scanning errors. If you have to write by hand, use black or dark blue ink and keep the writing legible. The recorder digitizes the document, and anything unreadable on the scan becomes a problem the next time someone runs a title search.
Signing and Notarization
Only the grantor signs a quitclaim deed. The grantee does not sign. The grantor’s signature has to be witnessed by a notary public, who verifies the signer’s identity and applies an official seal or stamp. Without proper notarization, the recorder will refuse the document.
A handful of states, including Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and South Carolina, require one or two witnesses in addition to the notary. Confirm your state’s rule before the signing appointment. Showing up without witnesses in a state that requires them means rescheduling.
Notary fees for a single signature run from roughly $2 to $25 depending on the state. Many banks, shipping stores, and law offices have notaries on staff. Mobile notaries will travel to you for an additional fee.
Recording the Deed
Once the deed is signed and notarized, take it to the county recorder’s office. Recording is what makes the transfer part of the public record. Until the deed is recorded, the transfer isn’t officially documented, and third parties have no constructive notice that ownership has changed.
Recording fees vary widely. Some counties charge $15 to $25 for the first page, others charge more. The national average comes in around $125 when all county-level fees are counted, though the total depends on page count, local records-preservation surcharges, and whether your county assesses fees per page or per document.
Many jurisdictions also charge a documentary transfer tax or recording tax based on the property’s value. Rates run from zero in states that don’t impose one at all to several percent of the property value in high-tax jurisdictions. Family transfers made as gifts with no money changing hands are often exempt, but you usually have to state the exemption on the deed itself and cite the applicable code section. Ask the recorder what language they expect.
Some states require a supplemental form alongside the deed, such as a change-of-ownership report that alerts the county assessor. Leaving the supplemental form off can trigger an additional fee, typically around $20. The recorder’s office can tell you which forms your jurisdiction requires.
Once the clerk accepts the deed and collects payment, the document gets an instrument number and enters the public registry. Keep the stamped copy. It’s your proof that the transfer is on record.
Before You Sign: Tax and Mortgage Risks
The form is simple. The consequences are not. These are the issues most likely to cost real money, especially in family transfers.
Gift Tax Reporting
When you transfer property to anyone other than your spouse without receiving fair market value in return, the IRS treats it as a gift. For 2026, the annual gift tax exclusion is $19,000 per recipient.1Internal Revenue Service. IRS Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026 Real property is almost always worth more than that, so the grantor will generally need to file IRS Form 709 for the year of the transfer.2Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 709 Filing the return doesn’t necessarily mean owing gift tax immediately, because the excess applies against the lifetime estate and gift tax exemption. But failing to file is a compliance problem.
Lost Stepped-Up Basis
This is the expensive one. When you give someone property during your lifetime, the recipient takes over your original cost basis, meaning whatever you paid for the property plus improvements.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 1015 – Basis of Property Acquired by Gifts and Transfers in Trust A house you bought for $100,000 that’s now worth $500,000 passes to your child with a $100,000 basis. When the child sells, they owe capital gains tax on $400,000.
If the same child inherits the house at your death instead, the basis steps up to fair market value on the date of death.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 1014 – Basis of Property Acquired From a Decedent A $500,000 basis means the child could sell with no capital gains. A quitclaim deed used to shortcut estate planning can quietly cost a family tens of thousands of dollars. Talk to a tax professional or estate planning attorney before signing a lifetime transfer.
Property Tax Reassessment
In many jurisdictions, a change in ownership triggers a reassessment of the property’s taxable value. If the property has been held a long time and local values have climbed, the new assessed value, and the annual property tax bill, can jump sharply for the grantee. Most states exempt transfers between spouses, and some exempt parent-to-child transfers under certain conditions, but the rules vary. Transfers to siblings, cousins, or unrelated parties almost never qualify.
The Due-on-Sale Clause
If the property still has a mortgage, transferring it by quitclaim deed can trigger the loan’s due-on-sale clause, which lets the lender demand full repayment when ownership changes.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 12 U.S. Code 1701j-3 – Preemption of Due-on-Sale Prohibitions Federal law protects several common family-related transfers on residential property with fewer than five units, including transfers to a spouse or children, transfers at death, divorce-related transfers, and transfers into a revocable living trust where the borrower remains a beneficiary. Transfers outside those categories, including transfers to unrelated people or business entities, can give the lender grounds to accelerate the loan. And even on an exempt transfer, the grantor’s name stays on the mortgage. You can give up ownership of the house without giving up responsibility for the debt.
What the Deed Does Not Guarantee
A quitclaim deed transfers whatever interest the grantor happens to have, which may be full ownership, partial ownership, or nothing at all. Unlike a warranty deed, it carries no promises about the title’s quality. The grantor makes no guarantee the title is clear, no promise that no one else has a competing claim, and no obligation to defend the grantee if a problem surfaces later.
Liens, easements, and other encumbrances survive the transfer. Back taxes or judgment liens recorded against the property attach to the property itself, not just the former owner. The grantee takes the property subject to all of them. That’s why title companies are reluctant to issue title insurance on property acquired by quitclaim deed; the deed itself signals that nobody is vouching for the title.
For transfers between spouses, parent-to-child transfers of property with clear title, or corrections to an existing deed, a quitclaim deed is a reasonable tool. For an arm’s-length transaction or any situation where the title history is unfamiliar, a warranty deed backed by a title search is worth the extra cost.
Fixing Mistakes After Recording
A misspelled name, wrong parcel number, or incomplete legal description doesn’t disappear once the deed is recorded. It becomes a title defect that can complicate future sales or refinancing.
Minor typos can often be cleared with a scrivener’s affidavit, a sworn statement from the person who prepared the deed explaining the error and clarifying what the deed should say. Larger problems, like an incorrect legal description or a wrong party name, usually require a correction deed that references the original document and sets out the corrected information. Sometimes the cleanest fix is simply recording a new quitclaim deed, but that depends on the grantor still being willing and available to sign. Catching errors before recording is far cheaper. Check every name, number, and legal description against the source documents before the grantor signs.