New Mexico Quitclaim Deed
A New Mexico quitclaim deed (or quit claim deed) transfers your interest with no warranty. Both spouses must join for community property. Notarize and record with the county clerk; no transfer tax.
Introduction
New Mexico is a community-property state, and that shapes how a quitclaim deed works here: under N.M. Stat. Section 40-3-13 both spouses must join to convey community real property, and a deed one spouse signs alone is void and of no effect. With that rule in mind, a quitclaim deed is a document that transfers whatever ownership interest you have in 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 parties who already trust each other: adding or removing a spouse after a marriage or divorce, moving a home into a living trust, or clearing a possible cloud on a title. New Mexico calls the person giving up the interest the grantor and the person receiving it the grantee. The state gives statutory effect to a deed titled quitclaim deed: N.M. Stat. Section 47-1-44 sets out a statutory quitclaim short form, and N.M. Stat. Section 47-1-30 gives a deed following it the force of a fee-simple conveyance of any interest the grantor owns, without warranty. You sign the deed (N.M. Stat. Section 47-1-5) and acknowledge it before a notary (N.M. Stat. Section 14-8-4), with no witnesses required, then record it with the county clerk of the county where the property sits (N.M. Stat. Section 14-9-1). New Mexico charges no state real estate transfer tax and no documentary stamp tax, only the county clerk's flat per-document recording fee. Attorney review is available as an option before you sign.
Key Things to Know
- 1
New Mexico is a community-property state, so a quitclaim of a marital home usually needs both spouses. Under N.M. Stat. Section 40-3-13 both spouses must join in any conveyance of community real property, and a deed one spouse signs alone is void and of no effect, except that one spouse may convey directly to the other. Confirm how title is held before you sign.
- 2
New Mexico codifies a quitclaim short form. N.M. Stat. Section 47-1-44 lays out a short quitclaim deed form whose granting words are simply that the grantor, for consideration paid, quitclaims the property, and N.M. Stat. Section 47-1-30 gives a deed following it the force of a fee-simple conveyance of any interest the grantor owns, without warranty of title.
- 3
A quitclaim deed transfers only the interest you actually hold and promises nothing about the title. A warranty deed, by contrast, guarantees the title and backs it with covenants the grantee can sue on, which is why a quitclaim is used mainly between parties who already trust each other.
- 4
Record the deed with the county clerk, not a recorder or register of deeds. N.M. Stat. Section 14-9-1 directs deeds to the office of the county clerk of the county where the land sits, and New Mexico runs a notice-type recording act: under N.M. Stat. Section 14-9-3 an unrecorded deed does not bind a later good-faith purchaser without knowledge of it.
- 5
A New Mexico deed must be duly acknowledged, meaning notarized, before the county clerk will record it (N.M. Stat. Section 14-8-4). An instrument that is not duly acknowledged may not be recorded, so plan to sign in front of a notary.
- 6
No witnesses are required on a New Mexico deed. The operative formalities are the grantor's signature (N.M. Stat. Section 47-1-5) and a notary acknowledgment for recording (N.M. Stat. Section 14-8-4); the short form's witness my hand and seal line is the grantor's own signing language, not a call for separate witnesses.
- 7
New Mexico levies no state real estate transfer tax and no documentary stamp tax, and no separate consideration or value declaration rides with the deed. You pay only the county clerk's flat per-document recording fee, and many clerks, including Bernalillo County, accept e-recording through approved vendors, so confirm the recording county's current fee and options when you file.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Quitclaim Deed in New Mexico, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Quitclaim Deed guide walks through them.
Open the Quitclaim Deed guideCustomize your Quitclaim Deed Template with DocDraft
New Mexico Requirements for Quitclaim Deed
A New Mexico conveyance of real estate must be subscribed (signed) by the person transferring the interest, or by a legal agent or attorney, under N.M. Stat. Section 47-1-5. The grantor is the person giving up the interest; the grantee is the person receiving it.
To be recorded, a New Mexico deed must be duly acknowledged, meaning notarized, under N.M. Stat. Section 14-8-4. Acknowledgment is a notary confirming the identity of the signer. An instrument that is not duly acknowledged may not be recorded by the county clerk.
New Mexico does not require subscribing or attesting witnesses on a deed. The operative formalities are the grantor's signature under N.M. Stat. Section 47-1-5 and a notary acknowledgment for recording under N.M. Stat. Section 14-8-4. The statutory form's witness-my-hand line is the grantor's own signing language, not a separate witness requirement.
Record the signed, notarized deed in the office of the county clerk of the county where the real estate is situated (N.M. Stat. Section 14-9-1). New Mexico's recording office is the county clerk, not a recorder or register of deeds.
New Mexico has a notice-type recording act. Under N.M. Stat. Section 14-9-3 an unrecorded deed does not affect the rights of a later good-faith purchaser, mortgagee, or judgment lien creditor without knowledge of it. Recording promptly protects the grantee against a later claimant.
New Mexico imposes no state real estate transfer tax and no documentary stamp tax on deeds, and no separate consideration or value declaration is required. You pay only the county clerk's flat per-document recording fee, so confirm the current fee with the recording county before filing.
New Mexico provides a statutory quitclaim short form at N.M. Stat. Section 47-1-44. A deed following that form has, under N.M. Stat. Section 47-1-30, the force and effect of a conveyance in fee simple of any interest the grantor owns in the premises, without warranty of title.
New Mexico is a community-property state. N.M. Stat. Section 40-3-13 requires both spouses to join in any transfer, conveyance, or mortgage of community real property; a conveyance attempted by one spouse alone is void and of no effect, except that one spouse may convey directly to the other.
Frequently Asked Questions
A quitclaim deed is a deed that transfers whatever interest you hold in New Mexico real estate to another person, with no warranty that the title is good. It is sometimes typed as a quit claim deed. New Mexico gives it statutory effect: under N.M. Stat. Section 47-1-30 a deed following the statutory quitclaim form conveys any interest the grantor owns in fee simple, but without warranty. It passes along the interest you have, if any.
The difference is the promise about title. A New Mexico warranty deed guarantees that the grantor owns the property and that the title is clear, and the grantee can sue on those covenants if that proves false. A quitclaim deed makes no such promise. N.M. Stat. Section 47-1-30 says it conveys any interest the grantor owns without warranty, so the grantee takes only what the grantor actually had, with no covenants of title.
Yes. To record a quitclaim deed in New Mexico it must be duly acknowledged, which means signed before a notary (N.M. Stat. Section 14-8-4). Acknowledgment is the notary confirming the identity of the person signing. An instrument that is not duly acknowledged may not be recorded by the county clerk, so notarization is what makes the deed recordable.
Often yes. New Mexico is a community-property state, and N.M. Stat. Section 40-3-13 requires both spouses to join in any conveyance of community real property. A deed that one spouse signs alone is void and of no effect as to community real property, except that one spouse may convey directly to the other. If the property is one spouse's separate property, that spouse can sign alone, so confirm how title is held before you sign.
You record the signed, notarized deed with the county clerk of the county where the property is located (N.M. Stat. Section 14-9-1), not with a recorder or register of deeds. Recording gives public notice and, under N.M. Stat. Section 14-9-3, protects the grantee against a later good-faith purchaser who takes without knowledge of the deed.
New Mexico charges no state real estate transfer tax and no documentary stamp tax on deeds, so you pay only the county clerk's recording fee. The Bernalillo County Clerk, for example, lists a flat per-document recording fee. Each county sets its own fee, so confirm the current amount with the clerk of the county where you record before filing.
In many counties, yes. Several New Mexico county clerks, including the Bernalillo County Clerk, accept electronic recording of deeds through approved third-party vendors. E-recording still requires the same signed, notarized deed; it only changes how the document reaches the clerk. Availability and accepted vendors vary by county, so check with the clerk of the county where the property sits before you file.
No. A New Mexico quitclaim deed passes only whatever interest the grantor holds and warrants nothing: the statutory short form (N.M. Stat. Section 47-1-44) has, under Section 47-1-30, the effect of a fee-simple conveyance without warranty, so it does not clear liens, mortgages, or other encumbrances. New Mexico runs a notice-type recording act (Section 14-9-3), so recording with the county clerk protects your priority but does not verify title. A title search and title insurance, not a quitclaim, give that protection.