Wyoming Quitclaim Deed
A Wyoming quitclaim deed (or quit claim deed) transfers your interest with no warranty. Notarize it and record with the county clerk. 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 claim on a title. In Wyoming the person giving up the interest is the grantor and the person receiving it is the grantee. Wyoming codifies a statutory short-form quitclaim deed at W.S. 34-2-104, whose operative words are conveys and quitclaims all interest in the property. To record the deed you sign it and acknowledge it before a notarial officer (a notary or other officer authorized to take acknowledgments), which is what entitles it to be recorded with the county clerk under W.S. 34-1-113 and W.S. 34-1-118. Wyoming charges no 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 W.S. 34-1-118 a Wyoming deed is recorded in the office of the county clerk in the county where the land lies. Recording protects the grantee against a later good-faith purchaser under Wyoming's race-notice priority rule (W.S. 34-1-120).
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You must acknowledge it before a notarial officer. W.S. 34-1-113 requires the grantor to acknowledge the deed before a notarial officer, and that acknowledgment is the recording predicate under W.S. 34-1-118. Wyoming does not require any witnesses to sign a deed.
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There is no transfer tax, but you file a sworn statement of consideration. Wyoming imposes no transfer, excise, or documentary tax. At recording, though, W.S. 34-1-142 requires the grantee to file a statement under oath disclosing the parties, the legal description, and the actual amount paid for the property.
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Wyoming has a statutory quitclaim form. W.S. 34-2-104 sets out a short-form quitclaim deed whose words are conveys and quitclaims all interest. Because it uses quitclaim language rather than the covenants of the statutory warranty deed at W.S. 34-2-102, no warranty of title attaches.
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A married owner's homestead needs the spouse to join. Under W.S. 34-2-121 a conveyance of a homestead by a married owner is not fully effective unless the owner's spouse also signs and acknowledges it AND the deed contains language releasing and waiving the homestead-exemption rights. A conveyance directly from husband to wife is excepted.
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Common uses are lower-risk transfers. Wyoming quitclaim deeds are typically used to add or remove a spouse after a marriage or divorce, to move a home into a living trust, or to clear up a possible claim on a title, not for an arm's length sale where the buyer wants title protection.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Quitclaim Deed in Wyoming, 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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Wyoming Requirements for Quitclaim Deed
To record a Wyoming quitclaim deed the grantor must acknowledge it before a notarial officer, such as a notary public (W.S. 34-1-113). That certificate of acknowledgment is what entitles the deed to be recorded by the county clerk under W.S. 34-1-118.
Wyoming does not require witnesses to sign a deed. W.S. 34-1-113 and W.S. 34-1-118 condition recording solely on the grantor's acknowledgment before a notarial officer, and Title 34 contains no subscribing-witness requirement for a deed.
Record the signed, acknowledged deed with the county clerk in the county where the land lies (W.S. 34-1-118). Recording protects the grantee against a later good-faith purchaser under Wyoming's race-notice priority rule (W.S. 34-1-120).
Wyoming imposes no transfer, excise, or documentary tax on a deed. Recording a quitclaim deed costs only the county clerk's recording fee, so a grantee does not owe any state or county tax on the value transferred.
When the deed is presented for recording, W.S. 34-1-142(a) requires the grantee or the grantee's agent to file a statement under oath disclosing the grantor and grantee, their addresses, the date of transfer, a legal description, and the actual full amount paid for the property. This is a disclosure filing, not a tax.
Wyoming codifies a short-form quitclaim deed at W.S. 34-2-104, whose operative words are conveys and quitclaims all interest in the described real estate. Because it uses quitclaim language rather than the covenants of the statutory warranty deed at W.S. 34-2-102, the deed carries no warranty of title.
If the property is a married owner's homestead, W.S. 34-2-121 requires both the owner and the owner's spouse to sign and acknowledge the deed, and the deed must contain in substance the words 'Hereby releasing and waiving all rights under and by virtue of the homestead exemption laws of this state'. A conveyance directly from husband to wife is excepted.
The county clerk will not record any deed until the grantee's mailing address is furnished (W.S. 34-1-119(a)). Only originally signed documents, electronic documents recorded under Wyoming's Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording Act (W.S. 34-1-401 through 34-1-407), or properly certified copies may be recorded.
Frequently Asked Questions
A quitclaim deed is a deed that transfers whatever interest you have in Wyoming real estate to someone else, without any warranty that the title is good. It is often typed as a quit claim deed. Wyoming's statutory form at W.S. 34-2-104 uses the words conveys and quitclaims all interest, so the grantee receives only the interest the grantor actually holds, if any.
The difference is the promise about title. A Wyoming warranty deed, under the statutory form at W.S. 34-2-102, 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 W.S. 34-2-104 makes no such promise; it simply conveys and quitclaims whatever interest the grantor has, with no covenants of title.
Yes. To record a quitclaim deed in Wyoming the grantor must acknowledge it before a notarial officer, such as a notary public. W.S. 34-1-113 requires that acknowledgment, and W.S. 34-1-118 makes the certificate of acknowledgment the condition for the county clerk to record the deed. Wyoming does not require any witnesses.
No. Wyoming imposes no transfer, excise, or documentary tax on a deed. When you record, however, W.S. 34-1-142 requires the grantee to file a statement under oath, the sworn statement of consideration, disclosing the parties, the legal description, the date of transfer, and the actual full amount paid for the property.
You record it with the county clerk in the county where the land lies, as W.S. 34-1-118 requires. Recording gives public notice and protects the grantee against a later good-faith purchaser under Wyoming's race-notice rule (W.S. 34-1-120). The county clerk will not record the deed until the grantee's mailing address is furnished (W.S. 34-1-119(a)).
No. Recording a Wyoming quitclaim with the county clerk under W.S. 34-1-118 transfers whatever interest you hold to the grantee, but it never reaches the lender's lien. If your name is on the note, you stay liable even after signing your interest away. Only the lender can release you, usually by refinancing the loan or issuing a formal release. Moving title and moving the debt are two separate steps.
For most property, no. Wyoming is a separate-property state, so a sole owner can convey alone. But if the property is the owner's homestead and the owner is married, W.S. 34-2-121 requires the spouse to also sign and acknowledge the deed, and the deed must contain language releasing and waiving the homestead-exemption rights. A conveyance directly from husband to wife is excepted.
No. Wyoming's statutory quitclaim form (W.S. 34-2-104) conveys and quitclaims all interest the grantor holds and carries no covenants of title, unlike the warranty deed at W.S. 34-2-102. It cannot clear liens or prove the grantor owned anything. Because Wyoming follows a race-notice priority rule (W.S. 34-1-120), recording first with the county clerk protects your place in line, but only a title search and title insurance guard against the hidden claims a quitclaim never covers.