If you searched for a "quick claim deed," you are in the right place — you just have the name slightly wrong, and almost everybody does. The document is a quitclaim deed. The word is "quit," as in the owner quits their claim to the property. But the misspelling makes sense, because the reason people reach for this deed is speed. It is the fastest, cheapest way to move Florida real estate from one name to another.
Speed comes with a trade-off, and in Florida that trade-off has some sharp edges that do not exist in other states — two-witness execution, homestead rules that can void a transfer, and a documentary stamp tax that catches people who thought a family transfer was free. Here is how the process actually works, what it costs, and where do-it-yourself transfers go wrong.
What a Florida quitclaim deed actually transfers
A quitclaim deed transfers whatever interest the grantor has in the property — no more, no less — and makes no promises about what that interest is worth.
That is the whole design. A warranty deed says "I own this free and clear, and if a title problem shows up later, I will defend you." A quitclaim deed says "whatever I've got, it's yours now." If the grantor owns the property outright, full ownership passes. If the grantor owns a one-third interest, one-third passes. If it turns out the grantor owned nothing at all, the grantee receives exactly nothing — and has no legal recourse against the grantor.
Liens, mortgages, judgments, and code enforcement claims all survive the transfer. They attach to the land, not to the name on the deed.
That sounds alarming until you consider who actually uses these deeds. Quitclaim deeds show up overwhelmingly in transfers between people who already know the title history perfectly well: a parent and a child, two spouses, a person and their own LLC, co-owners rebalancing their shares. Nobody in those transactions needs a warranty, because nobody is a stranger.
When Floridians use one
- Adding a spouse to title after marriage, or creating a tenancy by the entireties
- Removing an ex-spouse after a divorce, per the terms of the final judgment
- Transferring to an adult child or between siblings
- Moving property into a revocable living trust or out of a trust to a beneficiary
- Transferring into or out of an LLC for rental or investment property
- Correcting the record — a misspelled name, a wrong middle initial, a scrivener's error in a prior deed
- Clearing a cloud on title when a former owner or heir may have a lingering claim
What a quitclaim deed is not good for: an arm's-length sale to a buyer you don't know. Those transactions call for a warranty deed, a title search, and title insurance.
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What Florida changed in 2023 and 2024
This is the part most online guides have not caught up on, and it is the reason a free PDF you downloaded in 2019 may get rejected at the counter today.
For most of Florida's history, the quitclaim deed was a creature of custom rather than statute. In 2023, the Legislature wrote it directly into the statutes at Section 689.025, prescribing a substantial form for the deed, requiring a legibly printed legal description, and requiring a blank for the property appraiser's parcel identification number.
Then, effective January 2024, Section 695.26 was amended to require that each witness's name be printed beneath their signature and that each witness's post office address appear on the instrument. Older forms only had a signature line for witnesses. Clerks now reject deeds that lack the printed names and addresses.
Florida also brought quitclaim grantees inside the protection of the recording act, so a grantee taking by quitclaim deed is no longer automatically disqualified from bona fide purchaser status the way older Florida case law suggested.
The practical takeaway: if your blank deed form does not have printed-name and mailing-address lines under both witness signatures, and a parcel ID blank, it is out of date. Recording it wastes your filing fee and forces a second trip.
Florida's execution requirements, step by step
1. Get the legal description right
A street address is not a legal description. You need the lot, block, and subdivision with plat book and page, or the metes-and-bounds description, exactly as it appears on the current recorded deed. Pull it from the prior deed or the county property appraiser's site, copy it character for character, and proofread it twice. A single transposed lot number is the most expensive mistake in this entire process — fixing it takes a corrective deed at best and a quiet title action at worst.
2. Include everything Section 695.26 requires
- Name and post office address of the person who prepared the deed
- Grantor and grantee names legibly printed in the body, with mailing addresses
- Consideration stated (even if it is "$10 and other good and valuable consideration")
- Parcel identification number blank
- A 3" x 3" blank space in the upper right corner of page one, and 1" x 3" on every page after
- Printed names beneath every signature — grantor, both witnesses, and the notary
3. Sign in front of two witnesses and a notary
Florida is one of a small handful of states that still requires two subscribing witnesses on a deed conveying real property, under Section 689.01. The grantor signs in the presence of both witnesses, and the witnesses sign in the grantor's presence. Witnesses must be competent adults who are not named as parties to the deed. The notary may serve as one of the two witnesses.
All of this can be done in person, or entirely online. Florida's remote online notarization rules allow the grantor, witnesses, and notary to appear together over an audio-video link, which is how most of our out-of-state and out-of-country clients execute.
4. If it is homestead and the grantor is married, the spouse must sign
This one voids more deeds than anything else. Under Section 689.111 and Article X of the Florida Constitution, if the property is homestead and the grantor is married, both spouses must sign the deed — even if only one spouse is on the title. A husband who owns the marital home in his name alone cannot deed it away without his wife joining in the conveyance. A deed signed by only one spouse is not merely risky; it is ineffective as to the homestead.
Documentary stamp tax: the bill nobody expects
Florida charges a documentary stamp tax on the deed itself. In 66 of Florida's 67 counties the rate is $0.70 per $100 of consideration (or any portion of $100), under Section 201.02. Miami-Dade uses $0.60 per $100, plus a $0.45 surtax per $100 on anything other than a single-family residence.
People assume a gift is untaxed. Often it is — but "consideration" is defined far more broadly than money changing hands.
ScenarioWhat is taxedGift of unmortgaged property to a childNominal consideration only. A deed reciting "$10 and other good and valuable consideration" generally owes $0.70.Transfer of property with an outstanding mortgageThe unpaid mortgage balance is treated as consideration and is taxed, even though no cash changed hands.Adding or removing a spouse on a mortgaged marital homeTax is generally due on half of the outstanding mortgage balance.Transfer of the marital home pursuant to a divorceGenerally not taxable.Transfer into your own revocable living trustGenerally not a taxable event, since beneficial ownership has not changed.Sale for actual moneyFull purchase price at $0.70 per $100.
Worked example: you deed a Volusia County home worth $300,000 with a $180,000 mortgage to your daughter. There is no sale, but the tax is calculated on the $180,000 debt — 1,800 units x $0.70 = $1,260 in doc stamps, due when you record.
Doc stamps are ordinarily paid to the Clerk at recording. If a deed is recorded after the 20th day of the month following delivery, the tax must be paid directly to the Florida Department of Revenue, and late penalties run at 10% per month up to 50% of the tax owed.
Recording: where it goes and what it costs
The deed is recorded with the Clerk of the Circuit Court in the county where the property sits — not the county where you live. Orange County is the exception worth remembering: recording there goes through the County Comptroller rather than the Clerk.
Recording fees are set statewide by Section 28.24 and are the same in every county:
- $10.00 for the first page
- $8.50 for each additional page
- Indexing: first four names free, then $1.00 per additional name
A standard two-page quitclaim deed costs $18.50 to record. Add doc stamps, and that is your total government cost. Recording is what puts the world on notice of the transfer; an unrecorded deed can still be valid between the two parties, but it leaves the public record showing the old owner, which creates problems at refinance, sale, and death.
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Includes preparation and delivery. County recording fees and documentary stamp tax are paid separately to the Clerk. Mobile notary and remote online notarization available.
Five things a quitclaim deed will not do
It does not remove anyone from the mortgage
The deed changes who owns the property. The promissory note is a separate contract with the lender. An ex-spouse who signs away the house on a quitclaim deed is still fully liable on the loan until it is refinanced or paid off. Deeding the property away also does not remove the lender's mortgage lien.
It does not avoid the due-on-sale clause
Most mortgages let the lender call the loan on transfer. Federal law (the Garn–St. Germain Act) protects several common family transfers — to a spouse, to a child, into a revocable trust where the borrower stays a beneficiary — but not all of them. Transferring a mortgaged rental into an LLC is a common way to trip this.
It does not preserve your homestead exemption or Save Our Homes cap
A change of ownership generally causes the assessed value to reset to just value, which can produce a dramatic tax increase for the new owner. Property held for decades under the Save Our Homes cap can carry an assessed value far below market — a transfer can wipe that out. Check with the county property appraiser before you record, not after.
It does not avoid probate
A plain quitclaim deed to a child during your lifetime gives up your control immediately, exposes the property to your child's creditors and divorce, and hands them your original cost basis instead of a stepped-up basis at death. If your actual goal is to keep the property out of probate while retaining full control, an enhanced life estate deed — a Lady Bird deed — is almost always the better instrument in Florida.
It does not clean up title
If there is a judgment lien, an unpaid contractor's lien, or an unreleased old mortgage sitting on the property, a quitclaim deed passes it right along to the new owner.
Five mistakes that force a corrective deed
- Retyping the legal description instead of copying it. Pull it from the recorded deed or the property appraiser and paste it.
- Using an out-of-state or pre-2024 form. No witness lines, no printed-name and address fields, no parcel ID blank, no 3" x 3" clerk block.
- One witness instead of two, or a witness who is also the grantee.
- Leaving the non-titled spouse off a homestead deed.
- Omitting the "prepared by" block with the preparer's name and address.
Frequently asked questions
Is it a "quick claim deed" or a "quitclaim deed"?
Quitclaim. The grantor quits their claim. "Quick claim" is a widespread mishearing, and it is not a separate document — if a form or a website offers you a "quick claim deed," they are selling you a quitclaim deed.
Does the grantee have to sign?
No. Florida requires the grantor's signature, witnessed and notarized. The grantee's name and mailing address must appear in the deed, but the grantee does not sign.
How fast can this be done?
Preparation takes a day or two. Signing takes fifteen minutes. Recording is same-day to about five business days depending on the county, with e-recording generally the fastest. Many clerks offer expedited processing for a small additional fee.
Can I do this if I live out of state?
Yes. Florida real property is transferred under Florida rules regardless of where the grantor is standing. Remote online notarization lets the grantor, two witnesses, and a Florida notary all appear over video.
Do I need a lawyer?
Not for a straightforward transfer between people who know each other and agree on the terms. You should talk to a Florida real estate or estate planning attorney if there is a contested interest, an active foreclosure or bankruptcy, an unclear chain of title, a Medicaid planning question, or a transfer that is really part of a larger estate plan.
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Do it yourselfHave us prepare itCost$9.99 template$225 flat feeTurnaroundYour own pace24–48 hoursYou handleLegal description, all data entry, formatting check, recordingSigning and recordingBest forSimple, unmortgaged, non-homestead transfers where you're comfortable with the recordHomestead property, mortgaged property, trusts and LLCs, divorce transfers, anything you'd rather not do twice
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Noble Notary & Legal Document Preparers is not a law firm and is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. We are a Florida nonlawyer document preparation and mobile notary service. We may only type the information you provide us; we cannot select forms for you, advise you on your rights or remedies, tell you how a document will affect your legal position, or explain what course of action you should take. This article is general information about Florida law and procedure and is not legal, tax, or financial advice. Statutes, fees, and county recording requirements change — verify current requirements with the Clerk of the Circuit Court in the county where your property is located, and consult a licensed Florida attorney about your specific situation.
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