Florida Quit Claim Deed: Requirements, Cost & How to File (2026)

A Florida quit claim deed transfers whatever interest the grantor actually owns in Florida real property — no more, no less — with no warranty that the title is good, clear, or free of liens. It is the fastest and cheapest way to move Florida real estate between people who already trust each other, and the most dangerous way to buy property from someone you do not.

Two changes to Florida law took effect on January 1, 2024 that most quit claim deed Florida guides still have not caught up with. Chapter 2023-238 created Fla. Stat. § 689.025, which prescribes the statutory form a Florida quitclaim deed must substantially follow, and amended § 695.26 to require the post office address of every witness on the face of the deed. Deeds are being rejected at county recording counters across Florida every day for missing that second one.

We at Lorenzo Law prepare and record Florida deeds statewide from our Coral Gables and Fort Lauderdale offices. This guide covers the execution requirements, the documentary stamp tax, the homestead traps, what happens when the owner has died, and the collateral consequences that cost people far more than the deed itself.

What Is a Florida Quit Claim Deed?

A quit claim deed in Florida is a written instrument by which one person — the grantor — releases and quitclaims to another person — the grantee — whatever right, title, interest, claim, and demand the grantor has in a described parcel of Florida real property. The operative words in the statutory form at § 689.025 are “remise, release, and quitclaim.”

That phrasing matters. A quit claim deed does not say the grantor owns the property. It says that whatever the grantor owns, if anything, now belongs to the grantee. If the grantor owns the whole fee simple, the grantee gets the whole fee simple. If the grantor owns a one-third undivided interest, the grantee gets one-third. If the grantor owns nothing at all, the deed conveys nothing — and it is still a perfectly valid deed.

What a Florida quit claim deed does not do

• It makes no promises about title. No covenant of seisin, no covenant against encumbrances, no covenant of quiet enjoyment, no warranty forever. If a lien, judgment, unpaid tax, code violation, or competing ownership claim surfaces later, the grantee has no recourse against the grantor on the deed.
• It does not clear existing liens. Mortgages, judgment liens, IRS liens, HOA and condominium assessment liens, and code enforcement liens run with the land. The grantee takes subject to all of them.
• It does not remove anyone from a mortgage. The deed governs title. The promissory note governs debt. They are separate contracts.
• It does not pass after-acquired title. If the grantor later acquires an interest in the same property, that interest generally stays with the grantor. The doctrine of estoppel by deed runs through the warranty covenants in a deed, so it pushes later-acquired title through to the grantee under a warranty deed. A quitclaim has no covenants. Florida Uniform Title Standard 3.7 states the rule directly: a warranty deed automatically conveys after-acquired title, while “a quit claim deed does not convey after acquired title as the quit claim deed conveys only whatever title the grantor holds at the time of the conveyance.”
• It does not avoid probate for the grantor’s other assets, and it gives away control immediately and permanently.

“Quick claim deed” or “quit claim deed”? The same document, one very common misspelling

There is no such thing as a “quick claim deed,” a “quick deed,” or a “quick deed transfer” in Florida law. Every one of those is a mishearing of quit claim deed — from the operative verb “quitclaim,” meaning to give up a claim. The confusion is understandable, because these deeds genuinely are quick.

You will also see the term written three ways: quit claim deed (two words), quitclaim deed (one word), and quit-claim deed (hyphenated). Florida’s statutes use the one-word form, “quitclaim.” All three refer to the identical instrument, and a Florida clerk will record a deed regardless of which spelling appears in the title, so long as the operative language and formalities are correct.

Grantor and grantee: who actually signs a quit claim deed in Florida?

This is one of the most commonly botched points on the internet, including on pages currently ranking on the first page of Google.

Party	Role	Signs the deed?
Grantor (first party)	The person giving up their interest	Yes — required by § 689.01
Grantee (second party)	The person receiving the interest	No — the grantee does not sign a Florida deed
Witness 1	Subscribing witness	Yes — plus printed name and address
Witness 2	Subscribing witness	Yes — plus printed name and address
Notary public	Takes the acknowledgment	Yes — signs and seals the acknowledgment

So a properly executed Florida quit claim deed carries four signatures: the grantor, two witnesses, and the notary. Not five. The grantee’s name and mailing address must appear on the deed under § 695.26, but the grantee signs nothing.

There is one practical exception worth knowing: if the deed contains language the grantee is agreeing to — an assumption of a mortgage, a reservation, a restrictive covenant, or a partition agreement — a careful drafter will have the grantee sign to evidence acceptance. That is a contract-law precaution, not a recording requirement.

Florida Quit Claim Deed Requirements Under § 689.01, § 689.025, and § 695.26

Three separate statutes govern a Florida quitclaim deed, and they do three different jobs. Most guides conflate them.

Statute	What it actually governs
§ 689.01	Execution. Requires the instrument to be in writing and signed by the grantor in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. Says nothing about a notary.
§ 689.025	Form. Prescribes the statutory quitclaim deed form, requires a legibly printed legal description, and requires a blank space for the parcel identification number. Created by ch. 2023-238.
§ 695.03	Acknowledgment. Governs how an instrument is acknowledged or proved so that it may be recorded. This is where the notary requirement lives.
§ 695.26	Recording formalities. Printed names and addresses beneath every signature, witness addresses, the preparer’s block, the grantee’s address, and blank space for the clerk’s stamp.
§ 695.01	Priority. An unrecorded conveyance is not good or effectual against creditors or subsequent purchasers for value without notice.
§ 28.222	The recorder. Makes the clerk of the circuit court the recorder of instruments in each county.
§ 28.24	Fees. Sets the service charges the clerk collects for recording.

1. In writing, signed by the grantor before two subscribing witnesses

Section 689.01 is the core requirement. No interest in Florida real property of freehold, or for a term of more than one year, may be created, granted, transferred, or released “in any manner other than by instrument in writing, signed in the presence of two subscribing witnesses by the party creating, making, granting, conveying, transferring, or releasing such estate.”

The 2020 amendment removed the two-witness requirement for leases only. For deeds, including Florida quit claim deeds, two subscribing witnesses remain mandatory in 2026. Florida is now one of a small handful of states that still require them.

The statute itself does not say the witnesses must be adults, must be disinterested, or must not be named in the deed. Those are prudent drafting conventions rather than statutory commands. As a practical matter, we do not use a grantee, a spouse of a grantee, or anyone with an interest in the transaction as a subscribing witness, because an interested witness gives a future challenger something to argue about — and challenges to deeds are usually brought years later, when memories are gone and the grantor is not available to explain.

Can the notary also serve as one of the two witnesses? It is commonly done in Florida, and no statute prohibits it — § 689.01 places no restriction on who may witness, and the notary prohibitions at § 117.107 do not reach the question. But no Florida statute, Attorney General opinion, or reported decision affirmatively authorizes the practice either, and the Florida Uniform Title Standards do not address it. Where the notary does serve as a witness, the notary signs twice — once on the witness line and once in the acknowledgment — with the printed name and address in the witness block as § 695.26 requires. Because the point is unsettled and a deed sits in a chain of title for decades, we use two independent witnesses so the question never arises.

2. The statutory form under § 689.025 — new since 2024

Before 2024, Florida had a prescribed statutory form for warranty deeds (§ 689.02) but not for quitclaim deeds. Chapter 2023-238 changed that. A Florida quit claim deed form must now:

1. Be in substantially the statutory form — reciting the date, the first party (grantor) and their post office address, the second party (grantee) and their post office address, the sum of consideration, the operative “does hereby remise, release, and quitclaim” language, the county, and the legal description.
2. Include the legal description, legibly printed, typewritten, or stamped on the instrument.
3. Include a blank space for the parcel identification number, which must be entered before the deed is presented for recording, if available.

Section 689.025(3) contains an express saving clause: failing to include the parcel ID blank space or the number itself “does not affect the validity of the conveyance or the recordability of the deed.” It also makes clear that the parcel identification number is not part of the legal description and may never be substituted for one. A deed describing the property only by folio number or street address is defective no matter how many parcel IDs it recites.

3. The legal description — and why a street address is not one

The most common fatal defect we see in a do-it-yourself quit claim deed form Florida owners download online is a property described as “123 Palm Avenue, Miami, FL 33133.” That is a mailing address. It is not a legal description, and it does not identify a parcel of land with the certainty a conveyance requires.

A Florida legal description is either a platted description (“Lot 14, Block 3, of SUNSET GROVE, according to the Plat thereof, as recorded in Plat Book 46, Page 21, of the Public Records of Miami-Dade County, Florida”), a metes-and-bounds description, a condominium description referencing the recorded declaration, or a government-survey description by section, township, and range.

Copy it character for character from the deed by which the grantor took title — not from the property appraiser’s website, which frequently abbreviates. If the current deed’s description is itself wrong, correct it deliberately with a corrective instrument rather than silently “fixing” it in the new deed, which creates a gap in the chain of title.

4. Acknowledgment before a notary — a recording requirement, not a validity requirement

This distinction is worth understanding because it comes up constantly in probate and title disputes.

Section 689.01 requires the grantor’s signature before two subscribing witnesses. It does not require a notary. The notary requirement comes from § 695.03, which provides that an instrument may not be recorded unless it has been acknowledged, proved, or legalized in the manner the statute prescribes.

The practical consequence: a deed signed before two witnesses but never notarized may still be effective between the grantor and the grantee, but it cannot be recorded, it does not give constructive notice to the world, and under § 695.01 it will lose to a subsequent purchaser for value without notice who records first. In other words, an unnotarized deed is not automatically void — it is unrecordable, which in a race-notice state is nearly as bad. Note also that while the curative statutes at § 95.231 and § 694.08 cure a defective acknowledgment after the statutory period, they do not cure a total absence of acknowledgment. Never rely on any of this; get the deed notarized and recorded.

5. ⚠️ The January 1, 2024 witness address requirement — the rule most deeds now fail

Section 695.26 has always required the printed name and mailing address of each person signing an instrument. Chapter 2023-238, § 5 extended that requirement to witnesses. As amended, § 695.26(1)(c) requires that:

The name of each witness to the instrument is legibly printed, typewritten, or stamped upon such instrument immediately beneath the signature of such witness and the post office address of each such person is legibly printed, typewritten, or stamped upon such instrument.

Every major Florida clerk — Duval, Hillsborough, Palm Beach, Collier, Polk, and others — issued a bulletin about this before it took effect. It applies to deeds, mortgages, and any instrument affecting the ownership of real property.

If your witness block looks like this, your deed will be rejected:

Witness signature: _________________
Print name: John Smith

It needs to look like this:

Witness signature: _________________
Print name: John Smith
Address: 2850 Douglas Rd., Suite 303, Coral Gables, FL 33134

Almost every free Florida quit claim deed form PDF circulating online predates January 2024 and has no witness address lines at all. If you are using a downloaded form, check that first.

6. Remote online notarization and electronic witnesses

Florida permits remote online notarization, and § 689.01(2) expressly allows the two-subscribing-witness requirement to be satisfied “by witnesses being present and electronically signing by means of audio-video communication technology, as defined in s. 117.201.”

The act of witnessing an electronic signature is satisfied if the witness is either physically present or present through audio-video technology when the principal affixes the electronic signature, and the witness hears the principal acknowledge having signed. Section 689.01(3) validates acts of witnessing performed this way and protects the resulting constructive notice against technical challenges — while expressly preserving challenges based on fraud, forgery, impersonation, duress, incapacity, undue influence, minority, illegality, or unconscionability.

Practical caution: not every county clerk and not every title underwriter treats remotely witnessed deeds identically, and an out-of-state RON provider may not satisfy Florida’s requirements. For a deed that will sit in a chain of title for decades, in-person execution remains the lower-risk path when it is available.

What Goes on the Page: A Field-by-Field Walkthrough

Here is every element a recordable Florida quitclaim deed needs, in the order it appears on the page.

Element	Requirement	Authority
3″ × 3″ blank space, top right of first page	Reserved for the clerk’s recording stamp. 1″ × 3″ on each later page.	§ 695.26(1)(e)
“Prepared by” block	Name and post office address of the natural person who prepared the instrument	§ 695.26(1)(b)
“Return to” block	Where the clerk mails the recorded original. Not statutorily required, but omit it and you may never see the deed again.	Practice
Parcel identification number	Blank space required; number entered before recording if available. Never a substitute for the legal description.	§ 689.025(3)
Date of execution	Day, month, year	§ 689.025(1)
Grantor name + post office address	Exactly as the grantor’s name appears on the deed by which they took title	§ 689.025(1), § 695.26(1)(a)
Grantee name + post office address	Full legal name, correctly spelled, plus mailing address	§ 689.025(1), § 695.26(1)(f)
Consideration	The sum paid — typically “$10.00 and other good and valuable consideration”	§ 689.025(1)
Operative language	“does hereby remise, release, and quitclaim unto the said second party forever, all the right, title, interest, claim, and demand which the said first party has in and to…”	§ 689.025(1)
County + legal description	Legibly printed, typewritten, or stamped	§ 689.025(2)
Vesting language	How the grantees take title — see below	§ 689.15
Grantor signature + printed name + address	Signed in the physical or audio-video presence of both witnesses	§ 689.01, § 695.26(1)(a)
Two witness signatures + printed names + addresses	The 2024 rule. Both witnesses must observe the grantor sign.	§ 689.01, § 695.26(1)(c)
Notary acknowledgment + printed name + address + seal	Must state whether identification was by personal knowledge or by a specified form of ID, and whether appearance was physical or online	§ 695.03, § 117.05

Vesting language: the four words that decide what happens when someone dies

Under Fla. Stat. § 689.15, the right of survivorship does not exist by default in Florida. A conveyance to two or more people creates a tenancy in common “unless the instrument creating the estate shall expressly provide for the right of survivorship.” The one exception is an estate by the entirety between spouses.

This single rule causes more accidental probate than any other drafting error in Florida. Two siblings take a quit claim deed “to Maria Lopez and Ana Lopez.” Maria dies. Her half does not go to Ana — it goes through Maria’s probate estate to Maria’s heirs, who may be people Ana has never met.

Vesting	Language to use	What happens at death
Tenancy in common	“to A and B” (the default)	Decedent’s share passes through their probate estate
Joint tenancy with right of survivorship	“to A and B, as joint tenants with full rights of survivorship, and not as tenants in common”	Passes automatically to the survivor, outside probate
Tenancy by the entireties (spouses only)	“to A and B, husband and wife” — survivorship is presumed	Passes automatically to the surviving spouse; also carries creditor protection against the debts of one spouse alone
Life estate	“to A for life, remainder to B”	Remainder vests in B, but A cannot sell or mortgage without B
Enhanced life estate (lady bird)	Life estate with retained power to sell, mortgage, and convey without the remainderman’s joinder	Passes to the remainder beneficiary outside probate, with control retained for life

Section 689.15 also provides that upon dissolution of marriage, tenants by the entirety become tenants in common. A divorce, standing alone, converts the survivorship estate — which is exactly why a quit claim deed is so often part of a marital settlement.

How to File a Quit Claim Deed in Florida: Step by Step

Filing a quit claim deed in Florida is an eight-step process. Steps 1 through 3 are where the mistakes happen; steps 4 through 8 are mechanical.

1. Pull the current recorded deed. Every Florida county’s official records are searchable free online through the clerk of the circuit court (or, in Broward, the County’s Records, Taxes and Treasury Division, and in Orange, the Comptroller). Find the deed by which the grantor took title. You need the grantor’s name exactly as it appears there, and the legal description verbatim.
2. Check for mortgages, liens, and judgments. Search the same official records index against the grantor’s name. Quit claim deeds convey subject to everything of record. For any transfer that is not purely between family members who already understand the property’s history, order a title search — $150 to $400 is cheap relative to inheriting an unknown judgment lien.
3. Decide the vesting. See the table above. This is the decision most people make by accident.
4. Prepare the deed in the § 689.025 statutory form, with the preparer block, the parcel ID space, the grantee’s address, the 3″ × 3″ clerk space, and — critically — witness lines that include address fields.
5. Calculate the documentary stamp tax before you go to the notary, so you arrive at the clerk with the right payment. See the next two sections.
6. Execute it. The grantor signs in the presence of two subscribing witnesses and a notary, all present together (physically, or by audio-video technology under § 117.201). Everyone prints their name and address. Use blue or black ink; some clerks reject other colors.
7. Record it with the clerk in the county where the property sits. Not where you live, not where the grantee lives — where the land is. Pay the recording fee and the doc stamps together. Most counties accept mail, in-person, and electronic submission through an approved vendor.
8. Handle the aftermath. Notify the mortgage servicer, update property insurance, notify the HOA or condominium association, and — if the grantee will occupy the property as a permanent residence — file for homestead exemption with the county property appraiser by March 1 of the following year.

How long does a quit claim deed take in Florida?

Stage	Typical timeline
Preparing the deed (attorney)	1–3 business days
Execution (grantor, 2 witnesses, notary)	Same day, once scheduled
Electronic recording	Often same day to 2 business days
Mail-in recording	3–10 business days after receipt
Recorded original returned by mail	7–21 days after recording
Start to finish, simple transfer	3 days to 3 weeks

The deed is effective on delivery to the grantee, not on recording. Recording protects the grantee’s priority against later purchasers and lienholders under § 695.01; it is not what makes the transfer work. That said, there is no reason to delay — an unrecorded deed is an accident waiting to happen, particularly if the grantor later dies, remarries, is sued, or files bankruptcy.

Where to File a Quit Claim Deed in Florida: County Recording Guide

Record in the county where the real property is physically located. If a parcel straddles a county line, record in both.

Two things are uniform across all 67 Florida counties, and are worth stating plainly because a great deal of online content implies otherwise:

• Recording fees are set by statute at § 28.24(13) and are identical statewide — $10.00 first page, $8.50 each additional page, $1.00 per name over four.
• The documentary stamp rate is uniform at $0.70 per $100 in 66 counties. Miami-Dade is the sole exception.

What actually varies by county is submission mechanics: whether a self-addressed stamped envelope is required, what forms of payment are accepted, which instruments may be e-recorded, and the daily recording cutoff.

County	Doc stamp rate	E-recording	County-specific requirement
Miami-Dade	$0.60 + $0.45 surtax (no surtax on single-family residence)	Yes — CSC, e-Docs, ePN, Hopdox, Simplifile	Only surtax county in Florida. E-recorded documents may take 1–3 business days to appear in the public index.
Broward	$0.70	Yes	Recording is handled by the County’s Records, Taxes and Treasury Division, not the Clerk of Court — unusual in Florida. Online fee calculator available.
Palm Beach	$0.70	Yes	Self-addressed stamped envelope required, or return-postage charges apply. Unclaimed documents are destroyed after six months. No credit cards by mail.
Hillsborough	$0.70	Yes — 10+ approved vendors	Recording Transmittal form or cover letter required, plus SASE. Clerk expressly flags the § 695.26 witness address rule. Time-sensitive documents recommended in person.
Orange	$0.70	Yes	Recording handled by the Orange County Comptroller, not the Clerk. In-person credit cards capped at $500 per visit.
Pinellas	$0.70	Yes — volume and specialty vendors	SASE mandatory on all mailed submissions. Documents generally processed within 2 business days.
Duval	$0.70	Yes — CSC, ePN, Simplifile + indirect vendors	Recording Transmittal Sheet + SASE required. No personal checks. Agreements for deed, lis pendens, notices of homestead, petitions and plats cannot be e-recorded.
Lee	$0.70	Yes	Requires a 3″ × 3″ blank white space in the top right corner of page one. Drop boxes in Fort Myers and Cape Coral.
Polk	$0.70	Yes	Confirm current fee schedule with the Clerk & Comptroller in Bartow.
Brevard	$0.70	Yes — CSC, ePN, HopDox, Simplifile	Notices of homestead, foreign judgments, liens to bond, and plats cannot be e-recorded.
Volusia	$0.70	Yes	3.5% fee added to card transactions. Military discharges recorded free.
Pasco	$0.70	Yes	Fee schedule tracks the statute verbatim, including the $1.00 per additional name indexing charge.
Seminole	$0.70	Yes	Standard statutory fees.
Sarasota	$0.70	Yes	Publishes an explicit $0.70 minimum doc stamp, rounded up to the nearest $100 of consideration.
Manatee	$0.70	Yes	Online fee calculator. Oversized plats and exhibits $30.00 / $15.00.
Collier	$0.70	Yes — in-house portal plus CSC, ePN, Simplifile	Scans must be black/white, 300 dpi, 8½ × 11 or 8½ × 14. Public e-recording adds a 4% card processor fee; counter cards 3.5%.
Marion	$0.70	Third-party vendors only — no in-house portal	Standard statutory fees.
Osceola	$0.70	Yes — Simplifile, CSC, Indecomm, ePN, Hopdox	Indexing charge counts AKAs toward the four-name threshold. No personal checks; 3.5% card fee. Recording stops at 4:30 p.m.
St. Lucie	$0.70	Yes — Clerk operates its own eRecord portal	Confirm fees directly with the Clerk.
Alachua	$0.70	Yes	Electronically signed deeds can ONLY be e-recorded — the Clerk will not accept a printed copy of an e-signed deed.

Recording fees and doc stamp rates are set by statute and are current as of 2026. Submission procedures and e-recording vendor lists change; confirm with the clerk before mailing anything time-sensitive.

What a Florida Quit Claim Deed Costs

There are four separate costs, and only one of them is set by the person preparing the deed.

1. Recording fees — identical in all 67 counties

Florida clerks charge $10.00 for the first page and $8.50 for each additional page. That figure is not a single line item; it is the sum of three charges inside § 28.24(13). We set out the build-up because almost every other guide states the total without the authority, and clients ask where it comes from:

Component	Authority	First page	Each additional page
Base recording, indexing and filing	§ 28.24(13)(a), (b)	$5.00	$4.00
Public Records Modernization Trust Fund	§ 28.24(13)(d)1., 2.	$1.00	$0.50
Additional service charge	§ 28.24(13)(e)	$4.00	$4.00
Total		$10.00	$8.50

Plus $1.00 for each name beyond four on the instrument under § 28.24(13)(c). A typical two-page quit claim deed with a grantor, a grantee, two witnesses and a notary records for $18.50 plus $1.00 for the fifth name.

There is no statutory e-recording surcharge. Any additional charge for electronic submission comes from the private vendor or from the clerk’s card processor.

2. Documentary stamp tax — usually the largest number on the page

See the next section. On a $300,000 property with no exemption, this is $2,100 — more than a hundred times the recording fee.

3. Notary and witnesses

Florida notaries may charge up to $10 per notarial act, and remote online notarization is capped higher by statute. Mobile notaries add a travel fee. Budget $10 to $75.

4. Attorney fees

Scenario	Typical range
Straightforward family or trust-funding deed, prepared and recorded	$200 – $600
Deed with a title search and lien review	$500 – $1,200
Deed with doc stamp analysis, homestead and Save Our Homes review, or Medicaid planning	$750 – $2,000
Deed from an estate, or curing a defective prior deed	Quoted per matter

Florida law does not require an attorney to prepare a quit claim deed. Whether you need one is a different question — see “Can I prepare my own quit claim deed in Florida?” below.

All-in cost examples

Transfer	Doc stamps	Recording	Total (before attorney fees)
Spouse to spouse, homestead, no mortgage	$0.70 (minimum)	$18.50	≈ $19
Parent to child, unmortgaged, “$10 and love and affection”	$0.70 (minimum)	$18.50	≈ $19
Parent to child, $180,000 mortgage remaining	$1,260	$18.50	≈ $1,279
Owner to their own revocable trust, unmortgaged	$0.70 (minimum)	$18.50	≈ $19
Arm’s-length sale, $400,000, Broward	$2,800	$18.50	≈ $2,819
Arm’s-length sale, $400,000 duplex, Miami-Dade	$4,200	$18.50	≈ $4,219

Documentary Stamp Tax on a Florida Quit Claim Deed

Documentary stamp tax is almost always the largest number on a Florida deed. The rate is $0.70 per $100 of consideration in 66 counties. Miami-Dade is $0.60 per $100, plus a $0.45 surtax on anything that is not a single-family residence — so $1.05 per $100 on a duplex, a commercial building, or vacant land. Tax is computed on each $100 or fraction thereof, and the practical minimum on any deed is $0.70.

The trap that catches families: “consideration” is not just cash. If the property carries a mortgage, the outstanding balance is generally the taxable base even when the deed recites “$10 and love and affection.” A parent quitclaiming a home with a $180,000 mortgage to a child owes roughly $1,260 — not $0.70. There is a narrow exemption at § 201.02(7) for homestead transfers between spouses and for dissolution-of-marriage transfers, and it does not reach parent-to-child transfers or non-homestead property.

Getting this wrong is expensive: under § 201.17 the penalty runs 10% of the unpaid tax per 30 days, capped at 50%, plus 1% per month interest — and the liability sits on the property as a title defect until it is cleared.

Full treatment, with an 11-scenario table covering spouses, children, trusts, LLCs and conduit entities: Florida documentary stamp tax on deeds — who pays, what’s exempt, and how to calculate it.

Quit Claim Deeds and Florida Homestead Property

Florida homestead is three separate legal concepts sharing one word, and conflating them causes most of the confusion.

Concept	Source	Effect of a quit claim deed
Creditor-protection homestead	Art. X, § 4(a)–(b)	Protection follows residency. The grantor loses it on that property; the grantee gains it only if the property becomes their permanent residence.
Alienation restriction	Art. X, § 4(c)	A deed without spousal joinder is ineffective to alienate the homestead.
Homestead tax exemption + Save Our Homes	Art. VII, §§ 4(d), 6; §§ 196.031, 193.155	Does not transfer with the deed. A change of ownership can reset the cap to just value.

Your spouse must join — and “void” overstates what happens if they don’t

Article X, § 4(c) provides that “the owner of homestead real estate, joined by the spouse if married, may alienate the homestead by mortgage, sale or gift.” Marriage alone triggers it. It applies even where the spouse’s name is nowhere on title, even where the spouse contributed nothing, even where the property was acquired before the marriage, and even where the couple is separated but not divorced.

Nearly every guide says “your spouse must sign,” and the ones that go further say the deed is “void.” Florida courts do not. They describe such an instrument as ineffectual rather than an absolute nullity: a homestead instrument signed by only one spouse is “not void… but it is ‘ineffectual as a lien until such time as either the spouse joins in the alienation or the property loses its homestead status.'” Brown v. Towd Point Mortgage Trust 2017-6, No. 4D2024-2438 (Fla. 4th DCA Oct. 22, 2025) (quoting Pitts v. Pastore, 561 So. 2d 297, 301 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990)); accord Isaacs v. Federal National Mortgage Ass’n, 373 So. 3d 1172 (Fla. 3d DCA 2022); Crawford v. Federal National Mortgage Ass’n, 266 So. 3d 1274 (Fla. 5th DCA 2019).

Those are mortgage cases. For deeds, the question remains formally open — the Fourth District expressly declined to decide void versus voidable in Lyons v. Lyons, 155 So. 3d 1179 (Fla. 4th DCA 2014), resolving instead that the non-owner spouse is the party who may raise the defect. Either way, the transfer does not do what the parties intended and the defect will surface in the next title examination.

The § 732.7025 waiver is narrower than people assume

Section 732.7025 lets a spouse waive homestead rights through deed language: “By executing or joining this deed, I intend to waive homestead rights that would otherwise prevent my spouse from devising the homestead property described in this deed to someone other than me.”

Read what that covers. It waives the devise restriction only. By the statute’s own terms it is not a waiver of creditor protections, and not a waiver of the restriction on alienation by mortgage, sale, gift or deed without spousal joinder. It does not solve the joinder problem — the spouse still has to join in the deed.

Do minor children block the transfer?

No, and the distinction is frequently misstated. Devise is restricted: under Art. X, § 4(c) and § 732.4015, homestead may not be devised if the owner is survived by a spouse or minor child. Inter vivos alienation by deed is not — the constitutional joinder requirement runs to the spouse only. A single parent with minor children may quitclaim their homestead during life; that same parent cannot leave it by will to anyone other than the children.

How a Quit Claim Deed Can Reset Your Save Our Homes Cap

In dollar terms this is usually the most expensive consequence of a “free” family quit claim deed, and almost no competing guide mentions it.

Under § 193.155, homestead property is reassessed annually but the increase is capped at the lower of 3% or the change in the Consumer Price Index. Over a decade in a rising market, the gap between market value and capped assessed value becomes very large. Section 193.155(3) then provides that a change of ownership resets the assessed value to just value on January 1 of the following year. On a home worth $525,000 assessed at $260,000, that reset can add roughly $5,300 a year, permanently — from a $19 deed.

Several transfers are excluded from being a change of ownership, including transfers between husband and wife and transfers by operation of law to a surviving spouse or minor child. Adding an adult child who is not a dependent and will not live there is the dangerous case — and it is the transfer families make most often.

Full treatment, including every non-triggering transfer under § 193.155(3), portability under § 193.155(8), and the March 1 exemption deadline: Quit claim deeds, homestead exemption, and Save Our Homes in Florida.

Quit Claim Deeds and Your Mortgage

Does signing a quit claim deed remove you from the mortgage?

No. This is the single most consequential misunderstanding about quit claim deeds in Florida, and it destroys people financially after divorces.

A deed transfers title. A promissory note creates debt. A mortgage is the lien securing that debt against the property. Signing a quit claim deed gives away your ownership while leaving your name on the note. You now have all of the liability and none of the asset. If your ex-spouse stops paying, the default is reported on your credit, the lender can sue you on the note, and after a foreclosure sale a deficiency judgment can be entered against you — for a house you no longer own.

The only ways off the note are a refinance in the remaining owner’s name alone, a loan assumption with a written release of liability from the lender, or paying the loan off. A marital settlement agreement obligating your ex to refinance binds your ex; it does not bind the lender.

Any settlement agreement that contemplates a quit claim deed should therefore make the deed contingent on the refinance closing, or at minimum set a deadline with a specific remedy. We see the opposite constantly: the deed is signed at mediation, the refinance never happens, and the transferring spouse discovers the problem three years later when applying for their own mortgage.

What if my name is on the deed but not the mortgage?

The reverse situation. You own an interest in the property but owe nothing on the loan. You cannot be pursued personally for the debt, and the default does not hit your credit — but the mortgage lien still encumbers the whole property, including your interest, and a foreclosure will wipe out your ownership. You also generally cannot force the borrower to refinance, and lenders will not discuss the loan with you because you are not the borrower.

If you are being added to a deed on mortgaged property, understand that you are acquiring an asset that someone else can lose.

Will a quit claim deed trigger the due-on-sale clause?

Usually not, for family transfers — and this is the part most Florida guides leave out.

Nearly every mortgage contains a due-on-sale clause permitting the lender to accelerate the entire balance if the property is transferred. But the federal Garn–St Germain Depository Institutions Act, 12 U.S.C. § 1701j-3(d), prohibits lenders from exercising that option for a list of transfers involving residential real property containing fewer than five dwelling units:

Exempt transfer under 12 U.S.C. § 1701j-3(d)	Common quit claim deed use
Creation of a lien or encumbrance subordinate to the mortgage	Second mortgages
Creation of a purchase-money security interest for household appliances	—
Transfer by devise, descent, or operation of law on the death of a joint tenant or tenant by the entirety	Surviving spouse or joint owner
Grant of a leasehold of three years or less with no option to purchase	Renting the property
Transfer to a relative resulting from the borrower’s death	Deed to an heir after death
Transfer where the spouse or children of the borrower become an owner	Adding a spouse or child to title
Transfer resulting from a decree of dissolution of marriage, legal separation, or an incidental property settlement, where the spouse becomes an owner	Divorce quit claim deed
Transfer into an inter vivos trust in which the borrower is and remains a beneficiary and which does not relate to a transfer of rights of occupancy	Funding a revocable living trust
Any other transfer or disposition described in regulations prescribed by the Federal Home Loan Bank Board	—

So a deed adding a spouse, deeding to a child, transferring under a divorce decree, or funding a revocable trust is generally protected. A transfer to an LLC, to a friend, to a non-relative, or to an irrevocable trust in which the borrower is not a beneficiary is not on the list — and those are the transfers that genuinely risk acceleration.

Note also that Garn–St Germain restricts the lender from accelerating. It does not release the borrower from the note, and it does not make the transferee a borrower.

Can I get a mortgage or refinance after a quit claim deed?

Yes, and it is often the point of the exercise. Two practical constraints: most lenders and title underwriters apply additional scrutiny to a property with a recent quitclaim in the chain, and many conventional programs impose seasoning requirements measured from the date title was acquired. If a refinance is the goal, sequence the deed and the loan application deliberately rather than recording the deed and hoping.

Does a Quit Claim Deed Give You Ownership?

It gives you exactly what the grantor had at the moment of delivery — no more, no less, and with no promise that it was anything.

That is the honest answer to a question thousands of Floridians search every month, usually shortly after signing one. If the grantor held clear fee simple title, you now hold clear fee simple title, and a quit claim deed is every bit as effective as a warranty deed at moving it. If the grantor’s title was clouded, you now own the cloud.

How long is a quit claim deed good for?

Forever. A properly executed and delivered quit claim deed transfers the grantor’s interest permanently on delivery. It does not expire, lapse, or need renewal. There is no term.

The question usually being asked is a different one — how long until my ownership is secure against challenge? Two Florida statutes bear on that. Under § 95.231, five years after a deed is recorded, defects consisting of the absence of a seal, the absence of a witness, or a defective or absent acknowledgment are cured, and the deed is given full effect to convey. After 20 years from recording, no person may assert a claim against the claimants under the deed or their successors in title. Those periods do not cure fraud or forgery, and they do not run against a person in adverse possession or where litigation is pending.

What happens after a quit claim deed is recorded?

1. The clerk stamps the instrument with a book and page or instrument number, indexes it against the grantor and grantee names, and returns the original to whoever is named in the “return to” block.
2. The transfer becomes constructive notice to the world under § 695.01, protecting the grantee’s priority against later purchasers and lienholders.
3. The county property appraiser picks up the transfer, typically within weeks, and evaluates whether it constitutes a change of ownership for Save Our Homes purposes.
4. The Department of Revenue receives the documentary stamp data.
5. Nothing happens automatically to the mortgage, the insurance policy, the HOA records, or the homestead exemption. Those are all on you.

Can a quit claim deed be reversed or revoked?

Not unilaterally. Once executed, delivered, and accepted, the transfer is complete. The grantor cannot record a “cancellation.” The only routine way back is for the grantee to voluntarily execute a new deed conveying the property back — which the grantee has no obligation to do, and which itself may trigger doc stamps and another Save Our Homes reset.

A deed can, however, be set aside by a court where the transfer was legally defective from the start. Grounds include forgery, fraud in the inducement or in the factum, duress, undue influence, lack of capacity, lack of delivery, mistake, and — in Florida specifically — the absence of spousal joinder on homestead. These are the claims we litigate in Florida deed contests, and they are fact-intensive and time-sensitive.

What makes a quit claim deed invalid in Florida?

• Not in writing, or not signed by the grantor.
• Fewer than two subscribing witnesses (subject to the five-year cure under § 95.231).
• No legal description, or a description so indefinite the land cannot be identified.
• No delivery. A deed signed and locked in a drawer, never given to the grantee and never recorded, generally conveys nothing.
• A grantee who does not legally exist — a misnamed entity, or a trust named without a trustee.
• Homestead conveyed by a married grantor without spousal joinder — ineffective to alienate the property until the spouse joins or the property loses homestead status.
• Grantor lacked capacity, or the signature was procured by fraud, duress, or undue influence.
• Signed by an agent under a power of attorney that had already terminated, including by the principal’s death.
• Forged.

Note what is not on this list: failing to record, failing to pay doc stamps, and missing a witness address. Those create serious problems — loss of priority, tax penalties, clerk rejection — but they do not by themselves make a delivered deed invalid between the parties.

Adding or Removing Someone From a Florida Deed

This is what most people actually want when they search for a quit claim deed form Florida. The mechanics are simple; the consequences are not.

Adding a spouse to the deed

Usually the cleanest transfer there is. If the property is homestead and the only consideration is the existing mortgage, it is exempt from documentary stamps under § 201.02(7)(b). It does not reset Save Our Homes, because § 193.155(3) excludes transfers between husband and wife. It is protected from due-on-sale acceleration by Garn–St Germain. And a conveyance to spouses creates a tenancy by the entireties, which carries survivorship and shields the property from the individual creditors of one spouse alone.

Adding a child to the deed

Simple to execute, and frequently a mistake. Adding an adult child as a co-owner:

• Costs you control. You can no longer sell, mortgage, or refinance without the child’s signature.
• Exposes the property to the child’s creditors, and to a judgment in the child’s divorce or bankruptcy.
• Triggers doc stamps on the proportional mortgage balance if the property is encumbered.
• May reset Save Our Homes if the child is not a dependent and will not reside there.
• Is a taxable gift requiring a Form 709 if the value of the interest exceeds the annual exclusion.
• Destroys the step-up in basis on the transferred share — see the tax section below.
• Starts the Medicaid five-year look-back clock.

In most of these situations a Florida lady bird deed accomplishes the actual goal — getting the house to the child without probate — while avoiding every one of those consequences.

Removing a name from a Florida deed

You cannot remove someone from a deed. You can only have them convey their interest away. A co-owner’s interest is their property; it takes their signature to move it. If they will not sign voluntarily, the remedies are a partition action under Chapter 64, an order in a dissolution proceeding, or a suit to set the deed aside if it was defective when made.

Removing a deceased person from a Florida deed

A dead person cannot sign a quit claim deed, and no heir can sign for them. What you need depends entirely on how title was held:

How title was held	What removes the decedent
Tenancy by the entireties (spouses)	Title vests in the survivor automatically. Record a certified death certificate; no deed needed.
Joint tenancy with right of survivorship (expressly stated)	Same — record the death certificate.
Tenancy in common	The decedent’s share is a probate asset. Requires probate and a personal representative’s deed, or an order of summary administration, or a determination of homestead.
Sole ownership, homestead, surviving spouse or descendants	Homestead generally passes outside the probate estate, but you still need a court order determining homestead status to clear title.
Sole ownership, non-homestead	Probate. Formal or summary administration depending on value and date of death.
Enhanced life estate (lady bird) deed	Record the death certificate; title vests in the remainder beneficiaries.
Revocable trust	Successor trustee conveys by trustee’s deed.

If you take one thing from this section: a quit claim deed is almost never the answer when someone has died. See the next section for why.

Quit Claim Deeds After the Owner Has Died

A dead person cannot sign a deed, and no heir can sign for them. This is where we see the most damage from well-intentioned self-help.

The governing question for a deed signed before death is delivery, not recording. A deed handed to the grantee during the grantor’s life is generally effective even if recorded afterward; a deed that stayed in the grantor’s possession and was recorded only after death generally is not. Sargent v. Baxter, 673 So. 2d 979 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996).

And an heir who signs a quit claim deed before a personal representative is appointed conveys at most that heir’s own undivided interest — while clouding title for everyone downstream. What actually works is a personal representative’s deed under § 733.613, an order of summary administration, or an order determining homestead status.

Full treatment, including deeds under a terminated power of attorney, protected homestead outside the estate, and how heirs correctly consolidate title: Florida deeds after the owner dies — what works and what’s void.

Tax Consequences Beyond Documentary Stamps

Carryover basis vs. stepped-up basis — the most expensive difference in estate planning

When you give property away during your life, the recipient takes your basis — generally what you paid, plus improvements. When property passes at death, the recipient’s basis is stepped up to fair market value at the date of death.

	Lifetime quit claim deed	Inheritance at death	Lady bird deed
Governing rule	26 U.S.C. § 1015 (carryover)	26 U.S.C. § 1014 (step-up)	§ 1014 — property is still in the estate
Parent’s original cost	$80,000	$80,000	$80,000
Value when the child receives it	$500,000	$500,000	$500,000
Child’s basis	$80,000	$500,000	$500,000
Taxable gain if sold at $500,000	$420,000	$0	$0
Federal capital gains at 15%	≈ $63,000	$0	$0
Probate avoided?	Yes	No	Yes

The lifetime quit claim deed and the lady bird deed both avoid probate. Only one of them costs the family $63,000. This is the strongest single argument against the reflexive “just quitclaim the house to the kids” advice, and we have written about it in more depth in our guide to lady bird deed tax consequences.

A second, related cost: the parent who quitclaims away their residence also gives up the 26 U.S.C. § 121 exclusion — up to $250,000 of gain for a single filer, $500,000 for a married couple, on the sale of a principal residence. The child, who does not live there, cannot use it.

Is a quit claim deed a gift? Do I have to file a gift tax return?

If you transfer property for less than full and adequate consideration, the difference is a gift for federal tax purposes. If the value of the interest given to any one person in a calendar year exceeds the annual exclusion amount, you must file a Form 709 gift tax return.

Filing a return does not usually mean paying tax. The excess is applied against the lifetime unified credit, which remains in the millions of dollars per person. Most families owe nothing — but the return is still required, and the failure to file is a compliance problem rather than a tax problem. Confirm the current annual exclusion and lifetime exemption figures with your CPA; both are indexed and both are subject to scheduled changes.

Does a quit claim deed avoid capital gains tax?

No. It defers and usually increases the eventual gain by transferring a low basis to someone who cannot exclude it. There is no version of a quitclaim that eliminates capital gains.

Quit Claim Deed vs. Other Florida Deeds

The choice of instrument matters far more than most people realize, and “quit claim deed” is only one of six real options in Florida.

	Quit claim deed	General warranty deed	Special warranty deed	Life estate deed	Lady bird deed	Deed to revocable trust
Warranty of title	None	Full, entire chain	Grantor’s ownership period only	Depends on drafting	Depends on drafting	Depends on drafting
When it transfers	Immediately	Immediately	Immediately	Remainder vests now	At death	Immediately, to the trust
Grantor keeps control?	No	No	No	No — cannot sell or mortgage alone	Yes — full control	Yes, as trustee
Avoids probate?	Yes, for that asset	Yes, for that asset	Yes, for that asset	Yes	Yes	Yes
Step-up in basis at death?	No	No	No	Partial	Yes	Yes
Save Our Homes cap preserved?	Usually reset	Reset	Reset	Often reset	Preserved	Preserved if grantor is beneficiary
Medicaid 5-year look-back?	Triggered	Triggered	Triggered	Triggered	Not triggered	Not triggered (revocable)
Revocable by grantor alone?	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Title insurance typically issued?	Rarely on the deed itself	Yes	Yes	Case by case	Case by case	Yes
Best for	Divorce, adding a spouse, curing title, funding a trust, heirs consolidating	Arm’s-length sales	Estate and REO sales	Rarely the best tool	Passing a home to children	Comprehensive estate plans

Does Florida have a transfer on death deed?

No. Florida has not adopted the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act, and there is no transfer-on-death deed or beneficiary deed for Florida real property. Roughly two-thirds of states have one, which is why so many people arrive in Florida expecting to find it.

Florida does allow transfer-on-death and pay-on-death designations for some other assets — transfer-on-death registration of securities and security accounts under the Florida Uniform Transfer-on-Death Security Registration Act, §§ 711.50–711.512, and pay-on-death designations on bank accounts under § 655.82. It does not offer transfer-on-death titling for motor vehicles or vessels, and it does not offer it for real estate. For a house, the Florida instrument that does the same job is the enhanced life estate deed, known as the lady bird deed. It passes the property automatically at death, keeps full control during life, preserves the step-up in basis and the Save Our Homes cap, and is not a transfer for Medicaid look-back purposes. In most respects it is better than a TOD deed, not merely a substitute for one.

Quit claim deed vs. quiet title action

A common confusion, because both are used to “clean up” title. A quit claim deed is a voluntary conveyance — it works only if the person with the competing claim agrees to sign. A quiet title action is a lawsuit under Chapter 65 that asks a court to adjudicate ownership and extinguish adverse claims, and it works whether or not the other party cooperates. Where a claimant is unknown, unreachable, or unwilling, a quit claim deed cannot help; quiet title is the remedy.

Quit claim deed vs. living trust

These are not alternatives — they work together. A revocable living trust holds property; a deed is how the property gets into it. Funding a Florida trust means executing and recording a deed from the individual owner to the trustee. A quitclaim is commonly used for that, though many Florida practitioners prefer a warranty or special warranty deed to preserve the existing title insurance position.

Will a Title Company Insure a Quit Claim Deed?

Yes — the common claim that “title insurance isn’t available when a quitclaim deed is used” is wrong. Title insurance is underwritten on the state of title, not on the warranty language in the deed. What a quitclaim in the chain does is raise questions the underwriter will want answered, because the deed itself supplies no warranty to fall back on. Expect heightened scrutiny of a quitclaim recorded in the last 24 months, and requirements such as a grantor affidavit and proof that documentary stamps were paid. You can sell a house you received by quit claim deed — just start the title work early. More on title insurance and Florida quit claim deeds.

Transferring Florida Property to an LLC or a Trust

Deeding into your own revocable living trust is generally low-risk: no change in beneficial ownership, nominal documentary stamps, protected from due-on-sale acceleration, and homestead protections and the Save Our Homes cap generally preserved. Name the trustee correctly — “John Smith, as Trustee of the John Smith Revocable Trust dated January 5, 2026,” not the trust itself.

Deeding into an LLC is a different matter. You lose constitutional homestead creditor protection, the homestead tax exemption, and the Save Our Homes cap. The transfer is not on the Garn–St Germain exemption list, so due-on-sale is live. And § 201.02(1)(b) taxes conveyances to a “conduit entity” where the ownership interest is transferred for consideration within three years. Moving a rental into an LLC is often sound; moving your own home into one usually is not. More on transferring Florida property to an LLC or trust.

Medicaid and Quit Claim Deeds

Giving the house away to qualify for Medicaid long-term care is one of the most common reasons families reach for a quit claim deed, and one of the worst uses of one. Florida applies a five-year look-back, and an uncompensated transfer within it produces a transfer penalty — a period of ineligibility that does not begin until the applicant is otherwise eligible and needs care. Meanwhile the homestead is often not a countable asset in the first place. Families routinely give away an asset that did not need to be given away and buy a penalty period in exchange.

A lady bird deed is not a transfer for look-back purposes, because the owner keeps the power to sell, mortgage and revoke. For most families whose goal is “make sure the house goes to my kids,” it is the correct instrument and a quit claim deed is not. More on Medicaid, asset protection and Florida deeds.

Why Deeds Get Rejected at the Recording Counter

Florida clerks reject a substantial share of deeds presented for recording, and since January 2024 one defect dominates the list.

Defect	Authority	Cure
Missing witness post office addresses	§ 695.26(1)(c)	Re-execute with complete witness blocks. The most common rejection since 1 Jan 2024.
Signatory names not printed beneath signatures	§ 695.26(1)(a)	Re-execute
Missing “prepared by” name and address	§ 695.26(1)(b)	Add the preparer block and re-record
Missing grantee mailing address	§ 695.26(1)(f)	Add and re-record
No 3″ × 3″ clerk space on page one	§ 695.26(1)(e)	Reformat
Fewer than two subscribing witnesses	§ 689.01	Re-execute; § 95.231 cures after five years of record
Defective notary acknowledgment	§ 695.03	Re-acknowledge and re-record
Legal description missing, or only a street address	§ 689.025(2)	Corrective deed with the full legal description
Insufficient documentary stamps	§ 201.02, § 201.17	Pay the tax plus penalty and interest
Homestead conveyed without spousal joinder	Art. X, § 4(c)	New deed with the spouse joining

How to fix a deed that is already recorded — corrective deeds, the § 689.041 curative notice, reformation, the § 95.231 and § 694.08 curative statutes, and Florida deed fraud under § 817.535: Fixing a defective Florida deed.

Can I Prepare My Own Quit Claim Deed in Florida?

Yes. Florida law does not require an attorney to prepare or record a deed. A property owner may prepare their own deed, and non-lawyers may prepare deeds for others within the limits of the unlicensed-practice-of-law rules.

The honest question is not whether you may, but whether the transfer is one where a mistake is cheap or expensive. A deed is two pages. The consequences run for decades.

Do-it-yourself is usually fine when: the property is unencumbered, there is no mortgage, both parties are the same people who have always owned it, no one is married to a non-owner, the property is not homestead or the spouse is joining, the transfer is between the owner and their own revocable trust, and no one has died.

Get advice when any of these are true:

• The property has a mortgage — doc stamp exposure and due-on-sale.
• The property is homestead and the grantor is married — without the spouse joining, the deed does not effectively transfer the property.
• The transfer is from parent to child — basis, gift tax, Save Our Homes, Medicaid.
• Someone has died.
• The transfer is part of a divorce.
• Medicaid or long-term care is anywhere on the horizon.
• The property is going to an LLC.
• You are trying to fix a prior deed.
• The property is a condominium or in an HOA with transfer approval requirements or a right of first refusal.
• You are receiving property from someone whose title history you do not know.

The cost asymmetry is stark. An attorney-prepared family deed runs a few hundred dollars. A void homestead deed, a $1,260 doc stamp penalty, a $5,300 annual Save Our Homes reset, or a $63,000 capital gains bill are all routine outcomes of getting it wrong.

Common Myths About Florida Quit Claim Deeds

Myth	Reality
“A quit claim deed removes me from the mortgage.”	It does not. Title and debt are separate. Only a refinance, an assumption with written release, or payoff removes you.
“Family transfers are exempt from documentary stamps.”	Only in specific circumstances. If the property is mortgaged, tax is generally due on the balance — see the scenario table above.
“The doc stamp rate is $0.35 per $100.”	That is the § 201.08 rate on promissory notes. The deed rate under § 201.02 is $0.70.
“Five signatures are required — grantor, grantee, notary and two witnesses.”	Four. The grantee does not sign a Florida deed.
“Any quit claim deed form off the internet works in Florida.”	Most predate § 689.025 and the January 2024 witness address rule.
“Title insurance isn’t available if there’s a quitclaim in the chain.”	It is. Underwriters scrutinize; they do not refuse.
“You don’t need to record if everyone knows about the transfer.”	Under § 695.01 an unrecorded deed loses to a later purchaser for value without notice.
“A quit claim deed avoids probate.”	It removes that one asset from your estate — by giving it away permanently, today. A lady bird deed avoids probate without giving up control.
“Adding my child to the deed protects the house from a nursing home.”	It starts the Medicaid five-year look-back and creates a transfer penalty, while the homestead was likely non-countable anyway.
“I can just take my ex off the deed.”	You cannot remove anyone. They must convey, or a court must order it.
“The county automatically removes the homestead exemption on any ownership change.”	§ 193.155(3) lists several transfers that are not a change of ownership, including between spouses.
“Florida has a transfer on death deed.”	It does not, for real property. The lady bird deed is the Florida equivalent.

Can You Use a Quit Claim Deed for a Timeshare in Florida?

A Florida timeshare interest is real estate by statute, so a timeshare deed is an ordinary conveyance requiring the correct legal description from the resort’s recorded declaration, proper execution, and recording in the county where the resort sits — usually Orange, Osceola, or Polk. A quit claim deed conveys the interest but warrants nothing, and it does nothing about annual maintenance assessments or the managing entity’s lien rights, which stay attached to the interest and to the new owner. Where the owner has died, no heir can convey by quit claim deed until a personal representative is appointed or a summary administration order is entered. We cover this in depth in our guide to inherited Florida timeshares.

Talk to a Florida Deed Attorney Before You Sign

We at Lorenzo Law prepare, review, record, and litigate Florida deeds statewide from offices in Coral Gables and Fort Lauderdale. Most of the deed problems we are asked to fix cost several times what it would have cost to prepare the deed correctly the first time — homestead conveyances signed without the spouse joining, unpaid documentary stamps discovered at a closing, Save Our Homes caps reset by accident, and quit claim deeds signed by heirs before a probate was opened.

If you are transferring Florida real property — to a spouse, a child, a trust, an LLC, or as part of a divorce or an estate — a short conversation before the deed is signed is the cheapest part of the process.

Call (305) 224-6811 or send us a message.

Florida Quit Claim Deed FAQs

What is a quit claim deed in Florida?

A written instrument by which a grantor releases and quitclaims to a grantee whatever right, title and interest the grantor has in described Florida real property, with no warranty that the title is good or clear. It must be signed before two subscribing witnesses under § 689.01 and follow the statutory form at § 689.025.

Who signs a quit claim deed in Florida?

The grantor, two subscribing witnesses, and a notary — four signatures. The grantee does not sign, though the grantee’s name and mailing address must appear on the deed.

Does the grantee have to sign a quit claim deed?

No. Florida requires only the grantor’s signature. A grantee signature is sometimes added where the grantee is accepting an obligation such as a mortgage assumption, but it is not a recording requirement.

How many witnesses does a quit claim deed need in Florida?

Two subscribing witnesses, under § 689.01. Since January 1, 2024, each witness’s printed name and post office address must appear on the deed under § 695.26(1)(c).

Can a family member witness your signature on a deed in Florida?

No Florida statute prohibits it. Section 689.01 does not restrict who may witness, and § 117.107’s notary prohibitions — notarizing for a spouse, child or parent, or where the notary is a party to or has a financial interest in the transaction — do not reach the question. As a matter of prudence we avoid using a grantee, a grantee’s spouse, or anyone with an interest in the transaction as a witness, because an interested witness gives a future challenger an argument. A neutral witness costs nothing and removes the issue.

Does a quit claim deed need to be notarized in Florida?

To be recorded, yes — § 695.03 requires acknowledgment. Section 689.01 itself requires only the grantor’s signature before two witnesses, so an unnotarized deed may still be effective between the parties, but it cannot be recorded and it will lose priority to a later purchaser who records first.

How much does a quit claim deed cost in Florida?

Recording is $10.00 for the first page and $8.50 for each additional page in every county, plus $1.00 per name over four. Documentary stamp tax is $0.70 per $100 of consideration ($0.60, or $1.05 with surtax, in Miami-Dade), with a $0.70 minimum. Attorney preparation typically runs $200 to $600 for a straightforward transfer.

How much does an attorney charge for a quitclaim deed in Florida?

A simple family or trust-funding deed is commonly $200 to $600 including recording. Deeds requiring a title search, doc stamp analysis, homestead review, or Medicaid planning run higher. Ask for a flat fee.

Do I need a lawyer for a quit claim deed in Florida?

Not legally. Practically, yes if the property is mortgaged or homestead, if the grantor is married, if someone has died, if it is part of a divorce, if Medicaid is a possibility, or if the property is going into an LLC.

Can I prepare my own quit claim deed in Florida?

Yes. Florida law permits it. Make sure your form complies with § 689.025 and includes witness address lines — most free forms online predate the 2024 requirement.

Where do I file a quit claim deed in Florida?

With the clerk of the circuit court in the county where the property is located — or, in Broward, the County’s Records, Taxes and Treasury Division, and in Orange, the Comptroller. Most counties accept in-person, mail, and electronic submission.

How long does it take to record a quit claim deed in Florida?

Electronic recording is often same-day to two business days. Mail-in takes three to ten business days after receipt, and the recorded original comes back seven to twenty-one days later. Start to finish, a simple transfer takes three days to three weeks.

Does a quit claim deed give you ownership?

It gives you exactly the interest the grantor held at delivery. If the grantor had clear title, you have clear title. If the grantor had nothing, you have nothing — and the deed is still valid.

How long is a quit claim deed good for in Florida?

Indefinitely. It does not expire. Under § 95.231, certain technical defects are cured five years after recording, and after twenty years no claim may be asserted against those claiming under the deed.

What happens after a quit claim deed is recorded?

The clerk indexes it and returns the original, the transfer becomes constructive notice under § 695.01, and the property appraiser evaluates whether a change of ownership occurred for Save Our Homes purposes. Nothing happens automatically to the mortgage, insurance, HOA records, or homestead exemption.

Can a quit claim deed be reversed?

Not unilaterally. The grantee must convey it back voluntarily, or a court must set the deed aside for forgery, fraud, duress, undue influence, incapacity, lack of delivery, or absence of spousal joinder on homestead.

What makes a quit claim deed invalid in Florida?

No writing or signature, fewer than two witnesses, no adequate legal description, no delivery, a non-existent grantee, homestead conveyed without spousal joinder, lack of capacity, fraud, a terminated power of attorney, or forgery.

Does signing a quit claim deed remove me from the mortgage?

No. You give up ownership and keep the debt. Only a refinance, an assumption with written release from the lender, or payoff removes you from the note.

What happens if my name is on the deed but not the mortgage in Florida?

You own an interest but owe nothing personally. You cannot be sued on the note and the default will not hit your credit — but the mortgage lien encumbers the entire property, and a foreclosure will extinguish your ownership.

Can you quit claim a house with a mortgage in Florida?

Yes. The mortgage stays on the property and the borrower stays on the note. Documentary stamps are generally due on the outstanding balance, subject to the § 201.02(7) exemptions.

Will a quit claim deed trigger the due-on-sale clause?

Usually not for family transfers. The Garn–St Germain Act, 12 U.S.C. § 1701j-3(d), bars lenders from accelerating on transfers to a spouse or children, on transfers under a divorce decree, on transfers to a relative resulting from the borrower’s death, and on transfers into an inter vivos trust in which the borrower remains a beneficiary. Transfers to an LLC or to a non-relative are not protected.

Do I have to refinance after a quit claim deed?

Not to make the deed effective. You do if the goal is to remove someone from the loan, which the deed cannot accomplish.

Does a divorce decree override a quit claim deed?

A final judgment can order a party to convey, and a Florida court can vest title by the judgment itself. But once a deed is executed and recorded, it controls record title, and undoing it requires going back to the court. Never sign the deed at mediation without addressing the refinance obligation.

Does a spouse have rights to property after signing a quit claim deed in Florida?

Generally the signing spouse gives up their ownership interest. But if the property is the couple’s homestead and they remain married, constitutional homestead rights and the spousal joinder requirement of Art. X, § 4(c) can continue to affect a later conveyance. Homestead rights are not the same as title, and a deed alone does not always dispose of them.

Does a quit claim deed avoid probate in Florida?

It removes that asset from your probate estate — by transferring it away permanently during your life. If you want probate avoidance while keeping control, a lady bird deed or a revocable trust does that; a quit claim deed does not.

How do I add someone to a deed in Florida?

By executing a new deed from the current owner to the current owner and the new person together, with the correct vesting language. Adding a spouse is generally exempt and low-risk. Adding an adult child triggers doc stamps on any mortgage, potential Save Our Homes reset, gift tax reporting, loss of step-up in basis, and exposure to the child’s creditors.

How do I remove someone from a deed in Florida?

You cannot remove them. They must sign a deed conveying their interest, or a court must order it — through a partition action under Chapter 64, a dissolution proceeding, or a suit to set aside a defective deed.

What are the tax implications of adding someone to a deed in Florida?

Documentary stamps on the proportional share of any mortgage, a possible Save Our Homes reset, a reportable gift on Form 709 if the interest exceeds the annual exclusion, and carryover rather than stepped-up basis on the transferred share.

How do I add a right of survivorship to a Florida deed?

By executing a new deed with express survivorship language — “as joint tenants with full rights of survivorship, and not as tenants in common.” Under § 689.15, Florida does not presume survivorship except between spouses, so it must be stated.

Does Florida have a transfer on death deed?

No. Florida has no transfer-on-death or beneficiary deed for real property. The enhanced life estate (lady bird) deed is the Florida equivalent and, in most respects, better — it keeps control during life, avoids probate at death, preserves the stepped-up basis and the Save Our Homes cap, and is not a transfer for Medicaid look-back purposes.

What is the difference between a quit claim deed and a lady bird deed in Florida?

A quit claim deed transfers ownership immediately and permanently. A lady bird deed transfers ownership only at death while the owner keeps full power to sell, mortgage, or revoke during life. For passing a home to children, the lady bird deed is usually the correct instrument.

What is the difference between a quit claim deed and a warranty deed?

A general warranty deed guarantees clear title through the entire chain of ownership and gives the grantee recourse against the grantor if a defect appears. A quit claim deed guarantees nothing. Warranty deeds are for arm’s-length sales; quit claim deeds are for transfers between parties who already trust each other.

Quit claim deed or quiet title action — which do I need?

A quit claim deed only works if the person with the competing claim agrees to sign. A quiet title action under Chapter 65 asks a court to adjudicate ownership and extinguish adverse claims whether or not the other party cooperates. If the claimant is unknown, unreachable, or unwilling, you need quiet title.

What are the loopholes in quit claim deeds in Florida?

There are no loopholes, only consequences people do not see coming: no warranty of title, liens that ride along, doc stamps on mortgaged transfers, a homestead deed that does not work because a spouse did not join, a reset Save Our Homes cap, carryover basis, Medicaid penalties, and the ease with which the form is used for deed fraud.

What is a “quick claim deed”?

A misspelling. The correct term is quit claim deed — from “quitclaim,” meaning to give up a claim. There is no separate instrument called a quick claim deed, a quick deed, or a quick deed transfer in Florida law.

How do I get a copy of my deed in Florida?

Every Florida county’s official records are searchable free online through the clerk of the circuit court (or the Comptroller in Orange County, and Records, Taxes and Treasury in Broward). Search by your name or the parcel’s legal description. Deeds are public records; certified copies are available from the clerk for a small fee.

¿Qué es un quit claim deed en Florida?

Es una escritura mediante la cual el otorgante cede al beneficiario cualquier derecho, título o interés que tenga sobre un inmueble en Florida, sin ninguna garantía sobre el estado del título. Debe firmarse ante dos testigos y un notario, y registrarse en el condado donde se encuentra la propiedad. Si tiene preguntas sobre una escritura en Florida, llámenos al (305) 224-6811.