Quitclaim Deed vs. Warranty Deed: What's the Difference?

A warranty deed promises that the seller holds good title and will defend it against anyone with a lawful claim. A quitclaim deed makes no promises. It transfers whatever interest the signer has, whether that's the whole property, a half share or nothing, so it's mostly used between people who already know the title's history.

This article is general legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by state and situation, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. For advice about your case, talk to a licensed attorney.

Key takeaways

• A general warranty deed covers title defects from any point in the property's history; a special warranty deed or a California grant deed covers only claims traced to the seller. Texas differs: there, "grant" or "convey" implies the property is free of all encumbrances unless the deed says otherwise.
• A quitclaim passes only the rights the signer holds when signing.
• A quitclaim leaves your name on the mortgage. Getting off the loan takes a refinance or a release from the lender.
• On a home with fewer than five units that you live in, a lender can't call the loan because the house went to your spouse or children (including your spouse in a divorce) who live there or will, or into a living trust you remain a beneficiary and occupant of.
• Florida's documentary stamp tax counts a mortgage balance as the price, even in a family transfer.

Quitclaim deed vs. warranty deed: what each type promises

A deed's protection comes from its words. Statutes attach specific promises, called covenants, to words such as "warrants," "grant" and "quitclaim."

Deed	What the signer promises	Where you'll usually see it	Statute or definition
General warranty	They own the property and can convey it, it's free of encumbrances, and they'll defend the title against any lawful claim, however old	Home sales; Texas's standard resale contract requires one	Tex. Prop. Code 5.022; 765 ILCS 5/9
Special warranty	To defend the title only against claims "by, through, or under" the seller	Sales where the seller won't vouch for earlier owners	R.I. Gen. Laws 34-11-44
Grant deed	Implied by the word "grant": the seller hasn't already conveyed the property, and it's free of encumbrances the seller (or someone claiming under the seller) created	California	Cal. Civ. Code 1092, 1113
Bargain and sale	Without covenant, the form makes no promise. With covenant, the seller has "not done or suffered anything" that encumbered the property	New York	N.Y. Real Prop. Law 258, Forms B and C
Quitclaim	Nothing about the title; it releases whatever interest the signer has, if any	Transfers to a spouse, a relative or your own trust, and releasing a possible claim	Fla. Stat. 689.025; 765 ILCS 5/10; N.Y. Real Prop. Law 258, Form D

The general warranty is the deed that reaches back past the seller. If a lien filed against an owner from two sales ago turns up, a general warranty gives you a claim against your seller. A special warranty or grant deed doesn't, because your seller didn't create the lien, except in Texas, where "grant" or "convey" implies the property is free of all encumbrances unless the deed says otherwise (Tex. Prop. Code 5.023, 5.024).

## Which deed fits your situation

Selling a home

The purchase contract normally names the deed. Texas's standard resale contract, TREC No. 20-19 (effective July 1, 2026), requires the seller to deliver a general warranty deed showing no exceptions beyond those the contract permits. Accept a quitclaim in a sale between strangers and you have no covenant to sue on, only the title search and your title policy. Our guide to the real estate closing process covers closing day itself.

A divorce

The spouse giving up the house usually signs a quitclaim to the one keeping it, on the settlement's terms. That settles ownership and nothing more. The lender can't use the due-on-sale clause when a divorce decree, separation agreement or property settlement makes your spouse an owner who lives there or will (12 U.S.C. 1701j-3(d)(7); 12 CFR 191.5(b)(1)(v)), but the loan stays as it was. Florida charges no documentary stamp tax on a divorce deed of the marital home.

Adding a spouse or child

You deed the property from yourself to yourself and the new co-owner, as in the Florida Department of Revenue's example of a wife adding her husband. In Florida, deeding to both spouses can create a tenancy by the entirety (Fla. Stat. 689.11). The due-on-sale exception covers a transfer that makes your spouse or children owners (1701j-3(d)(6)), and the federal regulation applies it when the new owner lives there or will (12 CFR 191.5(b)(1)(v)). A child on the deed is an owner, so plan on needing them for any later sale or refinance.

Moving the house into your own trust

For a revocable living trust, you usually deed the house to yourself as trustee. The due-on-sale exception covers a living trust in which you are and remain a beneficiary, if the right to live there doesn't change (1701j-3(d)(8)); the regulation adds that you stay the occupant (191.5(b)(1)(vi)).

A quitclaim deed won't take your name off the mortgage

A deed decides who owns the house. The loan is a separate debt, and a quitclaim to your ex or your child doesn't change who owes it.

A due-on-sale clause lets the lender demand the full balance if the property, or an interest in it, is transferred without the lender's written consent, and federal law lets lenders enforce it (12 U.S.C. 1701j-3(a)(1), (b)(1)). For a home with fewer than five units, subsection (d) lists transfers that can't trigger it, including:

• a transfer that makes your spouse or children owners, if they live there or will;
• a divorce decree, separation agreement or property settlement that makes your spouse an owner, on the same condition;
• a transfer into a living trust where you remain a beneficiary and occupancy doesn't change;
• a lease of three years or less with no option to buy.

A quitclaim to a sibling or a friend isn't on the list, so if your loan has the clause, the lender may call it.

You get off the loan in one of two ways. A refinance replaces the old loan with a new one in the remaining owner's name. An assumption with a release lets that owner take over the existing loan while the lender lets you go. The CFPB's December 2024 Issue Spotlight says a homeowner who got the house in a divorce generally doesn't need to refinance to remove the original borrower if they'll assume the loan and can pass the investor's underwriting criteria for assumptions, and it reports complaints of servicers pushing refinances and blocking the releases that divorce decrees often require. The lender doesn't have to agree to an assumption. If it chooses to agree in writing, before the transfer, that the new owner will be bound by the loan at an interest rate the lender can set, 12 CFR 191.5(b)(4) then requires it to release the existing borrower and treats it as making a new loan; that rule covers loans on homes the borrower lives in or will live in.

Once a servicer confirms the interest of a new owner who got the house in a divorce or as the borrower's spouse or child, it has to treat them like an original borrower, even before any assumption. If you're the spouse leaving, ask that the settlement set a deadline for the refinance or release, with your deed delivered at that closing. If a servicer stalls, the CFPB tells homeowners to file a complaint with it.

## Where title insurance fits

A deed's covenants are promises from a person. To use one you sue the seller (California and Texas both let implied covenants be sued on as if written out), and any recovery comes from that seller. An owner's title policy can protect you if someone later claims an interest dating from before you bought, such as a previous owner's unpaid taxes; the lender's policy, which most lenders require, protects the amount they lend, the CFPB explains. Before you quitclaim to a spouse or deed the house into your trust, ask the company that issued your owner's policy whether coverage carries over to the new owner or trustee, and get the answer in writing.

Deed forms and transfer taxes in five states

These five states show how much the words and the taxes vary. Other states have their own forms and rates, and local rates can differ, so confirm the tax with the county recorder before you record.

State	Deed forms in the statute	What the wording promises	Transfer tax on the deed
California	Grant deed: "I, A B, grant to C D" (Civ. Code 1092)	"Grant" implies no earlier conveyance and no encumbrances from the seller or anyone claiming under the seller (1113)	Counties may charge 55 cents per $500, not counting liens that stay on the property; a city may take half of it, credited against the county tax (Rev. & Tax. Code 11911). Some cities, such as San Francisco, set higher rates of their own
Texas	General warranty form, with the warranty optional (Prop. Code 5.022)	"Grant" or "convey" implies no earlier conveyance and no encumbrances, which include taxes, assessments and liens (5.023, 5.024)	No law taxing a transfer of fee simple title may be enacted after January 1, 2016 (Tex. Const. art. VIII, sec. 29)
New York	Full covenant and warranty; bargain and sale with or without covenant; quitclaim (Real Prop. Law 258)	Full covenant form: seized with the right to convey, quiet enjoyment, no encumbrances, further assurance, and a warranty of title	$2 per $500 when consideration is over $500, generally paid by the seller; a 1% mansion tax paid by buyers of residences at $1 million or more; New York City adds its own tax on homes of 1% (1.425% above $500,000), plus state surcharges at $2 million or more (Tax Department; NYC Finance)
Florida	Warranty deed (Fla. Stat. 689.02); quitclaim form added in 2023 (689.025)	The 689.02 form carries full common-law covenants (689.03)	70 cents per $100 of consideration, mortgage included; Miami-Dade charges 60 cents plus a 45-cent surtax unless the deed transfers only a single-family home (Department of Revenue)
Illinois	"Conveys and warrants" (765 ILCS 5/9); "convey and quit claim" (5/10)	Warranty: owner in fee simple with the right to convey, no encumbrances, defense of possession and title. Quitclaim: existing rights only	State tax of 50 cents per $500; a mortgage the property stays subject to isn't counted if the deed says so (35 ILCS 200/31-10)

Florida's rule catches families off guard. Deed a Tampa house with a $200,000 mortgage balance to your adult son for nothing, and Florida treats the $200,000 as the consideration: 2,000 units of $100 at 70 cents is $1,400, paid when the deed is recorded. Deed him a half interest instead and, using the Department of Revenue's method of multiplying the mortgage by the share transferred, the tax is $700. The family exemptions are a divorce deed of the marital home and a homestead deed between spouses where the mortgage is the only consideration, and the department says there is no specific exemption for estate-planning transfers.

When a real estate lawyer should prepare the deed

Have a lawyer draft and record the deed when:

• the house has a mortgage and the new owner isn't your spouse, your child or your own trust;
• a divorce settlement sets a deadline for a refinance or release;
• the transfer may owe tax with no money changing hands, as in Florida;
• a recorded deed has a mistake. Texas lets a correction instrument replace the original as of the original's effective date (Tex. Prop. Code 5.030), but Florida's cure for a single error in a legal description excludes quitclaim deeds (Fla. Stat. 689.041);
• you're buying and the seller offers a weaker deed than your contract calls for.

Ask for a flat quote covering drafting, signing and recording; our guide to what a real estate lawyer costs explains how those fees are quoted. Our directory groups real estate attorneys by state and city; when you call, say where the property is, whose names are on the current deed and whether there's a mortgage.

Frequently asked questions

Can you quitclaim a property you don't own?

You can sign one, but it transfers nothing if you hold no interest. Illinois's statute says a quitclaim conveys "all the then existing legal or equitable rights of the grantor," so the person receiving it gets what the signer held that day. Title the signer acquires later doesn't pass under it unless the deed says so. That's why buyers rely on the title record.

Who pays the transfer tax, the buyer or the seller?

It depends on the state and the contract. In New York, the seller pays the base tax unless the contract shifts it, and the buyer pays the mansion tax; if the responsible party doesn't pay or is exempt, the other one owes it. In Florida, every party to the deed is liable for documentary stamp tax whatever they agreed, and if one party is exempt, a non-exempt party must pay.

Does a quitclaim deed need witnesses or a notary?

State law decides. Florida requires a deed to be signed in the presence of two subscribing witnesses (Fla. Stat. 689.01), a requirement witnesses can meet electronically through audio-video communication technology. In other states, check the county recorder's website for the signing, notary and formatting rules it applies before it will record a deed.

Does a warranty deed mean the house has no liens?

Not by itself. The covenant against encumbrances promises the property is free of them apart from the exceptions written into the deed, and Texas's standard contract lets the deed list the exceptions the contract permits. Texas counts taxes, assessments and liens as encumbrances (Prop. Code 5.024). An unlisted lien gives you a claim against the seller, but it stays on the property until it's paid or released.