South Dakota Quitclaim Deed
A South Dakota quitclaim deed (or quit claim deed) transfers your interest with no warranty. Notarize it and record with the county register of deeds.
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 South Dakota the person giving up the interest is the grantor and the person receiving it is the grantee. South Dakota provides a statutory short-form quitclaim deed at SDCL Section 43-25-7, whose operative words convey and quitclaim all interest in the described real estate. To record it you sign before a notary, because SDCL Section 43-25-26 lets an acknowledged deed be recorded; you then record with the register of deeds in the county where the property sits (SDCL Section 43-28-1). The grantor pays a real estate transfer fee and files a Certificate of Real Estate Value at recording. 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 quit claim deed is used mainly between people who trust each other.
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Record it with the register of deeds. Under SDCL Section 43-28-1 an instrument affecting title is recorded by the register of deeds of the county in which the real property is situated. Recording protects the grantee against a later buyer under the state's race-notice priority rule (SDCL Section 43-28-17).
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You must sign before a notary. SDCL Section 43-25-26 allows a duly acknowledged deed to be recorded. Acknowledgment means the grantor signs before a notary, and it is the standard way to make a South Dakota quitclaim deed recordable.
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No witnesses are required when the deed is notarized. Under SDCL Section 43-25-26 a subscribing witness is only an alternative route to recording a deed that is not acknowledged. Because a quitclaim deed is normally notarized, no attesting witnesses are needed.
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Pay the real estate transfer fee. SDCL Section 43-4-21 imposes a fee of $0.50 for each $500 of value, or fraction of it, on transferring title to real property, and the fee is paid by the grantor. A Certificate of Real Estate Value must accompany the deed at recording under SDCL Section 7-9-7(4).
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South Dakota has a statutory quitclaim form. SDCL Section 43-25-7 sets out a standard short-form quitclaim deed whose operative words convey and quitclaim all interest in the described real estate. Using it carries no warranty of title, unlike the warranty-deed form in the same chapter.
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Both spouses must sign to convey a homestead. SDCL Section 43-31-17 makes a conveyance of a homestead valid only if both spouses sign, whether by one joint instrument or separate instruments, even if only one spouse holds title. 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 South Dakota, 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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South Dakota Requirements for Quitclaim Deed
To record a South Dakota quitclaim deed, the grantor must acknowledge it before a notary public. SDCL Section 43-25-26 lets a duly acknowledged deed be recorded; acknowledgment before a notary is the standard way to make the deed recordable with the register of deeds.
South Dakota does not require attesting witnesses when the deed is acknowledged. Under SDCL Section 43-25-26 a subscribing witness is only an alternative way to record a deed that is not acknowledged, so a notarized quitclaim deed needs no witnesses.
Record the signed, notarized deed with the register of deeds of the county where the property is situated (SDCL Section 43-28-1). Recording protects the grantee against a later buyer under South Dakota's race-notice priority rule (SDCL Section 43-28-17).
SDCL Section 43-4-21 imposes a real estate transfer fee of $0.50 for each $500 of value, or fraction of it, on transferring title to real property. The fee is paid by the grantor and is collected by the register of deeds when the deed is recorded.
SDCL Section 7-9-7(4) requires a Certificate of Real Estate Value (Dept. of Revenue form PT-56) to accompany the deed at recording. It states the buyer and seller, the legal description, the actual consideration exchanged, the parties' relationship, and the terms of payment.
Some transfers are exempt from the real estate transfer fee under SDCL Section 43-4-22, including absolute gifts, transfers for which no consideration was given, transfers between spouses or between parent and child for nominal consideration, and deeds correcting a previously recorded deed. State the exemption on the deed.
South Dakota provides a statutory short-form quitclaim deed at SDCL Section 43-25-7 whose operative words convey and quitclaim all interest in the described real estate. The form carries no covenants or warranty of title, unlike the warranty-deed form set out in the same chapter.
SDCL Section 43-31-17 makes a conveyance or encumbrance of a homestead valid only if both spouses concur and sign, whether by a joint instrument or separate instruments, even when only one spouse holds title. A homestead quitclaim signed by one spouse alone may be invalid.
Frequently Asked Questions
A quitclaim deed is a deed that transfers whatever interest you have in South Dakota real estate to someone else, without any warranty that the title is good. It is often typed as a quit claim deed. South Dakota provides a statutory form at SDCL Section 43-25-7 that conveys and quitclaims all interest in the property. It makes no promise that you own the property or that the title is free of other claims.
The difference is the promise about title. A South Dakota warranty deed guarantees that the grantor owns the property and that the title is clear, and the grantee can sue if that turns out to be false. A quitclaim deed makes no such promise. The statutory quitclaim form at SDCL Section 43-25-7 conveys only whatever interest the grantor holds and omits the covenants that the warranty-deed form in the same chapter carries.
Yes, in practice. SDCL Section 43-25-26 lets a deed be recorded once it is duly acknowledged, which means the grantor signs before a notary. A deed that is not acknowledged can only be recorded if its execution is proved by a subscribing witness. Because acknowledgment is the standard route, the register of deeds will expect a notarized quitclaim deed.
You record it with the register of deeds in the county where the property is located, as SDCL Section 43-28-1 requires. Recording gives public notice and protects the grantee against a later buyer under South Dakota's race-notice priority rule (SDCL Section 43-28-17). Bring the completed Certificate of Real Estate Value and the real estate transfer fee when you record.
You pay the register of deeds recording fee plus the real estate transfer fee. Under SDCL Section 43-4-21 the transfer fee is $0.50 for each $500 of value, or fraction of it, and the grantor pays it. Certain transfers, such as gifts and transfers between spouses or parent and child for nominal consideration, are exempt under SDCL Section 43-4-22.
No. Recording the deed with the county register of deeds (SDCL Section 43-28-1) moves your interest to the grantee, but it does not reach the lender's lien. A South Dakota quitclaim conveys the real estate, not the loan, so if your name is on the note you stay liable even after you quitclaim your interest away. To be released you need the lender to refinance the loan or formally take you off it.
For a homestead, yes. SDCL Section 43-31-17 makes a conveyance or encumbrance of a homestead valid only if both spouses concur and sign, by a joint instrument or separate instruments, even if only one spouse is on title. This matters for quitclaim deeds used in a divorce or to transfer a family home into a trust.
No. The statutory quitclaim form at SDCL Section 43-25-7 conveys and quitclaims only all interest the grantor holds, with no warranty, so it cannot clear a lien, mortgage, or other claim and gives no guarantee that the grantor owned anything. Recording sets priority under South Dakota's race-notice rule (SDCL Section 43-28-17), but it does not wipe out existing encumbrances. A title search and title insurance, which a quitclaim does not provide, are the real protection.