Alaska Quitclaim Deed
Alaska quitclaim deed (or quit claim deed) transfers your interest with no warranty. Notarize it and record with the State Recorder's Office. No transfer tax.
Introduction
A quitclaim deed is a document that transfers whatever ownership interest you have in a piece of real estate to someone else, with no promise that your title is good or even that you own anything at all. That is the key difference from a warranty deed, which does promise clear title and lets the grantee sue if the title turns out to be flawed. A quitclaim simply passes along whatever interest you hold, so people use it for lower-risk transfers between people who already trust each other: adding or removing a spouse after a marriage or divorce, moving a home into a living trust, or clearing up a possible claim on a title. In Alaska the person giving up the interest is the grantor and the person receiving it is the grantee. Alaska even provides a statutory short-form quitclaim deed at AS 34.15.040, whose operative words convey and quitclaim all interest the grantor has, if any. To record the deed you sign it and have it acknowledged before a notary public or other officer authorized under AS 09.63.010, as AS 34.15.150 requires; no witnesses are needed. You then record it with the State Recorder's Office in the recording district where the property sits. Alaska charges no statewide real estate transfer tax. Attorney review is available as an option before you sign.
Key Things to Know
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A quitclaim deed (often typed quit claim deed) transfers only the interest you actually have. It passes whatever ownership you hold in the property to the grantee and makes no promise that the title is clear, or even that you own anything. A warranty deed, by contrast, guarantees the title, which is why a quitclaim is used mainly between people who trust each other.
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Record it with the State Recorder's Office. Alaska does not use county recorders. Its statewide recording system runs through the State Recorder's Office and is divided into 34 recording districts, and you record the deed in the district where the affected land is located (AS 40.17.020).
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You must have it acknowledged before a notary. An Alaska conveyance of land must be acknowledged before a notary public or another officer authorized under AS 09.63.010 before it can be recorded (AS 34.15.150). Acknowledgment is the operative signing formality.
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No witnesses are required. Current Alaska law does not require witnesses to sign a deed. The old two-witness rule was retired long ago, and AS 34.15.150 conditions execution only on acknowledgment (or proof), not on witnesses.
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There is no state transfer tax. Alaska imposes no statewide real estate transfer tax, documentary stamp tax, or deed excise tax. You pay only the recording fee set by regulation (AS 40.17.030), so no transfer-tax declaration is filed with the deed.
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Alaska has a statutory quitclaim form. AS 34.15.040 sets out a short-form quitclaim deed whose words convey and quitclaim all interest the grantor has, if any, in the described real estate. A separate warranty deed under AS 34.15.030 is what supplies covenants of title; the quitclaim supplies none.
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Get the recording details right. Under AS 40.17.030 the deed must carry a title, the name of the recording district, a return address, and the mailing addresses of everyone who grants or acquires an interest. Recording also protects the grantee against a later good-faith buyer whose deed is recorded first (AS 40.17.080). Common quitclaim uses include divorce transfers, adding or removing a spouse, and moving a home into a trust.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Quitclaim Deed in Alaska, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Quitclaim Deed guide walks through them.
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Alaska Requirements for Quitclaim Deed
To record an Alaska quitclaim deed the grantor must sign it and have it acknowledged before a notary public or other officer authorized under AS 09.63.010. AS 34.15.150 requires this acknowledgment for a conveyance of land, so it is what makes the deed recordable.
Current Alaska law does not require witnesses to sign a deed. AS 34.15.150 conditions execution on acknowledgment or proof, not on witnesses. The historical two-witness rule was retired long ago, so notarial acknowledgment alone allows the deed to be recorded.
Alaska does not use county recorders. Record the signed, notarized deed with the State Recorder's Office in the recording district where the property sits. The statewide system is divided into 34 recording districts served by the Recorder's Office (AS 40.17.020).
Alaska imposes no statewide real estate transfer tax, documentary stamp tax, or deed excise tax, so there is no transfer-tax declaration to file with the deed. You pay only the recording fee set by regulation (AS 40.17.030). Check whether the local municipality charges any fee of its own.
Alaska provides a statutory short-form quitclaim deed at AS 34.15.040. Its operative words convey and quitclaim all interest the grantor has, if any, in the described real estate. A deed substantially in that form is treated as a sufficient conveyance, release, and quitclaim of the grantor's existing legal and equitable rights.
The Alaska statutory quitclaim conveys only the grantor's existing interest, if any, and contains no covenants of title. A separate statutory warranty deed under AS 34.15.030 is what supplies title covenants. With a quitclaim the grantee receives whatever interest the grantor actually holds and no promise beyond it.
Under AS 40.17.030 a deed must contain original signatures, a title reflecting its intent, the name of the recording district, a return address, and the mailing addresses of every person who grants or acquires an interest under it. A deed missing these details can be rejected by the Recorder's Office.
Alaska is a race-notice state. Under AS 40.17.080 an unrecorded conveyance is valid between the parties, but it is void against a later good-faith purchaser for value whose deed is recorded first. Recording the quitclaim promptly protects the grantee's interest against a competing buyer.
Frequently Asked Questions
A quitclaim deed is a deed that transfers whatever interest you have in Alaska real estate to someone else, without any warranty that the title is good. It is often typed as a quit claim deed. Alaska even gives it a statutory form at AS 34.15.040, which conveys and quitclaims all interest the grantor has, if any. It makes no promise that you own the property or that the title is clear.
The difference is the promise about title. An Alaska warranty deed under AS 34.15.030 carries covenants that the grantor owns the property and that the title is good, and the grantee can sue if that turns out to be false. A quitclaim deed under AS 34.15.040 makes no such promise. It conveys only the grantor's existing interest, if any, and supplies no covenants of title at all.
Yes. To record a quitclaim deed in Alaska you must sign it and have it acknowledged before a notary public or another officer authorized under AS 09.63.010. AS 34.15.150 requires this acknowledgment for a conveyance of land. Without it the State Recorder's Office will not record the deed. No witnesses are required.
You record it with the State Recorder's Office in the recording district where the property is located. Alaska does not use county recorders. Its statewide system is divided into 34 recording districts served by the Recorder's Office (AS 40.17.020). Recording gives public notice and protects the grantee against a later good-faith buyer whose deed is recorded first (AS 40.17.080).
No. Alaska imposes no statewide real estate transfer tax, documentary stamp tax, or deed excise tax, so there is no transfer-tax declaration to file with the deed. You pay only the recording fee set by regulation (AS 40.17.030). Confirm with the recording district whether the local municipality charges any fee of its own.
No. Recording your deed at Alaska's State Recorder's Office, in the recording district where the land sits, moves your ownership interest to the grantee but does nothing to the loan. The lender's lien and the note you signed are untouched, so if your name is on the mortgage you stay liable after the transfer. Only the lender can release you, by refinancing the loan or signing a formal release.
You are not required to hire a lawyer. Alaska provides a statutory short-form quitclaim deed at AS 34.15.040 that you can complete, sign, acknowledge before a notary, and record yourself. Because a quitclaim gives no title protection, attorney review is available as an option, and it is worth it if the property has a mortgage, liens, or unclear ownership.
No. Under Alaska's statutory quitclaim form, AS 34.15.040, the deed conveys only the interest the grantor has, if any, and carries no warranty, so it cannot wipe out liens, mortgages, or other claims. Alaska follows a race-notice rule (AS 40.17.080): recording first protects a good-faith purchaser, but it never confirms the grantor held clean title. A title search and title insurance give the protection a quitclaim does not.