Missouri Quitclaim Deed
A Missouri quitclaim deed (or quit claim deed) transfers your interest with no warranty. Notarize it and record with the recorder of deeds. 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 Missouri the person giving up the interest is the grantor and the person receiving it is the grantee. To record a Missouri quitclaim deed you must sign it in front of a notary, because Mo. Rev. Stat. Section 442.130 requires the deed to be subscribed and acknowledged, and that same section requires the deed to state whether the grantor is married or unmarried. You then record it with the recorder of deeds in the county where the property sits (Mo. Rev. Stat. Section 442.380). Missouri charges no 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 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 (often typed quit claim deed) is used mainly between people who trust each other.
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Record it with the recorder of deeds. Under Mo. Rev. Stat. Section 442.380 a Missouri deed is recorded in the office of the recorder of the county where the real estate is situated (in the City of St. Louis, the city recorder of deeds). Recording gives public notice and protects the grantee against a later buyer under the state's notice rule (Mo. Rev. Stat. Section 442.400).
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You must sign before a notary. To be recorded, a Missouri quitclaim deed must be subscribed by the grantor and acknowledged (Mo. Rev. Stat. Section 442.130). A notary public is an officer authorized to take that acknowledgment (Mo. Rev. Stat. Section 442.150).
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No witnesses are required, but you must state marital status. Missouri does not require subscribing witnesses on a deed. However, Mo. Rev. Stat. Section 442.130 requires the deed to state whether each natural person signing as grantor is married or unmarried.
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Missouri charges no transfer tax. The state imposes no real estate transfer tax, documentary stamp tax, or deed tax, so you file no tax or declaration of value with the deed. You still pay the recorder's flat recording fee.
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There is no Missouri quitclaim form. Missouri statutes do not prescribe a quitclaim deed form or even define a quitclaim deed. Common practice uses the words remise, release, and quitclaim. Because the deed omits the words grant, bargain and sell, the implied covenants those words create under Mo. Rev. Stat. Section 442.420 never attach, and the deed passes only the grantor's estate under Section 442.460.
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A married grantor should have the spouse join. Missouri is not a community-property state, but for a homestead either spouse acting alone cannot sell or alienate it and such a conveyance is void unless both spouses join (Mo. Rev. Stat. Section 513.475). A conveyance by a married person without the spouse's joinder or written assent is presumed to be in fraud of the spouse's marital rights (Mo. Rev. Stat. Section 474.150). Common quitclaim uses include divorce transfers and moving a home into a living trust.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Quitclaim Deed in Missouri, 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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Missouri Requirements for Quitclaim Deed
To record a Missouri quitclaim deed the grantor must subscribe it and it must be acknowledged (Mo. Rev. Stat. Section 442.130). A notary public is an officer authorized to take that acknowledgment (Mo. Rev. Stat. Section 442.150). Without an acknowledgment the recorder of deeds will not record the deed.
Missouri does not require subscribing witnesses on a deed. Mo. Rev. Stat. Section 442.130 requires only that the grantor subscribe the deed and that it be acknowledged; notarial acknowledgment, not witnesses, is what allows the deed to be recorded.
Mo. Rev. Stat. Section 442.130 requires every instrument conveying real estate to state whether each natural person acting as a grantor is married or unmarried. Include that statement on the face of the deed so the recorder of deeds will accept it.
Record the signed, notarized deed with the recorder of deeds of the county where the property is located (Mo. Rev. Stat. Section 442.380); in the City of St. Louis it is the city recorder of deeds. Until the deed is recorded it is not valid against a later purchaser who lacks actual notice of it (Mo. Rev. Stat. Section 442.400).
Missouri imposes no state or local real estate transfer tax, documentary stamp tax, or deed tax, so you file no tax form or declaration of value with the deed. Your cost at the courthouse is the recorder of deeds' flat recording fee, set by the county under the recorder statutes.
Missouri statutes do not prescribe a quitclaim deed form or define a quitclaim deed. Common practice uses the words remise, release, and quitclaim. Because the deed omits the words grant, bargain and sell, the covenants those words imply under Mo. Rev. Stat. Section 442.420 do not attach, and the deed passes only the grantor's estate under Section 442.460, with no warranty of title.
A conveyance of real estate by a married person without the spouse's joinder or written, acknowledged assent is presumed to be in fraud of the spouse's marital rights if that spouse survives (Mo. Rev. Stat. Section 474.150). To avoid that presumption, a married grantor should have the non-owner spouse join the deed or sign a written assent.
For a homestead, Mo. Rev. Stat. Section 513.475 bars either spouse acting alone from selling, mortgaging, or alienating it and declares such a conveyance null and void unless the spouses join. If the property is the couple's homestead, both spouses must sign the quitclaim deed.
Frequently Asked Questions
A quitclaim deed is a deed that transfers whatever interest you have in Missouri real estate to someone else, without any warranty that the title is good. It is often typed as a quit claim deed. Unlike a warranty deed, it makes no promise that you own the property or that the title is free of other claims. It passes along only the interest you hold, if any.
The difference is the promise about title. A Missouri warranty deed uses the words grant, bargain and sell, which create implied covenants under Mo. Rev. Stat. Section 442.420 that the grantor owns the property and that it is free of encumbrances the grantor caused. A quitclaim deed omits those words, so no such covenants attach. It passes only the estate the grantor actually holds (Mo. Rev. Stat. Section 442.460), with no warranty of title.
Yes. To record a quitclaim deed in Missouri the grantor must subscribe it and it must be acknowledged (Mo. Rev. Stat. Section 442.130). A notary public is an officer authorized to take that acknowledgment (Mo. Rev. Stat. Section 442.150). Without an acknowledgment the recorder of deeds will not record it.
You record it with the recorder of deeds in the county where the property is located, as Mo. Rev. Stat. Section 442.380 requires; in the City of St. Louis it is the city recorder of deeds. Until the deed is recorded it is not valid against a later purchaser who lacks actual notice of it (Mo. Rev. Stat. Section 442.400), so recording promptly protects the grantee.
No. Missouri imposes no state or local real estate transfer tax, documentary stamp tax, or deed tax. You file no tax form or declaration of value with the deed. Your only cost at the courthouse is the recorder's flat recording fee, which is set by the county under the recorder statutes.
No. Recording your deed with the county recorder of deeds passes your interest in the property (Mo. Rev. Stat. Section 442.380), but it does not reach the lender's lien or the promissory note you signed. If your name is on the loan, you stay personally liable even after you quitclaim your interest away. Only the lender can release you, usually by refinancing the loan into the other person's name or signing a formal release.
Often, yes. For a homestead, either spouse acting alone cannot sell or alienate it, and such a conveyance is null and void unless both spouses join (Mo. Rev. Stat. Section 513.475). Even for other real estate, a conveyance by a married person without the spouse's joinder or written, acknowledged assent is presumed to be in fraud of the spouse's marital rights (Mo. Rev. Stat. Section 474.150). A married grantor should have the spouse join to be safe.
No. Because a Missouri quitclaim omits the words grant, bargain and sell, the implied covenants under Mo. Rev. Stat. Section 442.420 never attach, and it passes only whatever estate the grantor actually holds under Section 442.460. It clears no liens or other claims and guarantees nothing about title. Missouri is a notice state (Section 442.400), so a title search and title insurance, not a quitclaim, are what protect a buyer against prior claims.