An Arkansas quitclaim deed PDF is a one- or two-page form you fill in, sign before a notary, and file with the recorder in the county where the property sits. Most Arkansas Circuit Clerk offices post a blank template on their website, and you can also pick one up at the counter. The form itself is short. Getting it accepted for recording is where people run into trouble, because Arkansas has strict formatting, signature, and tax-affidavit rules that the clerk will check before stamping your document.
Quitclaims transfer whatever interest the grantor has, with no warranty that the title is clean. That makes them appropriate for transfers between people who already trust each other: adding a spouse to title, moving property into a personal trust, clearing an ex-spouse’s interest after divorce, or gifting to a family member. It is not the right instrument for an arm’s-length sale to a stranger.
Information to Gather Before You Fill In the PDF
Every blank matters. A wrong entry either gets the deed rejected at the counter or creates a title problem years later. Before you open the form, pull together:
- Full legal names and mailing addresses for every grantor and grantee, exactly as they appear on government identification. Skip nicknames and initials-only versions.
- The property’s legal description. This is not the street address. It is the formal boundary description on the most recent recorded deed, and you must reproduce it word for word, including lot numbers, section references, and any metes-and-bounds calls.
- The tax parcel identification number, available from your county assessor. Many clerks require it on the deed or the accompanying affidavit.
The legal description is where most do-it-yourself deeds go wrong. If you paraphrase it, round a measurement, or drop a line, you have described different land. Copy directly from the last recorded deed. If that prior deed itself contains an error, you generally need a corrective instrument rather than a rewritten description on a new quitclaim.
Formatting Rules the Recorder Will Check
Under A.C.A. § 14-15-402, every document submitted for recording must meet specific layout requirements, and a PDF template that ignores them will be rejected:1Justia. Arkansas Code 14-15-402 – Instruments to Be Recorded
- Paper size of 8.5 by 11 inches.
- A 2.5-inch margin at the upper right of the first page, reserved for the recorder’s file mark.
- At least a half-inch margin on the sides and bottom of every page.
- A 2.5-inch margin at the bottom of the last page.
- Text legible enough to reproduce after scanning.
Check your PDF against these before printing. If the template’s margins are tight, adjust them.
Every recorded instrument must also carry a “Prepared by” statement showing the name and address of the person who drafted it, typically near the top or bottom of the first page. Without it, the recorder cannot accept the document.2Justia. Arkansas Code 14-15-403 – Instruments Affecting Title to Property
Signing and Notarization
Only the grantor signs. The grantee’s signature is not required for the conveyance to be valid. The grantor’s signature has to be notarized, though, because Arkansas requires every deed to be “proven or acknowledged” before it can be recorded.3Justia. Arkansas Code 18-12-201 – Proof or Acknowledgment as Prerequisite to Recording Real Estate Conveyances
In practice, the grantor signs in the physical presence of a notary public commissioned by the Arkansas Secretary of State. The notary verifies identity, confirms the signature is voluntary, and completes the acknowledgment block on the deed. A deed that is signed but not notarized is technically valid between the two parties, but it cannot be recorded. Without recording, the transfer gives no public notice and offers the grantee no protection against later claims by third parties.
The Transfer Tax and the Compliance Affidavit
Arkansas charges a real property transfer tax of $3.30 per $1,000 of actual consideration on transactions above $100.4Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. Real Property Transfer Tax On a $200,000 transfer, that is $660. The tax is paid at recording, usually through documentary stamps affixed to the deed.
Along with the deed, the recorder typically wants a Real Property Transfer Tax Affidavit of Compliance. The form was designed by the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration under A.C.A. § 26-60-107 and asks for the parties’ names and addresses, the county, the date of transfer, and either the consideration paid or the exemption claimed.5Justia. Arkansas Code 26-60-107 – Real Property Transfer Tax Affidavit of Compliance Form The grantee or the grantee’s agent fills it out.
Under A.C.A. § 26-60-102, several transfers are exempt from the tax. The ones that come up most often with quitclaim deeds are:6Justia. Arkansas Code 26-60-102 – Transfers to Which Chapter Does Not Apply
- Deeds between spouses as part of a marital property division, whether by agreement or court order.
- Transfers to or from the United States, Arkansas, or their political subdivisions.
- Correction deeds filed solely to fix a prior recorded deed on which the full tax was already paid.
- Transfers between business entities or between a business and its owners in a merger, liquidation, or similar restructuring.
- Beneficiary (transfer-on-death) deeds under A.C.A. § 18-12-608.
When the exemption is obvious from the face of the deed, the recorder may accept it without the affidavit. When there is any doubt, expect to file the affidavit and cite the exemption.
One misconception worth clearing up: family gifts are not automatically exempt. There is no general carve-out for parent-to-child or sibling transfers. If you quitclaim property to a family member and the consideration exceeds $100, you owe the transfer tax on the fair market value unless one of the listed exemptions applies.
Filing the Completed Deed
Once the deed is signed, notarized, and the affidavit is ready, submit the original to the county recorder in the county where the property is located. Most offices accept walk-in filings and submissions by certified mail.
The recording fee is set by statute at $15 for the first page and $5 for each additional page.7Justia. Arkansas Code 21-6-306 – Recorders A typical one-page quitclaim costs $15 to record, plus any transfer tax owed. The clerk checks the margins, the “Prepared by” statement, legibility, and whether the tax affidavit is attached or an exemption is clear on the face of the document. Anything missing sends the deed back unrecorded.
Once accepted, the clerk stamps the deed with a recording timestamp. That entry into the public record is what puts the world on notice that ownership has changed. The original is usually mailed back to the grantee or the filer within a few weeks.
What a Quitclaim Deed Does Not Handle
Recording the deed transfers the interest, but it does not clean up everything attached to the property. A few limits worth knowing before you sign:
An existing mortgage stays with the property. The grantor remains personally liable on the loan unless the lender agrees to a release or the grantee refinances. Many mortgages contain a due-on-sale clause, though federal law under 12 U.S.C. § 1701j-3(d) prevents lenders from enforcing it in several common quitclaim situations, including transfers to a spouse or children, divorce-related transfers, transfers on the death of a co-owner, and transfers into a revocable living trust where the borrower remains a beneficiary. Transfers to an LLC or an unrelated party are not protected.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 12 USC 1701j-3 – Preemption of Due-on-Sale Prohibitions
Title insurance does not carry over. The grantor’s existing owner’s policy does not transfer to the grantee, and insurers are often reluctant to issue a new policy based only on a quitclaim without a full title search. Families passing property this way often discover the gap at the next sale.
Gifting property by quitclaim carries a tax cost the grantee inherits. The recipient takes the donor’s original cost basis under 26 U.S.C. § 1015, so appreciated property gifted during life can produce a large capital gains bill on a later sale that inheriting the same property would have avoided.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 US Code 1015 – Basis of Property Acquired by Gifts and Transfers in Trust The grantor may also need to file IRS Form 709 if the value exceeds the $19,000 annual gift tax exclusion for 2026.10Internal Revenue Service. Gifts and Inheritances
Finally, if the grantor might apply for Medicaid within five years, a quitclaim below fair market value can trigger a period of ineligibility under the 60-month look-back rule at 42 U.S.C. § 1396p.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 1396p – Liens, Adjustments and Recoveries, and Transfers of Assets Talk to an elder law attorney before signing in that situation.