California Quitclaim Deed: Requirements, Recording and Transfer Tax

A quitclaim deed in California is a written deed that the person giving up an interest in real property signs and then has recorded with the county recorder. California's codes do not define a quitclaim deed or provide a quitclaim form; the governing rule is that real property passes only by a writing subscribed by the person giving it up (Cal. Civ. Code § 1091), and the recorder will record a quitclaim deed only after the signer acknowledges it before a notary or other authorized officer (Cal. Gov. Code § 27287).

This page walks through those rules in the order you will meet them: signing, spousal signatures, recording and fees, documentary transfer tax, the ownership report the assessor needs, property tax reassessment and deed fraud protections. For the same rules in other states, see quitclaim deed rules by state.

Information last verified on 2026-10-08. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers California statutes on executing and recording a deed (Civil Code §§ 1091, 1092, 1113, 1189, 1213 to 1217; Government Code §§ 27201, 27287, 27293, 27297.7, 27321.5, 27324, 27361, 27361.6, 27388 and 27388.1), the Documentary Transfer Tax Act (Revenue and Taxation Code § 11901 and following), the change-in-ownership rules for property tax (Revenue and Taxation Code §§ 62, 63, 63.2, 480, 480.3 and 482), Family Code § 1102 and the revocable transfer on death deed (Probate Code § 5600 and following). It does not cover title insurance, lender or loan rules beyond the federal due-on-sale limits noted below, county fee totals and city transfer tax rates beyond what is stated here, federal gift or income tax, or other states' laws.

What a quitclaim deed is under California law

California's statutes mention quitclaim deeds by name in the recording and fee rules, such as Gov. Code § 27287 (acknowledgment), § 27297.7 (the recorder notification program) and § 27388 (the real estate fraud prosecution fee). None of the sections reviewed for this article defines what a quitclaim deed is or sets out a quitclaim form.

The Civil Code instead states the general rule for any deed:

"An estate in real property, other than an estate at will or for a term not exceeding one year, can be transferred only by operation of law, or by an instrument in writing, subscribed by the party disposing of the same, or by his agent thereunto authorized by writing." Cal. Civ. Code § 1091

The only short-form deed in the Civil Code is the grant deed in Civ. Code § 1092, which may be made "in substance as follows" and uses the word "grant." It is not a quitclaim form, and no state-published quitclaim form appears among the sources cited here. A county recorder may have a blank form, and a lawyer can prepare one; recorder staff cannot give legal advice about what a deed should say.

What a quitclaim deed does not do

When a deed uses the word "grant" to pass a fee simple or estate of inheritance, California implies two limited title promises unless the deed's express terms restrain them: that the grantor has not already conveyed the same estate or any interest in it to someone else, and that the estate is free of encumbrances done, made or suffered by the grantor or anyone claiming under the grantor (Civ. Code § 1113). Section 1113 ties those implied promises to the word "grant," so it does not imply them into a deed that does not use that word. For how quitclaim deeds generally differ from deeds that come with title promises, see our guide to quitclaim vs. warranty deeds.

A deed also is not a loan document. Signing a quitclaim deed changes who holds title, but the statutes reviewed here say nothing about it ending a borrower's obligation on an existing mortgage or deed of trust. That depends on the loan documents and the lender, which this article does not cover.

Transferring title can also matter to the lender if the loan has a due-on-sale clause. For a loan secured by residential property with fewer than five dwelling units, federal law bars the lender from using that clause for certain transfers (12 U.S.C. § 1701j-3(d)), but the federal regulation applies that protection to a loan on a home the borrower occupies or will occupy, covers a transfer where the borrower's spouse or children become an owner, or a transfer to the borrower's spouse under a divorce decree, legal separation agreement or property settlement agreement, only when the new owner occupies or will occupy the home, and covers a transfer into a living trust only when the borrower is and remains the beneficiary and occupant (12 C.F.R. § 191.5(b)). [Also add a citation entry: 12 C.F.R. § 191.5 (limitation on exercise of due-on-sale clauses) | https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-12/chapter-I/part-191/section-191.5] A transfer that is not on the statute's list does not get that protection, so ask the lender before signing.

Signing and notarization requirements

These are the execution and format rules the statutes set for a deed presented to a California county recorder.

The notary's certificate does not vouch for the deed. The boxed notice required by Civ. Code § 1189 reads in part: "A notary public or other officer completing this certificate verifies only the identity of the individual who signed the document to which this certificate is attached, and not the truthfulness, accuracy, or validity of that document."

Does a spouse have to sign?

For community real property, yes. Fam. Code § 1102(a) says "both spouses, either personally or by a duly authorized agent, are required to join in executing an instrument by which that community real property or an interest therein is leased for a longer period than one year, or is sold, conveyed, or encumbered."

Three limits on that rule matter for quitclaim deeds:

• It does not apply to a conveyance between the spouses themselves (Fam. Code § 1102(b)), so one spouse can quitclaim to the other.
• A deed of community property signed by one spouse alone, where that spouse holds the record title, to a buyer in good faith who did not know of the marriage is presumed valid (Fam. Code § 1102(c)).
• A lawsuit to void a one-spouse deed of community property that stands of record in that spouse's name must be filed within one year after the deed is recorded (Fam. Code § 1102(d)).

A quitclaim deed between spouses as part of a divorce raises transfer tax and reassessment questions covered below. For the divorce process itself, see California divorce laws.

Recording a quitclaim deed with the county recorder

You record a quitclaim deed with the county recorder. The recorder must accept a document that the law authorizes to be recorded and may not refuse it because of its "lack of legal sufficiency" (Gov. Code § 27201). That means acceptance for recording is not a check that the deed accomplishes what you intended.

After recording, the recorder mails the original back to the person named on the first page for return mail (Gov. Code § 27361.6). To look up deeds already on record in your county, see our guide to California property records.

What recording does

California's recording statutes make recording a matter of priority and notice. A recorded deed gives constructive notice of its contents (Civ. Code § 1213). An unrecorded deed can be void against a later buyer or lender who acts in good faith and for value and whose own document is recorded first (Civ. Code § 1214).

Between the people who signed it, an unrecorded deed still counts: "An unrecorded instrument is valid as between the parties thereto and those who have notice thereof." (Civ. Code § 1217)

Recording fees

State law sets caps and specific add-on fees, and each county sets its own schedule within them. Ask your county recorder for its current total; none of the figures below is a statewide total.

The SB 2 fee has exemptions, including a document recorded in connection with a transfer that is subject to documentary transfer tax and a transfer of a residential dwelling to an owner-occupier (Gov. Code § 27388.1). A gift deed is exempt from transfer tax, so a gift quitclaim of property the new owner will not live in may still carry the $75 fee.

This guide does not cover county e-recording programs. Ask the recorder whether it accepts electronic submissions from the public or only through approved submitters.

Documentary transfer tax

The state statutes cited here impose no state-level transfer tax. Instead, the Documentary Transfer Tax Act lets a county board of supervisors impose a tax by ordinance on deeds that grant realty "sold within the county," when the consideration, not counting liens that remain on the property, exceeds $100 (Rev. & Tax. Code § 11911(a)).

The base county rate is $0.55 for each $500 of value or fraction of $500, which works out to $1.10 per $1,000. A city inside a county that imposes the tax may impose its own tax at half that rate, credited against the county tax (Rev. & Tax. Code § 11911(b)). This article does not cover any city rate above that base; check with the county recorder and the city.

Where a county imposes the tax, a deed subject to it must show on its face the amount of tax due and whether the property is in an incorporated or unincorporated area, in a declaration signed by the person who figured the tax or that person's agent. The recorder will not record a deed subject to the tax unless the tax is paid at the time of recording (Rev. & Tax. Code §§ 11932, 11933).

Exemptions that fit quitclaim situations

The divorce exemption is the one most often missed: without the signed recital on the deed, the statute does not grant it.

The Preliminary Change of Ownership Report (BOE-502-A)

The transferee (the person receiving the property) completes a Preliminary Change of Ownership Report and may file it with the recorder when the deed is recorded. Every county assessor and recorder must provide the form free on request, and the recorder may charge $20 more to record a document that does not come with one (Rev. & Tax. Code § 480.3). The report is confidential and goes to the assessor (Gov. Code § 27280(b)).

The State Board of Equalization posts a watermarked sample of BOE-502-A, but the sample itself says "Contact Assessor for actual form." Part 1 of the form lists exclusions to check, including transfers between spouses, between registered domestic partners, from parent to child or grandparent to grandchild, into a revocable trust, and transfers where proportional interests do not change.

Separately, Rev. & Tax. Code § 480(a) requires a transferee to file a signed change in ownership statement in the county where the property is located when a change in ownership occurs. The statement may accompany the deed, and when the deed is recorded it is to be filed with the recorder at that time (§ 480(d), (e)). If the deed is recorded without it, or is not recorded at all, the statement is due to the assessor within 90 days after the change in ownership; for a change by reason of death it is due within 150 days after the date of death or, if the estate is probated, when the inventory and appraisal is filed (§ 480(e)).

If the assessor mails a written request and the statement is not filed within 90 days, a penalty is added to the assessment: the greater of $100 or 10% of the taxes on the new base year value, capped, when the failure was not willful, at $5,000 for property eligible for the homeowners' exemption and $20,000 otherwise (Rev. & Tax. Code § 482(a)). The county assessor can tell you whether filing the BOE-502-A with the deed covers the statement in your case.

Property tax: will the quitclaim trigger reassessment?

Whether a quitclaim deed leads to a new assessed value depends on whether it is a "change in ownership" under the Revenue and Taxation Code. Several common quitclaim situations are excluded.

• Spouses, including in a divorce. "A change of ownership shall not include any interspousal transfer," which covers transfers to or from a spouse or former spouse in a divorce (Rev. & Tax. Code § 63).
• Revocable trusts and title changes. A transfer into a revocable trust, a transfer that only changes the method of holding title while proportional interests stay the same, and "any transfer for the purpose of perfecting title to the property" are not changes in ownership (Rev. & Tax. Code § 62).
• Parents and children (Prop 19). For transfers on or after February 16, 2021, the parent-child exclusion, and a limited grandparent-grandchild exclusion, covers only a family home that was the transferor's principal residence and becomes the transferee's principal residence within one year, or a family farm (Rev. & Tax. Code § 63.2). Rental property does not qualify.

For the Prop 19 family home exclusion, the transferee must claim the homeowners' or disabled veterans' exemption within one year, and must file the claim form (BOE-19-P for a parent-child transfer, BOE-19-G for grandparent-grandchild) within three years of the transfer, or earlier if the property is transferred to a third party or the transferee no longer occupies the residence (Rev. & Tax. Code § 63.2(f); BOE Publication 801). A claim filed within six months after a notice of supplemental or escape assessment issued because of the transfer is also treated as timely. The value cap is the property's factored base year value plus $1 million, adjusted every other year for inflation; for transfers from February 16, 2025 through February 15, 2027, the adjusted amount is $1,044,586.

Acquiring property can also bring a supplemental assessment. The BOE-502-A warns: "The property which you acquired may be subject to a supplemental assessment in an amount to be determined by the County Assessor" (Marin County Assessor). This article does not cover how a transfer affects an existing homeowners' exemption.

Deed fraud protections

California has several protections against forged and fraudulent deeds.

• County notification programs (SB 255). SB 255 (Stats. 2025, Ch. 351) repealed and re-added Gov. Code § 27297.7, effective January 1, 2026. "On or before January 1, 2027, each county within the state shall establish a recorder notification program." Once the board of supervisors adopts its resolution, the recorder mails a notice within 30 days to the people who signed a recorded deed, quitclaim deed, mortgage or deed of trust, at the property's tax-bill address from before the recording. Counties may charge a fee for the program, and a county already running a program under Gov. Code § 27297.6 is not required to set one up.
• County alert services. Some counties also run their own alerts. For example, the San Diego County Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk offers Owner Alert, a free email notice when a document is recorded under a registered name or parcel number. That is a San Diego County service, not a statewide one.
• Criminal penalty. Knowingly procuring or offering a false or forged instrument for recording in a California public office is a felony, and after a conviction the court can adjudge the instrument void from the start on the prosecutor's motion (Penal Code § 115).
• Notary liability. A notary public who willfully states as true a material fact the notary knows is false is subject to a civil penalty of up to $10,000 (Civ. Code § 1189(a)(4)).

The transfer on death deed alternative

If the goal is to pass a home at death rather than now, California authorizes a revocable transfer on death deed (Prob. Code § 5600 and following). It "is not effective unless the deed is recorded on or before 60 days after the date it was acknowledged before a notary" (Prob. Code § 5626). The statutory form in Prob. Code § 5642 requires two witnesses and states that the deed is exempt from documentary transfer tax and from the Preliminary Change of Ownership Report.

The law authorizing these deeds is repealed as of January 1, 2032, unless the Legislature extends it (Prob. Code § 5600(c)). For what happens to property after an owner dies, see California probate.

Common misconceptions

"A quitclaim deed is not valid until it is recorded." Not between the parties. Civ. Code § 1217 makes an unrecorded deed valid between the parties and anyone with notice. Recording protects the new owner against later good-faith buyers and lenders (Civ. Code § 1214).

"A gift deed costs nothing." A gift is exempt from documentary transfer tax (Rev. & Tax. Code § 11930), but the $75 SB 2 fee can still apply to a gift of property the recipient will not occupy (Gov. Code § 27388.1), and a gift can still be a reassessable change in ownership unless an exclusion applies.

"A quitclaim deed takes my name off the mortgage." The statutes reviewed for this article do not support that. A deed changes title; the loan is a separate contract with the lender.

Related

• Quitclaim deed rules by state
• Quitclaim vs. warranty deed
• California property records
• California divorce laws
• California probate

Disclaimer: This article provides general legal information about California law on quitclaim deeds, recording, documentary transfer tax and property tax reassessment, verified on 2026-10-08. It is not legal or tax advice. For your specific situation, contact your county recorder or assessor (who cannot give legal advice), a legal aid office, or a lawyer licensed in California.

Last updated: 2026-10-08.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I file a quitclaim deed in California?

Have the grantor sign the deed and acknowledge it before a notary, then record it with the county recorder along with a Preliminary Change of Ownership Report (BOE-502-A), paying the recording fees and any transfer tax your county or city imposes. Gov. Code § 27287 requires the acknowledgment before recording, and Rev. & Tax. Code § 480.3 lets the recorder charge $20 more if the BOE-502-A is missing.

Does a quitclaim deed need to be notarized in California?

Yes, to be recorded. Gov. Code § 27287 requires the signer to acknowledge a recorded instrument and specifically excludes quitclaim deeds from the alternative of proof by a subscribing witness.

How much does it cost to record a quitclaim deed in California?

It depends on the county. State law caps the base fee at $10 for the first page and $3 for each additional page (Gov. Code § 27361) and adds a $75 SB 2 fee per document unless an exemption applies (Gov. Code § 27388.1); counties may add other authorized fees, so check your county recorder's fee schedule.

Do you pay transfer tax on a quitclaim deed in California?

Only if the transfer is taxable under your county's or city's documentary transfer tax ordinance, which generally reaches deeds for realty that is sold (Rev. & Tax. Code § 11911). Gifts are exempt (§ 11930), a divorce division is exempt if the deed carries a signed recital claiming it (§ 11927), and some changes in how title is held are exempt (§ 11925).

Will a quitclaim deed trigger a property tax reassessment in California?

It can. A transfer between spouses is not a change in ownership (Rev. & Tax. Code § 63), nor is a transfer into a revocable trust (§ 62), but a parent-child transfer is excluded only under Prop 19's family home or family farm rules and value cap (Rev. & Tax. Code § 63.2).

Is a quitclaim deed valid if it is never recorded in California?

Between the parties, yes: Civ. Code § 1217 says an unrecorded instrument is valid between the parties and those who have notice of it. Recording protects the new owner against a later good-faith buyer or lender whose own deed is recorded first (Civ. Code § 1214).

Does my spouse have to sign a quitclaim deed in California?

For community real property, Fam. Code § 1102 requires both spouses to join in a deed that sells or conveys it. That rule does not apply to a conveyance between the spouses themselves.

Does a quitclaim deed remove me from the mortgage?

A deed deals with who holds title, and California's codes reviewed for this article do not say that a quitclaim deed changes anyone's obligations under a loan. Whether a borrower stays liable depends on the loan documents and the lender, so ask the lender before relying on a deed to end your liability.

Is a transfer on death deed an alternative to a quitclaim deed in California?

For passing a home at death, possibly. California's revocable transfer on death deed (Prob. Code § 5600 et seq.) must be recorded within 60 days after it is notarized (§ 5626), and the statute that authorizes it is set to be repealed on January 1, 2032 unless the Legislature extends it.