New Jersey Quitclaim Deed
A New Jersey quit claim deed transfers your interest with no warranty. Record it with the county recording officer, the register of deeds and mortgages or the county clerk, and pay the Realty Transfer Fee.
Introduction
New Jersey does not route deeds through a single statewide recorder. You record with the county recording officer, which under N.J.S.A. Section 46:26A-1 is the register of deeds and mortgages in the two counties that still keep that office, Essex and Hudson, and the county clerk in every other county. That office, in the county where the property sits, is where a quitclaim deed becomes public record. A quitclaim deed itself 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 New Jersey the person giving up the interest is the grantor and the person receiving it is the grantee. New Jersey prescribes no fill-in quitclaim form; instead N.J.S.A. Section 46:5-1 construes quitclaim and release words so the deed passes the grantor's estate but adds no covenants of title. You sign before a notary or other authorized officer, who takes your acknowledgment under N.J.S.A. Section 46:14-2.1, and no witnesses are required. You then record the deed, pay the Realty Transfer Fee, and file the Affidavit of Consideration (Form RTF-1) with it. Attorney review is available as an option before you sign.
Key Things to Know
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The recording office is not the same in every county. Under N.J.S.A. Section 46:26A-1 the county recording officer is the register of deeds and mortgages in Essex and Hudson counties and the county clerk in every other county. You record in the county where the real property is located, and recording there settles priority under New Jersey's race-notice rule (N.J.S.A. Section 46:26A-12): an unrecorded deed is of no effect against a later good-faith buyer who takes without notice and records first.
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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 as a quit claim deed) is used mainly between people who trust each other.
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You acknowledge the deed before a notary, and no witnesses are required. Under N.J.S.A. Section 46:14-2.1 the grantor appears before a notary or other authorized officer and acknowledges that the deed was executed as the grantor's own act, and that acknowledgment is what makes the deed recordable. New Jersey does not require subscribing witnesses; a subscribing witness only matters under the alternative 'proof' method, used when the grantor does not personally acknowledge the deed.
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Pay the Realty Transfer Fee and state the consideration. New Jersey charges a Realty Transfer Fee on the deed under N.J.S.A. Section 46:15-7, and N.J.S.A. Section 46:15-6 requires a statement of the true consideration for the transfer. The Affidavit of Consideration, Form RTF-1, is the usual vehicle for that statement and is filed with the deed, including where an exemption is claimed.
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There is no New Jersey statutory quitclaim form. New Jersey supplies statutory meanings for deed language (N.J.S.A. Section 46:5-1 for quitclaim and release words, and the covenant-construction rules in Chapter 46:4 such as Section 46:4-4) but does not prescribe a mandatory fill-in quitclaim form. Section 46:4-4 defines the effect of a covenant; it is not a deed form.
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Get the lot and block and the grantee's address right. To be recordable a New Jersey deed must be in English, must reference the lot and block number of the property conveyed, and must state the mailing address of the grantee, with each signer's name printed beneath the signature (N.J.S.A. Section 46:26A-3). A paper cover sheet is required for a paper, non-electronic recording.
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Watch the marital-residence rule and think about your use case. New Jersey has no classic spousal-joinder requirement to convey a solely owned parcel, but under N.J.S.A. Section 3B:28-3 a conveyance of the principal marital residence is taken subject to the non-owner spouse's right of joint possession unless that spouse releases it, so the spouse's signature is commonly obtained. 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 New Jersey, 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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New Jersey Requirements for Quitclaim Deed
To record a New Jersey quitclaim deed the grantor must appear before a notary public or other authorized officer and acknowledge that the deed was executed as the grantor's own act (N.J.S.A. Section 46:14-2.1). This acknowledgment is what makes the deed recordable.
New Jersey does not require subscribing witnesses for a deed. The standard path is acknowledgment by the grantor before a notary or officer (N.J.S.A. Section 46:14-2.1); a subscribing witness only matters under the alternative proof method, used when the grantor does not personally acknowledge the deed.
Record the signed, acknowledged deed with the county recording officer for the county where the property is located. Under N.J.S.A. Section 46:26A-1 that officer is the register of deeds and mortgages in the counties that have the office (Essex and Hudson) and the county clerk in every other county. Recording protects the grantee against a later buyer under the race-notice rule (N.J.S.A. Section 46:26A-12).
New Jersey imposes a Realty Transfer Fee when a deed is recorded (N.J.S.A. Section 46:15-7). The fee is calculated from the consideration for the transfer using the rate schedule published by the New Jersey Division of Taxation; confirm the current schedule before you calculate the amount owed.
A statement of the true consideration for the transfer must be contained in the deed, the acknowledgment, or an appended affidavit (N.J.S.A. Section 46:15-6). The Affidavit of Consideration, Form RTF-1, is the usual vehicle for that statement and is annexed to and recorded with the deed, including where a transfer-fee exemption is claimed.
New Jersey does not prescribe a fill-in quitclaim form. N.J.S.A. Section 46:5-1 construes quitclaim and release words so the deed passes the grantor's estate but adds no covenants of title, and the covenant rules in Chapter 46:4, such as Section 46:4-4, define the effect of covenant language rather than supplying a deed form.
New Jersey has no classic spousal-joinder requirement to convey a solely owned parcel, but under N.J.S.A. Section 3B:28-3 a conveyance of the principal marital residence is taken subject to the non-owner spouse's right of joint possession unless that spouse releases it. The non-owner spouse commonly signs the deed to release that right.
To be recordable a New Jersey deed must be in English, must reference the lot and block number of the property conveyed, and must state the mailing address of the grantee, with each signer's name printed beneath the signature (N.J.S.A. Section 46:26A-3). A paper cover sheet is required for a paper (non-electronic) recording.
Frequently Asked Questions
A quitclaim deed is a deed that transfers whatever interest you have in New Jersey real estate to someone else, without any warranty that the title is good. It is often typed as a quit claim deed. Under N.J.S.A. Section 46:5-1 the quitclaim words pass the grantor's estate but add no covenants of title, so the grantee simply receives whatever interest the grantor holds, if any.
The difference is the promise about title. A New Jersey warranty deed adds covenants that the grantor owns the property and that the title is good, and the grantee can sue on those covenants if that turns out to be false. A quitclaim deed adds no covenants. N.J.S.A. Section 46:5-1 says quitclaim words pass the grantor's estate, but the deed makes no warranty, so it is used mainly between parties who already trust each other.
You record it with the county recording officer for the county where the property is located. Under N.J.S.A. Section 46:26A-1 that officer is the register of deeds and mortgages in Essex and Hudson counties and the county clerk in every other county. Recording protects the grantee against a later buyer under New Jersey's race-notice priority rule (N.J.S.A. Section 46:26A-12).
It must be notarized, not witnessed. To record a quitclaim deed in New Jersey the grantor appears before a notary or other authorized officer and acknowledges the deed as the grantor's own act (N.J.S.A. Section 46:14-2.1). New Jersey does not require subscribing witnesses; the acknowledgment is what makes the deed recordable.
New Jersey charges a Realty Transfer Fee when a deed is recorded (N.J.S.A. Section 46:15-7), and the deed must state the true consideration for the transfer (N.J.S.A. Section 46:15-6). The Affidavit of Consideration, Form RTF-1, is filed with the deed to state that consideration or to claim an exemption. Check the current rate schedule from the New Jersey Division of Taxation before you calculate the fee.
Yes. New Jersey follows a race-notice recording rule under N.J.S.A. Section 46:26A-12. An unrecorded deed is of no effect against a later bona fide purchaser or mortgagee for value who takes without notice of the earlier deed and records first. In practice the grantee should record the quitclaim deed promptly with the county recording officer so a competing later buyer cannot gain priority.
Not to make the deed valid for a solely owned parcel, because New Jersey abolished dower and curtesy for property acquired on or after May 28, 1980. But under N.J.S.A. Section 3B:28-3, if the property is the principal marital residence, a buyer takes it subject to the non-owner spouse's right of joint possession unless that spouse has released it. For that reason the spouse's signature is commonly obtained to release the right.
Yes. To be recordable a New Jersey deed must be in English, must reference the lot and block number of the property conveyed, and must state the mailing address of the grantee, with each signer's name printed beneath the signature (N.J.S.A. Section 46:26A-3). A paper cover sheet is required for a paper, non-electronic recording. Getting the lot and block and the grantee's address right is what lets the county recording officer accept the deed.