West Virginia Quitclaim Deed
A West Virginia quitclaim deed (or quit claim deed) transfers only your interest with no warranty of title. Record it with the Clerk of the County Commission.
Introduction
West Virginia is unusual in where deeds go to record: not a register of deeds and not a circuit court clerk, but the Clerk of the County Commission, the county officer who admits a deed to record under W. Va. Code Section 39-1-2. 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 West Virginia the person giving up the interest is the grantor and the person receiving it is the grantee. The operative quitclaim language is codified at W. Va. Code Section 36-3-7 (remise, release, and forever quitclaim), so a deed using those release words conveys only the grantor's right, title, and interest, with no covenants of title. You sign the deed and have it acknowledged before a notary under W. Va. Code Section 39-1-2, then record it with the Clerk of the County Commission in the county where the property lies. West Virginia also charges an excise tax on the privilege of transferring real property, $1.10 per $500 of value at the state level plus a county excise tax, which the grantor normally pays (W. Va. Code Section 11-22-2). Attorney review is available as an option before you sign.
Key Things to Know
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A quitclaim deed (often typed as a quit claim deed) passes only the interest you actually hold and promises nothing about the title. West Virginia builds that effect from statutory release words at W. Va. Code Section 36-3-7 (remise, release, and forever quitclaim), which carry no covenants of title unless warranty is expressly written in. A warranty deed, by contrast, guarantees the title, which is why a quitclaim is used mainly between people who trust each other.
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The recording office is the Clerk of the County Commission. A West Virginia deed is admitted to record by the Clerk of the County Commission, the county clerk, in the county where the real estate lies (W. Va. Code Section 39-1-2), not a register of deeds and not a circuit court clerk. If the property spans more than one county, record it in each.
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West Virginia is a notice state. Recording is what protects the grantee: an unrecorded deed is void against a later purchaser for value who takes without notice (W. Va. Code Section 40-1-9). Priority turns on notice, not on who reaches the clerk's office first, so record promptly after closing.
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Acknowledge the deed before a notary; no subscribing witnesses. To be admitted to record, the deed must be acknowledged by the grantor before a notary public or other authorized officer (W. Va. Code Section 39-1-2). West Virginia does not require witnesses to sign; the statute allows proof by two witnesses before the clerk only as an alternative to notarization.
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Pay the excise tax and append the tax papers. West Virginia charges an excise tax on the privilege of transferring real property, $1.10 per $500 of value at the state level plus a county excise tax of $0.55 per $500 that a county may raise up to $1.65 per $500 (W. Va. Code Section 11-22-2), paid by the grantor by default. Each taxable deed must also have a signed Declaration of Consideration or Value appended, and the clerk may not record it unless a completed and verified Sales Listing Form is tendered with it (W. Va. Code Section 11-22-6).
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Use the statutory short-form deed and name the preparer. West Virginia supplies a statutory short-form deed at W. Va. Code Section 36-3-5 that may be used or followed to the same effect. The name of the person who prepared the deed must also appear at its conclusion, printed, typewritten, stamped, or signed legibly (W. Va. Code Section 39-1-2a).
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No spouse's signature is needed to convey your own property, but notify your spouse. Dower and curtesy are abolished in West Virginia (W. Va. Code Section 43-1-1), so a non-owner spouse need not sign to convey individually owned property. A married grantor must still notify his or her spouse of the conveyance within thirty days (W. Va. Code Section 43-1-2). Common uses include divorce transfers and moving a home into a living trust.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Quitclaim Deed in West Virginia, 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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West Virginia Requirements for Quitclaim Deed
To be admitted to record, a West Virginia deed must be acknowledged by the grantor before a notary public or other authorized officer (W. Va. Code Section 39-1-2). Acknowledgment is the normal path to recording; in the alternative the deed may be proved by two witnesses before the Clerk of the County Commission.
West Virginia does not require subscribing witnesses to sign a deed. Under W. Va. Code Section 39-1-2 a deed is admitted to record when it is either acknowledged by the signer or proved by two witnesses before the clerk, so a notarized deed needs no separate witnesses.
Record the signed, acknowledged deed with the Clerk of the County Commission (the county clerk) in the county where the real estate lies (W. Va. Code Section 39-1-2); if the property spans counties, record it in each. West Virginia is a notice state, so an unrecorded deed is void against a later purchaser for value without notice (W. Va. Code Section 40-1-9).
West Virginia imposes an excise tax on the privilege of transferring real property: $1.10 per $500 of value at the state level plus a county excise tax of $0.55 per $500, which a county may raise up to $1.65 per $500 (W. Va. Code Section 11-22-2). The tax is paid by the grantor unless the grantee accepts the deed without it having been paid.
Each deed subject to the excise tax must have a signed Declaration of Consideration or Value appended to it, and the Clerk of the County Commission may not record the deed unless a completed and verified Sales Listing Form is tendered with it (W. Va. Code Section 11-22-6). The declaration may be signed by the grantor, grantee, or responsible party.
West Virginia provides a statutory short-form deed at W. Va. Code Section 36-3-5 that may be used or followed to the same effect. The quitclaim character comes from the words of release at W. Va. Code Section 36-3-7 (remise, release, and forever quitclaim), which convey only the grantor's right, title, and interest and add no covenants of title unless warranty is expressly stated.
Dower and curtesy are abolished in West Virginia (W. Va. Code Section 43-1-1), so a non-owner spouse's signature is not required to convey individually owned property. A married grantor must, however, notify his or her spouse of the conveyance within thirty days (W. Va. Code Section 43-1-2); the spouse's signature on the deed is one accepted way to prove that notice was given, but it is not a condition of a valid deed.
The name of the person who prepared the deed must appear at its conclusion, printed, typewritten, stamped, or signed legibly (for example, This instrument was prepared by (name)), under W. Va. Code Section 39-1-2a. County clerks also commonly ask for a top margin on the first page for the recording stamp, but that is administrative practice, not a statute.
Frequently Asked Questions
A quitclaim deed is a deed that transfers whatever interest you have in West Virginia real estate to someone else, without any warranty that the title is good. It is often typed as a quit claim deed. West Virginia supplies the operative words of release at W. Va. Code Section 36-3-7, so the deed conveys only the grantor's right, title, and interest, if any, and makes no promise that you own the property or that the title is clear.
The difference is the promise about title. A West Virginia warranty deed includes covenants 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. Under W. Va. Code Section 36-3-7 it uses release words that pass only whatever right, title, and interest the grantor has, and covenants of warranty arise only when they are expressly stated in the deed.
Yes, in practice. To be admitted to record, a West Virginia deed must be acknowledged by the grantor before a notary public or other authorized officer (W. Va. Code Section 39-1-2). The statute also allows a deed to be proved by two witnesses before the Clerk of the County Commission as an alternative, but notarizing the deed is the normal path. Without acknowledgment or that proof, the clerk will not record it.
You record it with the Clerk of the County Commission (the county clerk) in the county where the property is located (W. Va. Code Section 39-1-2). That is the West Virginia recording office, not a register of deeds or a circuit court clerk. If the property spans more than one county, you must record the deed in each county so it appears in every county's land records.
You pay the county clerk's recording fee plus the real estate excise tax. The excise tax is $1.10 per $500 of value at the state level plus a county excise tax of $0.55 per $500, which a county may raise up to $1.65 per $500 (W. Va. Code Section 11-22-2). The grantor pays it by default. You must also append a Declaration of Consideration or Value and tender a Sales Listing Form (W. Va. Code Section 11-22-6).
Yes. West Virginia has a notice-type recording act. An unrecorded deed is void against a later purchaser for value who takes without notice of your deed (W. Va. Code Section 40-1-9), so priority turns on whether the later buyer had notice, not on who reaches the clerk's office first. Recording your quitclaim deed with the Clerk of the County Commission puts it in the public record and gives that notice, which is why you should record promptly rather than hold the signed deed.
Not to make the deed valid. Dower and curtesy are abolished in West Virginia (W. Va. Code Section 43-1-1), so a non-owner spouse's signature is not required to convey property you own individually. A married grantor must, however, notify his or her spouse of the conveyance within thirty days (W. Va. Code Section 43-1-2). The spouse's signature on the deed is one accepted way to show that notice was given, but it is not a condition of a valid deed.
Three things beyond the deed itself. First, a signed Declaration of Consideration or Value must be appended to any deed subject to the excise tax, and the clerk cannot record it unless a completed and verified Sales Listing Form is tendered with the deed (W. Va. Code Section 11-22-6). Second, the name of the person who prepared the deed must appear at its conclusion, printed, typewritten, stamped, or signed legibly (W. Va. Code Section 39-1-2a). Third, West Virginia supplies a statutory short-form deed at W. Va. Code Section 36-3-5 that you may use or follow to the same effect.