North Carolina Quitclaim Deed: Requirements, Recording and Excise Tax

In North Carolina a quitclaim deed is an ordinary deed: the General Statutes give it no special form, so it follows the same rules as any other conveyance. Before it can be registered, the grantor must acknowledge it (or a witness must prove the signature on oath) under G.S. 47-17, and it is recorded with the register of deeds in the county where the land lies, because under G.S. 47-18 a conveyance does not pass the property as against lien creditors or purchasers for value until it is registered there.

This page covers what a quitclaim does in North Carolina, the signing rules including the drafter's name and a married grantor's spouse, recording fees and page standards, the excise tax and its gift and no-consideration exemptions, property tax, the mortgage and deed fraud. For other states, see quitclaim deed rules by state.

Information last verified on 2026-10-09. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers North Carolina law on quitclaim deeds: construction of conveyances (G.S. Chapter 39), acknowledgment, the drafter requirement and registration (G.S. Chapter 47), spousal joinder (G.S. 39-7 and 39-13.3), register of deeds fees and standards (G.S. 161-10 and 161-14), the excise tax on conveyances (G.S. 105-228.28 and following), and the property tax homestead exclusion (G.S. 105-277.1), plus the federal mortgage and gift-tax points that apply in every state. It does not cover title insurance, a lender's own loan terms, county practices beyond the examples named, federal estate or income tax, or the law of other states.

What a quitclaim deed does in North Carolina

North Carolina does not define a quitclaim deed by statute or print a short form for one. The statutory forms in Chapter 47 are forms of acknowledgment, probate and order of registration, not deed forms. A quitclaim deed is simply a deed, and the general rules on how deeds are signed, acknowledged, taxed and registered apply to it.

As the term is generally used, a quitclaim deed passes whatever interest the grantor has without promising that the title is good. North Carolina's statutes do not spell that effect out for quitclaims in particular. G.S. 39-1 does supply one default rule for every deed: when real estate is conveyed, "the same shall be held and construed to be a conveyance in fee, whether the word 'heir' is used or not," unless plain words show the grantor meant to convey a lesser estate.

For how a quitclaim compares with a warranty deed, which does promise good title, see quitclaim vs. warranty deed. A quitclaim deed also leaves the mortgage where it was; the mortgage section below explains why.

Signing a quitclaim deed in North Carolina

Acknowledgment before a notary

G.S. 47-17 requires that deeds, "before registration, ... shall be acknowledged by the grantor, lessor or the person executing the same, or their signature proven on oath by one or more witnesses in the manner prescribed by law." In practice that means signing before a notary public or another officer named in G.S. 47-1 who completes a certificate of acknowledgment. G.S. 47-38 gives a short certificate form, under which the grantor "personally appeared before me this day and acknowledged the due execution of the foregoing instrument," and other forms are not barred.

Proof by a witness is an alternative route to registration, not an added requirement. The sections cited here do not require witnesses on a deed that the grantor acknowledges.

The drafter's name on the first page

Under G.S. 47-17.1, the register of deeds may not accept a deed for registration "unless the first page of the deeds or deeds of trust bears an entry showing the name of the drafter of the deed or deed of trust." The register does not check whether the drafter was qualified to prepare it, only that the name is there.

This page does not draft deed language. No state agency or register of deeds publishes an official North Carolina quitclaim form that this research located. A North Carolina lawyer can prepare the deed, and the register of deeds can tell you what its office checks, though registers cannot give legal advice.

Legal description

North Carolina has no statute that sets out how a deed must describe the land, but G.S. 39-2 saves deeds from some technical attacks. A deed "shall not be declared void for vagueness in the description" merely because it uses "adjoining" instead of "bounded by," or because the stated boundaries do not run entirely around the land, subject to a proviso in the statute about the grantor owning no other land that fits the description. A precise description taken from the grantor's own recorded deed avoids the problem.

Does a spouse have to sign a North Carolina quitclaim deed?

Usually, yes, when the grantor is married and the deed goes to someone other than the spouse. G.S. 39-7 provides that, to waive the surviving spouse's elective life estate under G.S. 29-30, "every conveyance or other instrument affecting the estate, right or title of any married person in lands, tenements or hereditaments must be executed by such husband or wife, and due proof or acknowledgment thereof must be made and certified as provided by law." The statute lists exceptions, including G.S. 39-13, 39-13.3, 39-13.4, 31A-1(d) and 52-10.

A deed between spouses works differently. Under G.S. 39-13.3:

• a conveyance from one spouse to the other vests the property in the grantee spouse;
• it does not waive the grantor's elective life estate unless the deed expressly says so;
• it does not waive or release a claim to equitable distribution under G.S. 50-20; and
• joinder of the grantor's spouse is not necessary (G.S. 39-13.3(d)).

Subsection (e) of G.S. 39-13.3 was repealed by Session Law 2025-25, effective October 1, 2025. If the deed is part of a separation or divorce, see North Carolina divorce laws, and talk to a lawyer before signing, because a deed alone does not settle equitable distribution.

How to record a quitclaim deed in North Carolina

Take the deed to the register of deeds "in the county where the land lies, or if the land is located in more than one county, then in each county where any portion of the land lies" (G.S. 47-18).

Recording is what protects the new owner. G.S. 47-18 provides that no conveyance of land "is valid to pass any property interest as against lien creditors or purchasers for a valuable consideration from the donor, bargainor, or lessor but from the time of its registration in the county where the land lies." Registration order, not notice, is what the statute turns on, so a grantee who delays recording risks losing to a later buyer or a lien creditor who records first. Between the grantor and the grantee, the statute's words do not make the deed void unrecorded.

The register "shall" register instruments "in the precise order in which they were presented for registration" (G.S. 161-14(a)). After recording, the deed is part of the county's public land records; to search those records, see North Carolina property records.

Recording fees

North Carolina sets register of deeds fees by statute, so the base fee is the same in every county:

The G.S. 161-14(b) standards also call for at least a one-half inch margin on the other sides of page one and all sides of later pages, and text on one side of the page only. A deed that fails them is still registered, with the $25 nonstandard-document fee.

Electronic recording

G.S. Chapter 47, Article 16A authorizes electronic recording. Where a law requires a paper or original document, "the requirement is satisfied by an electronic document satisfying this Article," and a register of deeds who offers electronic recording must follow standards the Secretary of State adopts. No statewide mandate that every county e-record was verified; ask your register of deeds.

Excise tax on a North Carolina quitclaim deed

North Carolina levies an excise tax on deeds (often called revenue stamps). Under G.S. 105-228.30, "An excise tax is levied on each instrument by which any interest in real property is conveyed to another person." The rate is "one dollar ($1.00) on each five hundred dollars ($500.00) or fractional part thereof of the consideration or value of the interest conveyed." The transferor must pay the tax to the register of deeds of the county where the real estate is located before the deed is recorded (G.S. 105-228.30(a)).

The tax is handled at the register's counter. "A person who presents an instrument for registration must report to the Register of Deeds the amount of tax due," and "Before the instrument may be recorded, the Register of Deeds must collect the tax due and mark the instrument to indicate that the tax has been paid and the amount of the tax paid" (G.S. 105-228.32). There is no separate state return form.

Exemptions that fit quitclaim deeds

G.S. 105-228.29 lists transfers the excise tax does not reach. Those that most often fit a quitclaim are:

• Gift. A transfer "By gift" (G.S. 105-228.29(5)), such as a parent deeding a house to a child.
• No consideration. A transfer where no consideration in property or money is due or paid by the transferee to the transferor (G.S. 105-228.29(6)), such as adding a name for nothing.
• Other listed transfers. Transfers by operation of law, by lease for a term of years, by or under a will, by intestacy, by merger, conversion or consolidation, and by an instrument securing indebtedness.

Unlike some states, North Carolina's gift exemption is not limited to family members. The exemptions still leave the person presenting the deed responsible for reporting the correct tax figure to the register. Because the tax is figured on "consideration or value," a deed that recites a nominal price but is in fact a sale is a question for the register, not an automatic exemption.

North Carolina's former local land transfer tax article, G.S. 105-600 through 105-604, was repealed by Session Law 2011-18 effective March 31, 2011. Seven counties levy their own 1% land transfer tax under local acts, on top of the state excise tax: Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Pasquotank, Perquimans and Washington ($1 per $100 of the sales price or value, per Perquimans and Dare counties). Perquimans County says deeds of gift and transfers with no consideration are not taxed, and that recording a deed there requires a copy of the sales contract or an Affidavit of Consideration or Value. If your land is in one of these counties, ask the county tax office what it requires before you record.

Property tax after a North Carolina quitclaim deed

North Carolina's homestead exclusion for qualifying owners (G.S. 105-277.1) is claimed by application, and the statute says the application "should be filed during the regular listing period." A new owner who wants the exclusion must apply in their own name. Present-use value for farm and forest land (G.S. 105-277.3) also has ownership requirements, with exceptions for new owners. If the land is in present-use value, a new application must be filed within 60 days of the transfer (G.S. 105-277.4(a)). If the land loses its eligibility, the deferred taxes for the preceding three fiscal years become due (G.S. 105-277.4(c)).

Whether a transfer by itself triggers a new valuation is a question for the county tax office.

Does a quitclaim deed remove you from the mortgage?

No. A deed transfers ownership; it does not release anyone from a loan. Under 12 CFR 191.5(b)(4), a borrower is released when the lender and the new owner agree in writing, before the transfer, that the new owner is obligated on the loan; on that agreement, the lender "shall release the existing borrower from all obligations under the loan instruments." The mortgage lien stays on the property, and federal servicing rules call a family member who receives the property this way a "successor in interest" (12 CFR 1024.31).

Most mortgages let the lender call the loan due on a transfer. For a loan "on the security of a home occupied or to be occupied by the borrower," 12 CFR 191.5(b) bars enforcing that clause on:

• a transfer where the borrower's spouse or children become an owner, or a transfer under a divorce decree, legal separation agreement or property settlement by which the spouse becomes an owner, where the new owner occupies or will occupy the property; and
• a transfer into an inter vivos trust "in which the borrower is and remains the beneficiary and occupant of the property," unless the borrower refuses to give the lender reasonable means of notice of later transfers.

A later disqualifying event can restore the lender's right (12 CFR 191.5(b)(5)). Transfers to siblings, friends or a business are outside these exceptions. Talk to your lender before you sign.

Gift tax on a quitclaim deed to family

A quitclaim for little or nothing can also be a gift for federal tax purposes. The IRS says gift tax "applies to the transfer by gift of any type of property." For 2026 the annual exclusion is $19,000 per recipient, and the donor generally pays any gift tax due. The recipient's basis in gifted property is generally the donor's basis. Ask a tax professional about your situation.

Deed fraud protections in North Carolina

In deed fraud, someone forges or impersonates an owner to record a deed, often a quitclaim. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center advises owners to "Check if your County Recorder, Register of Deeds, County Appraisal District, or County Clerk's Office offer notification services and send an automated email or text when a legal document is recorded using your name."

Guilford County's Register of Deeds offers a Property Fraud Alert (a county example, not statewide). The county is clear about its limits: "the Property Fraud Alert tool does not prevent a document from being recorded. Instead, it serves as an early warning system, alerting you after a document has been filed under your name." Ask your own register of deeds whether it offers a similar alert.

Pending, not law: House Bill 535 of 2025, the Title Fraud Prevention Act, passed the House and was referred to the Senate Committee on Rules and Operations on May 7, 2025, which was still its last action on 2026-10-09. It would, among other things, make filing a fraudulent deed a felony and let a register of deeds require photo identification before recording. None of that is in effect.

Is there a transfer-on-death deed in North Carolina?

North Carolina has no transfer-on-death deed statute for real estate: the 2021 Senate bill to create one (S 368) was not enacted, and Chapter 31 of the General Statutes, checked on 2026-10-09, contains no such article. To pass a home at death, owners use other tools, such as a will or a trust; see North Carolina probate for how property passes at death.

Common myths about North Carolina quitclaim deeds

• "A gift deed owes stamp tax." Transfers by gift are exempt from the excise tax (G.S. 105-228.29(5)); you still report the amount due, which for a gift is none, to the register.
• "Recording is optional." Between the parties it may be, but G.S. 47-18 protects lien creditors and purchasers for value against a deed that is not yet registered.
• "Deeding the house to my spouse takes me off the loan." It does not; only the lender can release a borrower (12 CFR 191.5(b)(4)).

Related

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

Disclaimer: This article is general legal information about North Carolina law (G.S. Chapters 39, 47, 105 and 161) and the federal rules noted, verified on 2026-10-09. It is not legal or tax advice. For your specific situation, contact your county register of deeds (who cannot give legal advice), a legal aid office, or a lawyer licensed in North Carolina.

Last updated: 2026-10-09.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I file a quitclaim deed in North Carolina?

Have the grantor acknowledge the deed before a notary public or other officer (G.S. 47-17), make sure the first page names the drafter (G.S. 47-17.1), then present it to the register of deeds in the county where the land lies with the recording fee and any excise tax due (G.S. 47-18, 105-228.32).

Does a quitclaim deed need to be notarized in North Carolina?

Before registration, a deed must be acknowledged by the grantor or the signature proven on oath by a witness (G.S. 47-17). Acknowledgment before a notary public is the usual route.

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

G.S. 161-10 sets $26 for the first 15 pages and $4 for each additional page, plus $25 if the deed does not meet the G.S. 161-14(b) page standards. Excise tax, if any is due, is separate.

Do you pay transfer tax on a quitclaim deed in North Carolina?

The excise tax is $1 per $500 of consideration or value (G.S. 105-228.30), but transfers by gift and transfers with no consideration due or paid are exempt (G.S. 105-228.29). Seven counties add a 1% local land transfer tax.

Does my spouse have to sign a quitclaim deed in North Carolina?

To waive the spouse's elective life estate, a conveyance of a married person's land must be executed by the spouse (G.S. 39-7). For a deed from one spouse to the other, joinder of the grantor's spouse is not necessary (G.S. 39-13.3(d)).

Does a quitclaim deed remove me from the mortgage?

No. Under 12 CFR 191.5(b)(4), a borrower is released only when the lender and the new owner agree in writing, before the transfer, that the new owner is obligated on the loan.

Is an unrecorded quitclaim deed valid in North Carolina?

Under G.S. 47-18, a conveyance does not pass the property as against lien creditors or purchasers for value until it is registered in the county where the land lies, so record it promptly.

Does North Carolina allow transfer-on-death deeds?

No. North Carolina has no transfer-on-death deed statute for real estate; a 2021 bill to create one was not enacted. Owners use other tools, such as a will or a trust.