Quit Claim Deed

An instrument of conveyance of real property that passes any title, claim, or interest that the grantor has in the premises but does not make any representations as to the validity of such title.

A common use for a quitclaim deed is a divorce in which one party is granting the other full rights to, and eliminating any interest in, a property in which both parties held an interest. If a husband and wife own a home and divorce, and the wife acquires the home in the divorce settlement or court decision, the husband would execute a quitclaim deed to the wife to eliminate the husband's interest in the property.

A quitclaim deed is a release by the grantor, or conveyor of the deed, of any interest the grantor may have in the property described in the deed. Generally a quitclaim deed relieves the grantor of liability regarding the ownership of the property. Thus, the grantor of a quitclaim deed will not be liable to the grantee, or recipient of the deed, if a competing claim to the property is later discovered. A quitclaim deed is not a guarantee that the grantor has clear title to the property; rather it is a relinquishment of the grantor's rights, if any, in the property. By contrast, in a warranty deed the grantor promises that she owns the property with no cloud on the title (that is, no competing claims).

The holder of a quitclaim deed receives only the interest owned by the person conveying the deed. If the grantee of a quitclaim deed learns after accepting the deed that the grantor did not own the property, the grantee may lose the property to the true owner. If it turns out that the grantor had only a partial interest in the property, the quitclaim deedholder holds only that partial interest.

In some states a quitclaim deed does not relieve the grantor of liability for all encumbrances, or clouds, on the title. In these states a grantor must warrant that neither the grantor nor anyone associated with the grantor has a claim to the title. The grantor must defend the title for the grantee if a cloud on the title arose under or through the grantor. For example, if a contract made by the grantor resulted in a lien being placed on the property, the grantor would have to defend against that claim for the grantee, even under a quitclaim deed. If the property has changed hands several times after the cloud first appeared, however, the grantor may not be liable to the grantee.

Quitclaim deeds may also be used in some jurisdictions in cases of tax deed sales where property is auctioned off to pay outstanding tax debt. The auctioning body is usually a local government, which claims no interest in the property whatsoever, but is selling it only to recover the back taxes without providing any other warranties of title.

Another increasingly common use for a quitclaim deed is to transfer legal title of real property from elderly people, generally those in failing health, with increasingly restricted mobility, or just those taking a long-term view, to their children or another person who either has legal power of attorney and/or a health proxy for the elderly person, or is anticipating having such decision-making power in the future. This may be done due to current regulations surrounding nursing home fees. If an elderly person is admitted to a nursing home (or similar type of facility), whatever real property that person owns could be used by the facility in payment of fees. Also, in order to have Medicare pay for the nursing home care, the elderly person cannot have substantial resources, either in property or financial instruments. In other words, as part of estate planning, an elderly person may register a quitclaim deed upon his/her (legally responsible) child, so that if s/he needs to move to a nursing home at some point, the family home cannot be taken by the facility as payment, as legal title to the home would rest in the grantee child.

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Quit Claim Deed Forms

Related Information

March 29, 2011

Quitclaim Deed Information

A quitclaim deed (sometimes erroneously referred to as a "quick-claim" deed) is a legal instrument by which a person, called the grantor, transfers his interest to a recipient, called the grantee. The grantor terminates (“quits”) his right and claim to the property, thereby allowing claim to transfer to the recipient/grantee.

Unlike most other property deeds, a quitclaim deed contains no title convenant and thus, offers the grantee no warranty as to the status of the property title; the grantee is only entitled to whatever interest the grantor actually possesses at the time the transfer occurs. This means that the grantor does not guarantee that he actually owns the property at the time of the transfer, or if he does own it, that the title is free and clear. It is therefore possible for a grantee to receive no actual interest, and -- because a quitclaim deed offers no warranty -- have no legal recourse to recover her losses. Further, if the grantor should acquire the property at a later date, the grantee is not entitled to take possession, because the grantee can only receive the interest the grantor held at the time the transfer occurred. In contrast, other deeds often used for real estate sales (called grant deeds or warranty deeds, depending on the jurisdiction) contain warranties from the grantor to the grantee that the title is clear and/or that the grantor has not placed any encumbrance against the title.

Because of this lack of warranty, quitclaim deeds most often used to transfer property between family members, as gifts, placing personal property into a business entity (and vise-versa) or in other special or unique circumstances. Quitclaim deeds are rarely used to transfer property from seller to buyer in a traditional property sale; in most cases, the grantor and grantee have an existing relationship or is the same person.

Another common use for a quitclaim deed is in divorce, whereby one spouse terminates any interest in the jointly-owned marital home, thereby granting the receiving spouse full rights to the property. For example, when a wife acquires the home in the divorce settlement or by court decision, the husband could execute a quitclaim deed eliminating his interest in the property and transferring full claim to the wife quickly and inexpensively.

In some jurisdictions, quitclaim deeds may also be used in tax deed sales, where a property is sold in a public auction to recover the original homeowner’s outstanding tax debt. The auctioning body is usually the local government, which claims no interest to the property whatsoever, but is selling only to recover the back-owed taxes without extending any warranty for the property title.

March 29, 2011

Definition of a Quitclaim Deed

A real property deed which transfers (conveys) only that interest in the property in which the grantor has title. Commonly used in transfers of title or interests in title, quitclaims are often made to family members, divorcing spouses, or in other transactions between people well-known to each other. Quitclaim deeds are also used to clear up questions of full title when a person has a possible but unknown interest in the property. Grant deeds and warranty deeds guarantee (warrant) that the grantor has full title to the property or the interest the deed states is being conveyed, but quitclaim deeds do not warrant good title.