Any legally competent adult can prepare a quitclaim deed, and that includes the property owner acting without professional help. No federal or state law requires an attorney to draft one. The practical answer to who can prepare a quitclaim deed is almost anyone; the better question is whether you should prepare your own, because a single error in the legal description, a missing spousal signature, or an overlooked mortgage clause can turn a simple transfer into an expensive problem.
Your Three Real Options
Doing It Yourself
Self-preparation is legal in every state. You can buy a blank quitclaim deed form at an office supply store or download one from a legal forms site, fill in the required information, and have it notarized. For a straightforward transfer where you understand the title and the consequences, this works.
The catch is that “straightforward” is harder to judge than most people think. Each state has its own formatting rules, legal description standards, and required language. A legal description that is even one digit off on a parcel number can invalidate the transfer or create a cloud on the title that costs far more to fix than a lawyer would have charged. If you go this route, copy the legal description verbatim from the most recent recorded deed or official county records. Never write your own.
Using a Document Preparation Service
Online legal document companies and local document preparers can plug your information into a standard deed form. That is the entire service. They cannot tell you whether a quitclaim deed is the right choice, explain the tax consequences, or advise you on a complication like a mortgage on the property. Offering that kind of guidance would be the practice of law, which only licensed attorneys can do. If a document preparer starts giving opinions about your specific legal situation, treat it as a warning sign, not a bonus feature.
Hiring an Attorney
A real estate attorney is the only option that covers both preparation and advice. The lawyer will draft the deed correctly for your state and, more importantly, flag problems you might not see coming: a due-on-sale clause in your mortgage, a spousal consent requirement, gift tax exposure, or a situation where a different type of deed would serve you better. A straightforward quitclaim deed preparation typically costs a few hundred dollars. For any transfer involving a mortgage, a divorce, property with unclear title history, or significant value, that fee is small insurance against expensive mistakes.
Signing Through a Power of Attorney
If the grantor cannot physically sign because of illness, disability, or absence, someone holding a valid power of attorney can sign on their behalf. The power of attorney document has to specifically authorize real estate transactions. When the agent signs, the signature must clearly show they are acting as agent, for example, “Jane Smith, by John Smith as Agent under Power of Attorney.” The power of attorney itself should be attached to the deed when it is filed so a future title examiner can verify the agent’s authority.
What Every Quitclaim Deed Has to Contain
Whoever prepares the deed, the same core information has to be on it. Missing or inaccurate details are the most common reason a deed gets rejected at the recorder’s office or challenged later.
- Full legal names and mailing addresses of both the grantor and the grantee.
- The exact legal description of the property as it appears on prior recorded deeds or official county records. A street address alone is never enough.
- The county and state where the property is located.
- A consideration statement showing the value exchanged. Even when no money changes hands, most states require a stated amount, often a nominal figure like $10.
- Vesting language if multiple grantees will hold the property, specifying how they will hold title (for example, joint tenants with right of survivorship or tenants in common).
Many counties also require a supplemental form at recording, such as a transfer tax declaration or an exemption affidavit. The specific form varies by jurisdiction, and the recorder’s office can tell you what is needed before you show up to file.
The Spousal Consent Trap
This is where self-prepared deeds fail most often. In community property states, both spouses generally have to sign any deed transferring real property, even if only one spouse is on the title. In states that recognize dower or curtesy rights, the non-titled spouse also has a legal interest that requires their signature to release. In many common-law property states, homestead protections require spousal consent before an owner-occupied residence can be transferred, even by a sole owner on the title.
If you are married and transferring property, assume your spouse needs to sign the deed unless you have confirmed otherwise with an attorney or your county recorder’s office. A deed recorded without the required spousal signature can be voided, leaving the grantee with nothing.
Mortgage, Title Insurance, and Tax Consequences the Preparer Needs to Know About
Three financial issues catch self-preparers off guard, and any one of them is a strong argument for having a lawyer involved.
The Deed Does Not Touch the Mortgage
A quitclaim deed transfers ownership. It does not transfer or remove mortgage debt. If you sign a quitclaim deed giving your property to someone else but your name is on the mortgage, you remain fully responsible for the payments. The lender does not care who owns the property; it cares who signed the promissory note. This comes up constantly in divorces, where one spouse quitclaims their interest to the other but stays on the mortgage. If the ex-spouse stops paying, the lender pursues the person who signed the note, not the person who owns the house. To actually come off the loan, the person keeping the property has to refinance in their own name.
Due-on-Sale Clauses
Most mortgages include a due-on-sale clause that lets the lender demand full repayment if the property is transferred without consent. Federal law carves out several exceptions where the lender cannot enforce that clause, including transfers to a spouse or children, transfers resulting from a divorce decree, transfers on the death of a borrower, and transfers into a living trust where the borrower remains a beneficiary.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 12 U.S. Code 1701j-3 – Preemption of Due-on-Sale Prohibitions Outside those protected categories, transferring by quitclaim deed without notifying the lender can trigger a demand for the full loan balance.
Title Insurance May Not Survive
If the grantor had an owner’s title insurance policy, that coverage typically ends once the property is transferred by quitclaim deed. Most policies stay in effect only while the insured owner retains an interest. A quitclaim transfer eliminates that interest, and because a quitclaim deed carries no warranties, there are no remaining warranty obligations to keep the policy alive. The new owner has to buy a new policy, which means paying for a new title search.
Gift Tax Reporting
Transferring property by quitclaim deed for less than fair market value is a gift under IRS rules.2Internal Revenue Service. Gifts and Inheritances Quitclaim a $300,000 home to your child for no consideration, and you have made a $300,000 gift. Transfers between spouses who are both U.S. citizens are generally covered by the unlimited marital deduction, but transfers to anyone else, including your own children, count.
If the gift exceeds $19,000 in a calendar year, the annual exclusion for 2025 and 2026, you have to file IRS Form 709 by April 15 of the following year.3Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 709 Filing does not necessarily mean you owe tax. No gift tax is actually due until your cumulative lifetime gifts exceed the lifetime exemption, which is $15,000,000 for 2026.4Internal Revenue Service. What’s New – Estate and Gift Tax But failing to file is a compliance problem of its own, and many people never learn they were supposed to file until the IRS tells them.
A change of ownership can also trigger a property tax reassessment in many jurisdictions, which can mean a significant tax jump for the grantee. Some states exempt transfers between spouses or between parents and children, but the rules vary widely. Check with your county assessor’s office before transferring.
When You Should Not Prepare It Yourself
Self-preparation is reasonable when the transfer is simple, both parties know what is happening, and no mortgage is involved. For everything else, the money saved by doing it yourself rarely covers the risk. Hire an attorney if any of these apply:
- A mortgage exists on the property. You need to understand the due-on-sale clause and whether your transfer falls within a protected exception.
- The transfer involves a divorce. The deed is only one piece. Mortgage liability, tax consequences, and the divorce decree all have to align.
- The title history is unclear. A quitclaim deed will not fix a genuinely disputed title; it passes the dispute to the grantee.
- You are transferring to or from a trust or business entity. Vesting language and entity requirements have to be precise.
- The transfer has significant value and no consideration. Gift tax reporting and property tax reassessment need to be addressed up front.
Fixing a defective deed through a quiet title action, a corrective deed, or litigation routinely runs into the thousands of dollars. An attorney’s fee to do it right the first time is a small fraction of that.