Utah Quitclaim Deed
A Utah quitclaim deed (or quit claim deed) transfers your interest with no warranty of title. Utah charges no transfer tax, so recording costs only the county recorder's flat $40 fee (Utah Code 57-1-13).
Introduction
Utah stands apart from most states in two ways that shape how you record a quitclaim deed: it levies no real estate transfer tax, so the only recording cost is the county recorder's flat $40 fee per instrument (Utah Code Section 17-21-18.5), and every Utah county has been required to accept electronic recording of instruments since January 1, 2022. A quitclaim deed itself is a document that transfers whatever ownership interest you hold 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 under Utah Code Section 57-1-12 does guarantee clear title and lets the grantee sue if the title is flawed; a quitclaim under Utah Code Section 57-1-13 carries no such covenants and simply passes along whatever interest you hold. In Utah the person giving up the interest is the grantor and the one receiving it is the grantee, and people use a quitclaim for lower-risk transfers between parties who already trust each other, such as a divorce transfer, adding or removing a spouse, or moving a home into a living trust. Utah's statutory quitclaim form (Section 57-1-13, effective May 7, 2025) conveys all of the grantor's right, title, interest, and estate as of the date of the deed. To record it you sign the deed and have it acknowledged before a notary under Utah Code Section 57-3-101, then record it with the recorder of the county where the property sits. Attorney review is available as an option before you sign.
Key Things to Know
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Utah levies no transfer tax on a deed. There is no real estate transfer, documentary, or deed excise tax in the Utah Code, so the only charge to record a quitclaim deed is the county recorder's flat statutory fee of $40 per instrument (Utah Code Section 17-21-18.5). There is no transfer-tax declaration to complete on the transfer.
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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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Utah publishes a statutory quitclaim form. Utah Code Section 57-1-13 gives a short quitclaim deed form (effective May 7, 2025), and a deed may be substantially in that form. It conveys all of the grantor's right, title, interest, and estate as of the date of the deed, with no covenants or warranty of title, unlike the warranty deed at Section 57-1-12.
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Record it with the county recorder, and record promptly. Under Utah Code Section 57-3-101 an acknowledged deed is recorded in the office of the recorder of the county where the real property is located. Utah is a race-notice state (Utah Code Section 57-3-103): an unrecorded deed is void against a later purchaser who buys in good faith, for value, and records first, so the first party to record wins.
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Every Utah county accepts electronic recording. Utah adopted the Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording Act, and every county has been required to accept and provide for the electronic recording of instruments since January 1, 2022 (Utah Code Section 17-21-18.5). You can still record a paper deed with the county recorder if you prefer.
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Sign and acknowledge before a notary, with no witnesses. Utah Code Section 57-3-101 makes the notarial acknowledgment the step that entitles a deed to be recorded, so the county recorder will not record an unnotarized deed; Utah's statutory form has only the grantor's signature line and requires no subscribing witnesses. To be recordable the deed must also contain a legal description of the property and name the grantee with a mailing address for assessment and taxation (Utah Code Section 57-3-105).
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No spousal joinder is required to convey a homestead, and common uses are family transfers. Utah is not a community-property state, and the current homestead statute (Utah Code Section 78B-5-503) contains no requirement that both spouses sign. People most often use a quitclaim deed for divorce transfers, adding or removing a spouse, or moving a home into a living trust.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Quitclaim Deed in Utah, 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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Utah Requirements for Quitclaim Deed
To record a Utah quitclaim deed you must sign it and have it acknowledged before a notary. Utah Code Section 57-3-101 makes the notarial acknowledgment the step that entitles a deed to be recorded, so the county recorder will not record a quitclaim deed unless it is notarized.
Utah does not require witnesses to sign a deed. The statutory quitclaim form at Utah Code Section 57-1-13 has only the grantor's signature line, and recordability turns on the notary acknowledgment under Utah Code Section 57-3-101, not on subscribing witnesses.
Record the signed, notarized deed with the recorder of the county where the property is located (Utah Code Section 57-3-101). Recording protects the grantee against a later good-faith buyer under Utah's race-notice priority rule (Utah Code Section 57-3-103).
Utah imposes no real estate transfer tax, documentary tax, or deed excise tax. Unlike many states, there is no transfer-tax declaration to file with the deed; the Utah Code contains no transfer-tax statute on deed conveyances.
The only charge to record a deed is the county recorder's flat statutory fee of $40 per instrument (Utah Code Section 17-21-18.5). Every Utah county has also been required to accept electronic recording of instruments since January 1, 2022.
Utah publishes a statutory short-form quitclaim deed at Utah Code Section 57-1-13 (effective May 7, 2025), and a deed may be substantially in that form. It conveys all of the grantor's right, title, interest, and estate as of the date of the conveyance, with no covenants or warranty of title, unlike the warranty deed at Section 57-1-12.
A Utah deed is recordable only if it contains a legal description of the property and names the grantee with a mailing address to be used for assessment and taxation (Utah Code Section 57-3-105). Do not rely on the street address alone; attach the full legal description.
Utah is not a community-property state, and its current homestead statute (Utah Code Section 78B-5-503) contains no requirement that both spouses join in a conveyance. If the property is a marital home, confirm through attorney review that no separate spousal-consent requirement applies before you sign.
Frequently Asked Questions
A quitclaim deed is a deed that transfers whatever interest you have in Utah real estate to someone else, without any warranty that the title is good. It is often typed as a quit claim deed. Under Utah Code Section 57-1-13 it conveys all of the grantor's right, title, interest, and estate as of the date of the deed, but 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 Utah 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 under Utah Code Section 57-1-13 makes no such promise; unlike the warranty deed at Section 57-1-12 it carries no covenants of title and passes only whatever interest the grantor actually holds.
Yes. Utah adopted the Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording Act, and every Utah county has been required to accept and provide for the electronic recording of instruments since January 1, 2022 (Utah Code Section 17-21-18.5). You can still record a paper deed with the county recorder if you prefer. Either way, the deed must first be signed and acknowledged before a notary under Utah Code Section 57-3-101.
You record it with the county recorder in the county where the property is located, as Utah Code Section 57-3-101 provides. Recording gives public notice and protects the grantee against a later good-faith buyer under Utah's race-notice priority rule (Utah Code Section 57-3-103). Every Utah county also accepts electronic recording.
Utah charges no real estate transfer, documentary, or deed excise tax, so the main cost to record a quitclaim deed is the county recorder's flat fee of $40 per instrument (Utah Code Section 17-21-18.5). There is no documentary or deed excise tax to calculate on the transfer.
Yes. A Utah deed is recordable only if it contains a legal description of the property and names the grantee with a mailing address to be used for assessment and taxation (Utah Code Section 57-3-105). Do not rely on the street address alone. The county recorder also applies page and margin standards set by county practice, so leave the required blank space at the top of the first page for the recorder's stamp.
Yes, and it is common. One spouse can quitclaim their interest to the other to carry out a divorce settlement, or to add or remove a spouse from title. Utah is not a community-property state and its current homestead statute (Utah Code Section 78B-5-503) contains no requirement that both spouses join in the deed, though it is wise to confirm that no separate spousal consent applies to a marital home.
No. Under Utah Code Section 57-1-13 a quitclaim deed carries no covenants of title; it passes only whatever right, title, interest, and estate the grantor holds, so it cannot wipe out an existing lien or mortgage. Recording it with the county recorder gives no title guarantee, and Utah's race-notice rule (Utah Code Section 57-3-103) can even subordinate you to a later good-faith buyer who records first. Only a title search and title insurance provide the protection a quitclaim does not.