How to Add a Spouse to a Deed in Illinois: Forms, Taxes, and Mortgage

To add a spouse to a deed in Illinois, you prepare a new deed — most often a quitclaim deed — that names both of you as owners and specifies how you’ll hold title, sign it before a notary, and record it with the recorder’s office in the county where the property sits. Interspousal transfers usually qualify for exemptions from both Illinois transfer tax and federal gift tax, so the out-of-pocket cost is generally limited to preparation, recording, and any attorney fees. The single most consequential decision is not the paperwork. It’s the form of co-ownership you choose, because that language determines what happens to the property if one of you dies, whether creditors can reach it, and whether it ends up in probate.

Choose the Form of Co-Ownership First

Illinois recognizes three ways for a married couple to hold title together, and the deed has to say which one you mean. Silence defaults you to the weakest option.

Joint Tenancy

Joint tenancy gives both spouses equal shares with a right of survivorship: when one spouse dies, the other automatically becomes sole owner without probate. Illinois requires the deed to expressly state that the property passes “in joint tenancy,” or the law treats it as tenancy in common no matter what you intended.¹ Most practitioners use “as joint tenants with right of survivorship and not as tenants in common” to close off any ambiguity.

Two limitations are worth knowing. Either joint tenant can unilaterally break the arrangement by transferring their share to a third party, which converts the remaining owners into tenants in common and kills the survivorship right. And joint tenancy offers no protection from either spouse’s individual creditors.

Tenancy by the Entirety

Tenancy by the entirety is available only to married couples and only for homestead property — the home you both live in as your primary residence. The deed must expressly declare that the property is held as “tenants by the entirety.”² Like joint tenancy, it carries survivorship. Its real advantage is creditor protection: because Illinois treats both spouses as a single owner, a creditor holding a judgment against only one spouse generally cannot force a sale of the home. Neither spouse can sell or mortgage without the other’s consent.

If you want both survivorship and creditor shielding for your primary residence, this is the strongest option Illinois offers. It doesn’t apply to investment property or vacation homes.

Tenancy in Common

Tenancy in common lets each spouse own a defined share, and the shares don’t have to be equal. There is no automatic survivorship. When one spouse dies, their share passes under their will or through probate rather than to the surviving spouse.¹ This flexibility appeals to couples with children from prior marriages or estate plans that need each spouse to direct their own share. The cost is probate.

Prepare a Quitclaim Deed

The most common instrument for adding a spouse is a quitclaim deed. It transfers whatever interest the grantor holds without any title guarantees, which is usually fine between spouses because you already know and trust the person receiving the interest. Illinois statute provides a standard quitclaim form that includes the grantor’s name and address, the consideration, the grantee’s name, and a legal description of the property.³ Because a quitclaim makes no promises about the state of title, running a title search first is worth the small cost.

Every deed recorded in Illinois must meet a handful of basic requirements:

The grantor — the spouse who currently owns the property — must sign, and must be of legal age and sound mind.
The grantor’s signature must be acknowledged by a notary public.
All signing parties’ names should be typed or printed below their signatures.
The deed must include a full legal description of the property. The street address alone is not enough; pull the legal description from your existing deed or your property tax bill.
The deed must state the name and address of the owner who should receive future property tax bills.
Leave a 3½-by-3½-inch blank space for the county recorder’s use.

Then state the ownership form in plain language. Use “as joint tenants with right of survivorship and not as tenants in common,” or “as tenants by the entirety,” as the case may be. Vague phrasing like “to my spouse” defaults to tenancy in common under Illinois law.¹

Record the Deed With the County

A deed is not effective against third parties until you record it with the recorder’s office in the county where the property sits. Recording creates the public record that protects both spouses’ interests against later claims.

Alongside the deed, you’ll submit either a completed PTAX-203 Illinois Real Estate Transfer Declaration or an exemption notation written on the face of the deed.⁴ Because adding a spouse normally involves no money changing hands, the transfer typically qualifies for the exemption in Section 31-45(e) for transfers with actual consideration under $100.⁵ When the exemption applies, you can note it directly on the deed instead of filing the full PTAX-203.

Recording fees vary by county, but expect roughly $70 to $100 for a standard deed. If you use a real estate attorney to draft and review the deed, attorney fees for a quitclaim typically run a few hundred dollars. Take the filing seriously: anyone who willfully falsifies or omits required information on a PTAX-203 faces criminal misdemeanor charges.⁴

Taxes You Do and Don’t Owe

Illinois Transfer Tax

Illinois imposes a real estate transfer tax on most conveyances, and some counties and municipalities add their own. When you add a spouse without any monetary consideration, the transfer is exempt from the state tax under the less-than-$100 consideration exemption.⁵ Check with your local recorder about any additional municipal transfer tax requirements, since local rules vary.

Federal Gift Tax

Transferring a property interest to your spouse is generally exempt from federal gift tax. The unlimited marital deduction lets spouses who are U.S. citizens transfer unlimited assets to each other tax-free during their lifetimes.⁶

The exception worth flagging: if your spouse is not a U.S. citizen, the unlimited marital deduction does not apply. Transfers to a non-citizen spouse instead use a special annual exclusion, which for 2026 is $194,000.⁷ Anything above that is a taxable gift. If it applies, talk to a tax professional before signing anything.

Property Tax and Homestead Exemption

Adding a spouse to the deed does not automatically trigger a reassessment in Illinois. It can, however, put the property in front of the assessor’s office. If the home is your primary residence, confirm that the General Homestead Exemption is still in place after the recording; the exemption amount depends on your county.⁸

Basis at Death

The ownership form you pick now affects capital gains later. When one spouse dies, the portion of the property included in that spouse’s estate receives a stepped-up basis equal to fair market value at the date of death.⁹ With joint tenancy, half the property is generally included in the deceased spouse’s estate, so half is stepped up. Specifics depend on when and by whom the property was acquired, and a tax advisor is the right call for a home bought long before the marriage.

Your Mortgage Is Not Affected — But Not Changed, Either

If you still owe on the home, adding your spouse to the deed will not trigger the loan’s due-on-sale clause. Federal law prohibits lenders from accelerating a residential mortgage when ownership transfers to the borrower’s spouse or children, and that protection covers any residential property with fewer than five dwelling units.¹⁰

But putting a spouse on the deed does not put them on the mortgage. Your spouse gains an ownership interest; the original borrower remains solely liable for the loan. Adding your spouse to the mortgage itself generally requires a refinance. A courtesy notification to the lender avoids confusion, even though the lender cannot call the loan.

Mistakes That Undo the Whole Thing

The most frequent problem with do-it-yourself deed transfers is imprecise ownership language. Writing “John and Jane Doe” without specifying the tenancy type defaults you to tenancy in common under Illinois law: no survivorship, no creditor protection, and a probate proceeding neither spouse expected.¹

A second common error is trying to create a tenancy by the entirety on property that isn’t your homestead. Illinois limits that form to a primary residence. Use it on an investment property and the designation fails, taking the creditor protection with it.

Failing to record promptly is another costly oversight. An unrecorded deed is valid between the spouses themselves but does nothing against third parties — creditors, future buyers, lien holders — who have no way of knowing ownership changed. Record the deed as soon as it’s signed and notarized.

Finally, don’t confuse the deed with the mortgage. The deed controls ownership; the mortgage controls who owes the bank. Changing one does not change the other, and assuming it did can create unpleasant surprises during a refinance or if the marriage later ends.

1
Justia. Illinois Code 765 ILCS 1005 – Joint Tenancy Act
2
Justia. Illinois Code 765 ILCS 1005 – Joint Tenancy Act – Section 1c
3
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 765 ILCS 5/10 – Quitclaim Deed
4
Illinois Department of Revenue. Instructions for Form PTAX-203, Illinois Real Estate Transfer Declaration
5
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 35 ILCS 200/31-45 – Exemptions
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 US Code 2523 – Gift to Spouse
7
Internal Revenue Service. Frequently Asked Questions on Gift Taxes for Nonresidents Not Citizens of the United States
8
Illinois Department of Revenue. Property Tax Relief – Homestead Exemptions, PTELL, and Senior Citizens Real Estate Tax Deferral Program
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 US Code 1014 – Basis of Property Acquired From a Decedent
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 12 US Code 1701j-3 – Preemption of Due-on-Sale Prohibitions