What Is a Quitclaim Deed? How It Works and When to Use One

If you need to add or remove a name on your home’s title, settle a divorce, or pass a house to a family member, someone may have suggested a quitclaim deed. A quitclaim deed is a legal document that transfers whatever ownership interest you have in a property to someone else, without promising that the title is clear. It changes ownership, not mortgage liability.

The original borrower remains responsible until the loan is paid off (including through refinancing) or the lender formally releases that borrower. An assumption does not automatically provide that release. You’ll learn how a quitclaim deed works, when to use one, how to file it, and the tax questions to settle before you sign.

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In this article (Skip to...)

• What is a quitclaim deed?
• How a quitclaim deed works and when ownership changes hands
• Quitclaim deed vs. warranty deed
• When to use a quitclaim deed and when to avoid one
• How a quitclaim deed affects your mortgage and home equity
• How to file a quitclaim deed
• Tax and Medicaid questions to settle before you quitclaim a home
• FAQs

What is a quitclaim deed?

A quitclaim deed is a document in which an owner, called the grantor, transfers whatever interest they hold in a property, if any, to a recipient, called the grantee. It makes no promise that the title is good or that the grantor owns anything at all, according to Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute.

A quitclaim is one type of deed, so it’s a deed in the full legal sense. When you buy a home, you usually receive a deed with stronger promises, such as a warranty deed or, in some states, a grant deed. You can read more about the main types of property deeds and what each one does.

The deed and the title aren’t the same thing. The deed is the paper document, and title is the ownership right that the deed transfers. You’ll also see the term spelled “quit claim deed,” as in a warning from FBI Boston, and “quick claim deed” refers to the same document.

How a quitclaim deed works and when ownership changes hands

As outlined below, a quitclaim transfer works in three basic steps, though the details vary by state.

1. The grantor signs the deed, usually in front of a notary.
2. The grantor delivers the deed to the grantee.
3. Someone records the deed with the county recorder’s office.

A valid deed must be signed by the grantor and delivered to the grantee, according to Cornell’s Legal Information Institute.

Does a quitclaim deed give you ownership?

A quitclaim gives you ownership, but only the interest the grantor actually had. If the grantor owned half the home, you get that half; if the grantor owned nothing, you get nothing, because the deed transfers only the grantor’s “present interest, if any,” per Cornell’s Legal Information Institute.

How long does a quitclaim deed give you ownership?

A quitclaim doesn’t give you ownership for a limited time. Once the deed is delivered and accepted, the transfer is generally permanent, and the grantor can’t take it back on their own. In Montana, for example, a grant takes effect “only upon its delivery by the grantor,” and delivery to the grantee is “necessarily absolute,” under Montana Code 70-1-508 and Montana Code 70-1-510.

Undoing a quitclaim usually takes a new deed from the grantee back to the grantor, or a court order in cases such as fraud. In forged-deed cases, real owners often have to go to court to get their property back, according to FBI Boston.

What recording a quitclaim deed does

Recording the deed puts the public on notice of who owns the home. Filing a deed with the county gives “constructive notice” of the new owner’s interest, according to Cornell’s Legal Information Institute.

In some states, recording isn’t what makes the transfer valid between the two parties; Montana law, for example, says an unrecorded instrument “is valid as between the parties and those who have notice thereof” (Montana Code 70-21-102).

Recording rules vary by state, and an unrecorded deed can leave the grantee exposed to later claims. Check with your county recorder, and consult a real estate attorney if timing matters.

Liens and back taxes stay with the property

A quitclaim doesn’t wipe out existing liens, judgments or unpaid property taxes. Because the deed passes along only what the grantor had, the grantee takes the property subject to those claims. Owner’s title insurance exists to cover claims such as a previous owner’s unpaid property taxes or unpaid contractor work, according to the CFPB.

Quitclaim deed vs. warranty deed

A quitclaim deed and a warranty deed differ in what the grantor promises about the title. A warranty deed guarantees clear title and protects the buyer against liens and claims not listed in the deed, while a quitclaim makes no warranties at all, according to Cornell’s Legal Information Institute. The table below summarizes how the common deed types compare.

If you’re buying a home from someone you don’t know, a quitclaim leaves you with no promise about the title. Buyers in a sale generally ask for a warranty or grant deed, plus owner’s title insurance. Most lenders require a separate lender’s title policy that protects the amount they lend, while owner’s coverage is optional, according to the CFPB.

When to use a quitclaim deed and when to avoid one

A quitclaim fits best when the people involved know each other and the property’s history, and no one is paying full market price. Situations where a quitclaim may fit are as follows:

• Adding a spouse or partner to title: Say you’re adding your new spouse to the title. A quitclaim can do that, but it doesn’t add them to the loan; learn how being on title differs from being on the mortgage.
• Removing an ex after a divorce: A divorce settlement may call for one spouse to quitclaim their share. Divorce mortgage options cover the loan side, such as buyouts and refinancing.
• Moving a home into a living trust or LLC: The deed moves title from you to the trust or company.
• Gifting property to a family member: A quitclaim can transfer a home to an adult child or other relative, with the tax effects covered below.
• Fixing a title error: A quitclaim can correct a misspelled name or clear a claim from someone who may hold a stray interest.

What experts are saying

Thomas Brock, CFA, CPA

“When adding an adult child to your home’s title, be wary of the potential for the child’s ownership interest becoming entangled in the child’s own financial or legal problems. For example, creditor claims, bankruptcy or divorce could put the child’s interest in the property at risk, depending on state law and how the property is titled. Before adding a child to a deed, consider not only the estate-planning benefits, but also the potential consequences of making that child a legal co-owner today.”

Avoid a quitclaim in an arm’s-length sale when you don’t know whether there are liens on the property, or when your real goal is to get off a mortgage. The next section explains why the loan doesn’t change.

Estate-planning alternatives to a quitclaim deed

If you’re an older homeowner who wants a child to get the house, a quitclaim during your lifetime isn’t the only option. Ask an estate attorney about the alternatives below.

• Transfer-on-death deed: Some states let you name a beneficiary who receives the home at your death, as Montana Code 72-6-404 does. During your life, the deed doesn’t affect your right to sell or borrow against the home (Montana Code 72-6-411).
• Lady Bird deed: In states that recognize it, this “enhanced” life estate deed lets you keep control of the home while you’re alive and pass it at death without probate, per the Texas State Law Library.
• Living trust: A trust can hold the home and pass it to your beneficiaries; compare that with how real estate probate works.
• Joint tenancy with right of survivorship: When one owner dies, the other owners absorb that share, according to Cornell’s Legal Information Institute. Read more about joint tenancy with right of survivorship.

Watch for quitclaim deed fraud

Scammers forge quitclaims to steal homes and land, then sell the property, borrow against it or rent it out, according to an April 1, 2025, warning from FBI Boston. The FBI lists owners of vacant land or mortgage-free property among the targets, and it recommends monitoring your property records and signing up for title alerts with your county where they’re offered. Los Angeles County, for example, mails owners copies of recorded documents that change ownership through its Homeowner Notification Program.

How a quitclaim deed affects your mortgage and home equity

A quitclaim deed changes who holds title to your home, but it doesn’t change the mortgage or the lender’s lien. That gap affects who owes the loan, whether the lender can call it due and who can borrow against the home’s equity later.

Does a quitclaim deed remove you from the mortgage?

A quitclaim deed doesn’t remove you from the mortgage. “Signing over the ownership of the home doesn’t change the joint responsibility for the mortgage,” according to the CFPB. If you quitclaim your share and stay on the loan, you can owe a mortgage on a home you no longer own, and late payments by the new owner can still hurt your credit.

Changing who owes takes a different step: a refinance in the remaining owner’s name, a permitted loan assumption accompanied by the lender’s release of the departing borrower, a lender’s written release of liability, or selling the home and paying off the loan, according to Fannie Mae. Only an express assumption of liability makes the new owner personally liable for the debt, per the CFPB, citing the Restatement (Third) of Property (Mortgages). For the how-to, see how to remove someone from a mortgage and whether you can remove someone without their permission.

Quitclaim deed transfers and the due-on-sale clause

A quitclaim transfer can trigger a mortgage’s due-on-sale clause, which lets the lender demand full repayment when the property changes hands. Federal law generally lets lenders enforce these clauses, but it bars enforcement for certain transfers of homes with fewer than five units, under 12 U.S.C. 1701j-3. Read more about how a due-on-sale clause works.

These regulatory protections exclude reverse mortgages, which have separate repayment rules discussed below (12 CFR 191.5(b)(1)). For a home occupied or to be occupied by the borrower, those protected transfers include the following, per 12 CFR 191.5:

• A transfer that makes your spouse or children owners, if they live in or will live in the home
• A transfer under a divorce decree, legal separation agreement or property settlement that makes your spouse an owner, if your spouse lives in or will live in the home
• A transfer to a relative who occupies the home after your death, or to a surviving joint tenant
• A transfer into a living trust where you remain a beneficiary and occupant

These exceptions come with conditions, and a transfer to an LLC or an unrelated person isn’t on the list. Confirm with your lender and servicer before you record the deed. Getting title by quitclaim doesn’t make you a borrower, but a confirmed successor in interest, such as a spouse or child who received the home, can get loan information, make payments, and be evaluated for help avoiding foreclosure, according to the CFPB.

How a quitclaim deed affects a future refinance, HELOC or home equity loan

Who’s on title shapes who can borrow against your home’s equity later. Fannie Mae requires the security instrument (the mortgage or deed of trust) to be signed by “each person who has an ownership interest in the security property,” even when that person’s income isn’t used to qualify, according to the Fannie Mae Selling Guide. Lenders for a HELOC (a home equity line of credit) or home equity loan typically expect the same, so confirm with your lender.

Title changes affect future borrowing in both directions. Adding someone to title gives that person a say in future borrowing against the home. Quitclaiming yourself off title means you can no longer borrow against that equity.

A recent title change can also affect a cash-out refinance. Fannie Mae generally requires at least one borrower to have been on title for at least six months before the new loan is disbursed, with exceptions for inherited property and property awarded in a divorce, separation, or dissolution of a domestic partnership, per the Fannie Mae Selling Guide.

If the cash-out refinance pays off an existing first mortgage, that loan generally must be at least 12 months old, with exceptions such as buying out a co-owner under a legal agreement, according to the Fannie Mae Selling Guide.

Individual lenders can add stricter rules, so check with your lender and read more about mortgage loan seasoning.

Quitclaiming a home that has a reverse mortgage

If you have a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM), the reverse mortgage insured by the FHA (CFPB), quitclaiming the home to your children early can make the loan come due. Under 24 CFR 206.27, a HECM becomes due and payable if a borrower “conveys all of his or her title in the property and no other borrower retains title.”

When a HECM becomes due after the borrower’s death, heirs can generally keep the home by paying the lesser of the outstanding loan balance or 95% of its current appraised value, sell it, or arrange to surrender it to the lender (CFPB). A surviving borrower or eligible non-borrowing spouse may have protections allowing continued occupancy; contact the servicer promptly about applicable conditions and deadlines (24 CFR 206.27(c)).

A lifetime quitclaim also hands over the equity now, generally carrying over your adjusted tax basis if the transfer is a gift, while an inherited home generally gets a new basis at its value on the date of death (IRS Publication 551). The tax section below explains why that matters.

How to file a quitclaim deed

Filing a quitclaim deed follows a similar order in most counties, but the forms, fees, and signing rules vary by state and county. For illustration purposes, the protocol for Los Angeles County is below.

1. Pull the current deed and check for liens. Get a copy of the deed from the county recorder and consider a title search so you know what claims come with the property.
2. Get the form your county accepts. Many county recorders post a quitclaim form, and the LA County Registrar-Recorder offers one for download. Some counties have formatting rules; Los Angeles County requires a 2.5-inch blank space at the top of the first page (LA County Registrar-Recorder).
3. Fill in the names and the legal description. Write the grantor and grantee names exactly, and copy the legal description from the current deed; it describes the property in legal terms, typically by lot and tract (LA County DCBA).
4. Sign in front of a notary. In Los Angeles County, the grantor’s signature must be notarized (LA County Registrar-Recorder). Some states also require witnesses.
5. File any required tax or ownership forms. Los Angeles County requires a Preliminary Change of Ownership Report and, if no documentary transfer tax applies, an exemption statement on the deed (LA County Registrar-Recorder).
6. Record the deed and pay the fee. Recording fees are due when you record (LA County Registrar-Recorder).
7. Keep the recorded copy and notify others. Tell your homeowners insurance company and the county tax assessor about the change.

Costs can include recording fees, notary fees, any transfer tax and attorney fees if you hire one. Check your county recorder’s fee schedule for current amounts.

Do you need a lawyer for a quitclaim deed?

You usually don’t need a lawyer to prepare a quitclaim, but you should consult a real estate attorney if the home has a mortgage or the transfer involves a divorce, a trust, more than two owners, or any tax or Medicaid question.

County recorders can’t give legal advice; Los Angeles County’s recorder tells people to contact a legal adviser for help taking someone off title (LA County Registrar-Recorder). A mistake in the legal description or names can create a cloud on title, a claim or defect that can discourage future buyers (Cornell LII).

Tax and Medicaid questions to settle before you quitclaim a home

Quitclaiming a home to family can trigger federal gift tax filing, raise the recipient’s future capital gains tax and affect Medicaid eligibility. Talk with an estate attorney or tax professional before you sign.

Federal gift tax

Giving a home, or a share of one, for less than its value is generally a gift, which the IRS defines as a transfer “where full consideration (measured in money or money’s worth) is not received in return” (IRS). For 2026, the annual exclusion is $19,000 per recipient, and the basic exclusion amount is $15,000,000, according to the IRS. If your gifts to one person other than your spouse exceed the annual exclusion, you generally must file Form 709 by April 15 of the following year (IRS Form 709 instructions).

Filing doesn’t automatically mean you owe federal gift tax. The lifetime credit is “first used during life to offset gift tax,” according to a 2018 IRS release.

Cost basis and federal capital gains tax

A home you receive as a gift generally keeps the giver’s adjusted basis, while an inherited home generally takes its fair market value on the date of death, according to IRS Publication 551. Basis is what federal capital gains tax is figured from, so a gifted home can mean a much larger taxable gain when the new owner sells.

Say your parents bought their home decades ago and it’s worth far more today. If they quitclaim it to you now, your gain on a later sale is generally measured from their adjusted basis, subject to applicable adjustments, but if you inherit it, the gain is generally measured from its value at their death (IRS Publication 551).

Home sale exclusion

The new owner has to meet the ownership and use tests to exclude gain on a later sale. That generally means owning the home and living in it as a main home for at least 2 of the 5 years before the sale, with a maximum exclusion of $250,000, or $500,000 for most married couples filing jointly, per IRS Publication 523. Read more about capital gains tax on a home sale.

County property tax and transfer tax

A transfer can trigger reassessment, but exclusions may apply, including for certain transfers between spouses or into revocable trusts (California State Board of Equalization). Ask the county assessor which exclusions and filing requirements apply.

California’s Proposition 19 limits that for some parent-child transfers, but only if the home was the parent’s principal residence and becomes the child’s. For an eligible transfer, the parent’s taxable value can be preserved if the home’s market value does not exceed that taxable value plus the applicable exclusion amount. Any excess is added to the taxable value (California State Board of Equalization).

For transfers from February 16, 2025, to February 15, 2027, the adjusted exclusion amount is $1,044,586, according to the California State Board of Equalization. The child must establish the home as a principal residence and file for the homeowners’ or disabled veterans’ exemption within one year; a separate exclusion claim is also required.

Homestead or senior exemptions may not carry over to the new owner, so check with your county assessor. Some states and counties also charge a transfer tax, and rates vary between areas, as the LA County DCBA notes for Los Angeles County.

Medicaid look-back

Transferring a home for less than fair market value within the 60-month look-back can delay Medicaid coverage for nursing home care, under 42 U.S.C. 1396p(c). Medicaid.gov describes the same five-year window before an application. The statute exempts some home transfers, such as to a spouse, to a child who is under 21 or blind or disabled, or to a son or daughter who lived in the home for at least two years immediately before the parent became institutionalized and who, as determined by the state, provided care that allowed the parent to remain at home rather than enter an institution (42 U.S.C. 1396p(c)(2)(A)(iv)).

If a parent may need long-term care, see an elder law attorney before any family transfer. The same traps come up when a child buys a parent’s house to fund their care.

FAQs

Can a quitclaim deed be reversed?

A quitclaim generally can’t be reversed by the grantor alone once it’s delivered and accepted. Undoing it usually takes a new deed from the grantee back to you, or a court order in cases such as fraud, forgery or lack of capacity. Talk with a real estate attorney if you think a transfer should be undone.

Can you do a quitclaim deed on a house with a mortgage?

You can quitclaim a house that has a mortgage, but the loan stays in place and the borrower stays liable for it. For mortgages other than reverse mortgages, federal law protects certain transfers, such as to a spouse, a child or a living trust, from the due-on-sale clause (12 CFR 191.5), as covered in the mortgage section above. Confirm the details with your servicer first.

Who pays the property taxes after a quitclaim?

The new owner is generally responsible for property taxes going forward. In Los Angeles County, a new owner who buys through escrow is responsible for any taxes not paid as of the time escrow closed, and not receiving a bill doesn’t excuse a late payment (LA County Treasurer and Tax Collector). If your transfer didn’t go through escrow, ask the county tax collector about any unpaid balance, and tell your county assessor about the change so bills go to the right person.

Does a quitclaim deed need to be notarized?

A quitclaim usually needs a notarized signature before the county will record it, and some states also require witnesses. In Los Angeles County, for example, the grantor’s signature must be notarized (LA County Registrar-Recorder). Check your county recorder’s requirements before you sign.