Texas Quitclaim Deed
A Texas quitclaim deed (or quit claim deed) transfers your interest with no warranty of title. Record it with the county clerk. Texas has 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 cloud on a title. In Texas the person giving up the interest is the grantor and the person receiving it is the grantee. A Texas deed must be in writing, signed, and delivered by the grantor (Tex. Prop. Code Section 5.021). To record it, the grantor must acknowledge the deed before a notary or other authorized officer (Tex. Prop. Code Section 12.001), and you then file it with the county clerk of the county where the property sits (Tex. Prop. Code Section 11.001). Texas 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 as a quit claim deed) is used mainly between people who trust each other.
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Record it with the county clerk. Under Tex. Prop. Code Section 11.001 a deed is recorded in the county where a part of the property is located, and the county clerk records deeds (Tex. Loc. Gov't Code Section 192.001). Texas is a notice state, so recording protects the grantee against a later buyer without notice (Tex. Prop. Code Section 13.001).
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You must acknowledge it before a notary to record it. To be recordable, a Texas quitclaim deed must be signed and acknowledged by the grantor before a notary or other authorized officer (Tex. Prop. Code Section 12.001). Acknowledgment is a condition of recording, not of validity between the grantor and grantee.
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No witnesses are required. Texas records a deed on the grantor's acknowledgment before an officer, so witnesses are not needed. Signing before two or more credible subscribing witnesses is only a statutory alternative to notarization, not an added requirement.
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Texas charges no real estate transfer tax. The Texas Constitution prohibits any state or local transfer tax on a conveyance of fee simple title (Tex. Const. art. VIII, Section 29). You pay only the county clerk's ordinary recording fees, and no consideration or value statement is required on the deed.
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There is no Texas quitclaim statutory form. Texas codifies a short statutory form only for a warranty deed (Tex. Prop. Code Section 5.022), and Section 5.022(c) lets the parties use any lawful form. A quitclaim should avoid the words grant and convey, because Tex. Prop. Code Section 5.023 makes those words imply covenants of title unless the deed says otherwise.
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Both spouses must join to convey a homestead. Texas is a community-property state, and Tex. Fam. Code Section 5.001 requires both spouses to sign to sell, convey, or encumber the homestead even if only one spouse is on title and even if the home is one spouse's separate property. Common quitclaim uses include divorce transfers and moving a home into a trust.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Quitclaim Deed in Texas, 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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Texas Requirements for Quitclaim Deed
To record a Texas quitclaim deed, the grantor must sign it and acknowledge it before a notary public or other authorized officer (Tex. Prop. Code Section 12.001). Acknowledgment is a condition of recording, not of validity between the grantor and grantee, but without it the county clerk will not record the deed.
Texas does not require witnesses to sign a deed. A Texas deed needs only to be in writing, signed, and delivered by the grantor (Tex. Prop. Code Section 5.021), and it is recorded on the grantor's notarial acknowledgment. Signing before two or more credible subscribing witnesses is only a statutory alternative to notarization, not an added requirement.
Record the signed, notarized deed with the county clerk of the county where a part of the property is located (Tex. Prop. Code Section 11.001; Tex. Loc. Gov't Code Section 192.001). Texas is a notice state, so recording protects the grantee against a later purchaser for value without notice (Tex. Prop. Code Section 13.001).
Texas has no state or local real estate transfer tax, and the Texas Constitution prohibits enacting one on a conveyance of fee simple title (Tex. Const. art. VIII, Section 29). You pay only the county clerk's ordinary recording fees, and the deed does not need to recite the consideration or include a value declaration.
An instrument transferring an interest in real property to or from an individual must carry a Notice of Confidentiality Rights at the top of the first page in 12-point boldface type or 12-point uppercase letters (Tex. Prop. Code Section 11.008). It tells a natural person they may strike their Social Security or driver's license number before recording. The clerk may not reject the deed for noncompliance, but include it.
Texas codifies a short statutory form only for a warranty deed (Tex. Prop. Code Section 5.022), and Section 5.022(c) lets the parties use any lawful form. A quitclaim should avoid the words grant and convey, because Tex. Prop. Code Section 5.023 makes those words imply covenants of title unless the deed expressly provides otherwise.
Texas is a community-property state. Tex. Fam. Code Section 5.001 requires both spouses to join in selling, conveying, or encumbering the homestead, even if only one spouse holds title and even if the home is one spouse's separate property. A quitclaim of a homestead signed by one spouse alone can be invalid.
A recorded Texas quitclaim deed has a special limit. After the fourth anniversary of the date it is recorded, the quitclaim no longer affects the good faith of a later purchaser or creditor and is no longer notice to them of any unrecorded transfer or encumbrance (Tex. Prop. Code Section 13.006). This is unique to quitclaim deeds in Texas.
Frequently Asked Questions
A quitclaim deed is a deed that transfers whatever interest you have in Texas 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 simply passes along the interest you hold, if any.
The difference is the promise about title. A Texas 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. In fact a Texas quitclaim avoids the words grant and convey, because Tex. Prop. Code Section 5.023 makes those words imply covenants of title unless the deed states otherwise.
To record it, yes. Tex. Prop. Code Section 12.001 requires the grantor to sign and acknowledge the deed before a notary or other authorized officer before the county clerk will record it. The deed is still binding between the grantor and grantee without recording, but an unrecorded deed does not protect the grantee against a later buyer without notice.
You file it with the county clerk of the county where the property is located (Tex. Prop. Code Section 11.001; Tex. Loc. Gov't Code Section 192.001). Recording gives public notice and protects the grantee against a later buyer for value without notice, because Texas is a notice state (Tex. Prop. Code Section 13.001). Bring a photo ID, which the clerk is required to check.
No. Texas has no state or local real estate transfer tax, and the Texas Constitution prohibits enacting one on a conveyance of fee simple title (Tex. Const. art. VIII, Section 29). You pay only the county clerk's ordinary recording fees. The deed does not need to recite the consideration paid or include a value or transfer-tax declaration.
No. Recording a quitclaim with the county clerk of the county where the property sits (Tex. Prop. Code Section 11.001) moves your ownership interest to the grantee, but it does not reach the lender's lien or the note you signed. If your name is on the loan, you stay responsible for it even after you quitclaim your interest away. Only the lender can release you, by refinancing the loan or signing a formal release, so confirm that before you sign.
For a homestead, yes. Tex. Fam. Code Section 5.001 requires both spouses to join in selling, conveying, or encumbering the homestead, even if only one spouse holds title and even if the home is one spouse's separate property. Texas is a community-property state, so a quitclaim of a homestead signed by one spouse alone can be invalid.
No. A Texas quitclaim gives no warranty of title. Tex. Prop. Code Section 5.022(b) makes warranty covenants optional and Section 5.023 withholds the covenants that words such as grant or convey would otherwise imply, so you take only whatever interest the grantor held, liens included. Texas is a notice state (Section 13.001), and a quitclaim grantee is not treated as a bona-fide purchaser; after four years a recorded quitclaim also stops giving notice of the transfer to later buyers (Section 13.006). A title search and title insurance are the safeguards a quitclaim does not provide.