How to File a Quitclaim Deed in California: Fees and Reassessment

To file a quitclaim deed in California, you prepare the deed with the property’s legal description, have the grantor sign it in front of a notary public, and record it at the recorder’s office in the county where the property sits, along with a Preliminary Change of Ownership Report. The paperwork itself is usually a one-day job. The consequences — property tax reassessment, continued mortgage liability, and a federal gift tax return — can follow you for years, so it pays to understand them before the deed hits the recorder’s counter.

When a Quitclaim Deed Fits the Situation

A quitclaim deed transfers whatever ownership interest the grantor holds to the grantee, with no warranties attached. If the grantor owns the property outright, the grantee gets full ownership. If the grantor owns nothing, the grantee gets nothing.¹

That is why quitclaims are used between people who already trust each other: spouses splitting property in a divorce, family members being added to or removed from title, or owners moving real estate into a living trust. For a sale to a stranger, a grant deed is the better instrument because it carries implied warranties.²

What to Gather Before You Draft

Every valid California deed identifies the parties clearly and describes the property precisely enough to distinguish it from every other parcel.² Before filling in a form, collect the following:

The grantor’s and grantee’s full legal names. The grantor’s name should match how it appears on the current title.
The property’s legal description — lot, tract, and subdivision references — copied verbatim from the most recent recorded deed. A street address is not a legal description.¹
The Assessor’s Parcel Number, found on your property tax bill or the county assessor’s website.¹
How the grantee will hold title (sole ownership, joint tenancy, community property) and the nature of the transfer (gift, divorce, trust).

Blank quitclaim forms are available from county recorder websites, office supply stores, and legal document services. Use one that matches current California requirements rather than a generic template.

The Preliminary Change of Ownership Report

You also need to complete a Preliminary Change of Ownership Report, Board of Equalization form BOE-502-A.³ State law requires it for every transfer. The PCOR tells the assessor what happened so they can decide whether to reassess. Submitting a deed without one lets the recorder charge an extra $20.⁴

Claiming the Documentary Transfer Tax Exemption for Gifts

If no money is changing hands, the transfer is exempt from documentary transfer tax under Revenue and Taxation Code Section 11930.⁵ To claim it, you print a statement on the face of the deed along the lines of “Transfer is exempt from documentary transfer tax — R&T Code Section 11930, bona fide gift, no consideration received.” Without that declaration, the recorder will collect the tax.⁶

Formatting Rules the Recorder Enforces

Recorders reject documents that miss the formatting standards. They are strict but simple:

Standard 8.5 by 11 inch paper.
At least a 2.5-inch blank top margin on the first page for the recorder’s stamps. The left 3.5 inches of that space holds the requester’s name and return address.
Side margins of at least 0.5 inches.
Clear black-ink printing. Handwritten deeds are technically allowed but invite rejection.

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Signing and Notarization

Only the grantor signs. The grantee’s signature is not required for the deed to be valid.¹

The grantor’s signature must be notarized. That means appearing in person before a California notary public, presenting valid government-issued identification, and signing in the notary’s presence. The notary then fills out an acknowledgment certificate, signs, and affixes a seal. Without notarization, the recorder will not accept the deed. California caps the notary’s fee for an acknowledgment at $15 per signature.⁸

Recording at the County Recorder’s Office

Bring the signed and notarized deed and the completed PCOR to the recorder’s office in the county where the property is located. Most counties accept documents in person or by mail; some offer drop boxes or limited online submission. Check the specific county’s website for current methods, hours, and fee schedules.

Recording is not technically required for the deed to be valid between grantor and grantee, but an unrecorded deed is invisible to everyone else, and a later buyer or lender without notice of the transfer can claim priority over it.⁹ Record promptly. People who prepare a deed and set it aside often discover the problem years later.

Fees and Documentary Transfer Tax

Several charges are collected at recording, and the total depends on what kind of transfer this is.

Base recording fee. Recorders charge per page. The exact amount varies by county but generally runs $15 to $25 for the first page and less for each additional page.

Building Homes and Jobs Act fee. Most real estate recordings carry an additional $75 fee under Government Code Section 27388.1, capped at $225 per transaction. It does not apply to transfers where documentary transfer tax is being paid, or to transfers of a residential dwelling to an owner-occupier.¹⁰ In practice, gift transfers of non-owner-occupied property will owe the $75, while most sales (which pay the transfer tax) will not.

Documentary transfer tax. When property is sold for more than $100, the county charges $0.55 for every $500 of the transfer price, or $1.10 per $1,000, calculated on value minus any mortgage the buyer assumes.¹¹ Cities can add their own transfer tax on top, and a handful charge substantially more, so verify the local rate if the property is inside city limits. True gift transfers are exempt, as noted above.⁵

Property Tax Reassessment After the Transfer

Once the deed is recorded, the assessor reviews it with the PCOR to decide whether to reassess the property at current market value.¹² A reassessment can raise annual property taxes sharply if the market value has climbed well above the current assessed value. Not every transfer triggers one, but the exemptions are narrower than most people assume.

Transfers Between Spouses

Transfers between spouses are fully excluded from reassessment. That covers adding a spouse to title, removing one during a divorce, and moving property into a trust for a spouse’s benefit.¹²

Parent-Child and Grandparent-Grandchild Transfers Under Proposition 19

Proposition 19 took effect on February 16, 2021, and tightened the parent-child rules significantly. The exclusion now applies only to a family home or family farm, and only if the child moves in as their primary residence within one year of the transfer and files for the homeowners’ or disabled veterans’ exemption in that same window.¹³ The prior rule allowed the family home plus up to $1 million in other real property.¹⁴

Even qualifying transfers face a value cap. The exclusion covers the property’s existing taxable value plus an additional amount that is $1,044,586 for transfers between February 16, 2025, and February 15, 2027. Any fair market value above that combined figure is added to the new taxable value.¹⁵ The same rules apply to grandparent-grandchild transfers, but only when the grandchild’s parents (who would have qualified as the grandparent’s children) are deceased.

Transfers Into a Revocable Living Trust

Moving property into a revocable living trust where you remain the beneficiary does not trigger reassessment, which is why this is one of the most common uses for a quitclaim deed.

The Mortgage Does Not Follow the Deed

This is where quitclaim transfers cause the most damage. Signing the deed does not transfer the loan. If the grantor’s name is on the mortgage, they stay personally liable after giving up ownership. Missed payments hit the grantor’s credit, and the lender can pursue the grantor for the balance. The deed changes who owns the property, not who owes the money.

Most mortgages also contain a due-on-sale clause, letting the lender demand full repayment if the property changes hands without consent. Lenders don’t always enforce it, but they can.

Federal law carves out protections. Under the Garn-St Germain Act, a lender on a residential property with fewer than five units cannot enforce a due-on-sale clause for several categories of transfer, including one where a spouse or child becomes an owner, one resulting from a divorce or separation agreement, one into a living trust where the borrower remains a beneficiary, and one to a relative after the borrower’s death.¹⁶

If your transfer doesn’t fit one of those categories, call the lender before recording. A loan acceleration demand is far worse than an awkward conversation.

Federal Gift Tax Reporting

When you transfer property by quitclaim as a gift, the IRS treats it as a taxable gift. Most California real estate is worth well above the $19,000 annual gift tax exclusion for 2026, so the grantor is required to file IRS Form 709 for the year of the transfer.¹⁷

Filing doesn’t necessarily mean owing. The amount above the annual exclusion is applied against your lifetime gift and estate tax exemption, which for 2026 is $15,000,000.¹⁷ Most people never pay gift tax, but the return is still due by April 15 of the year following the gift.¹⁸

Transfers between spouses who are both U.S. citizens are generally exempt from gift tax due to the unlimited marital deduction. For gifts to a spouse who is not a U.S. citizen, the annual exclusion is $194,000 in 2026 rather than $19,000.¹⁷

What Happens After Recording

When the recorder accepts the deed, it is stamped with a recording date and document number and enters the public record. The original document comes back by mail to the return address on the deed, which can take several weeks depending on the county’s backlog. Keep the recorded copy with your other property records.

If the transfer triggers a reassessment, the assessor sends the new owner a notice of the updated value. That notice can arrive months later, so don’t assume the tax bill is safe just because nothing has changed yet. For parent-child transfers under Proposition 19, file the homeowners’ or disabled veterans’ exemption claim within one year to preserve the exclusion.¹⁵

1
Los Angeles County Department of Consumer & Business Affairs. Understanding Real Estate Documents: Quitclaim Deed
2
California Department of Real Estate. Reference Book – Principal Instruments of Transfer
3
California Board of Equalization. PCOR Form BOE-502-A
4
California Legislative Information. California Revenue and Taxation Code 480.3
5
California Legislative Information. California Revenue and Taxation Code 11930
6
California Legislative Information. California Revenue and Taxation Code 11932-11933
7
Sacramento County Clerk/Recorder. Rules for Recorded Documents
8
California Secretary of State. California Notary Public Handbook
9
Justia. California Civil Code 1214-1217
10
California Legislative Information. California Government Code 27388.1
11
California Legislative Information. California Revenue and Taxation Code 11911
12
Los Angeles County Assessor. Change in Ownership
13
California Legislative Information. California Revenue and Taxation Code 63.2
14
California Legislative Information. California Revenue and Taxation Code 63.1
15
California Board of Equalization. Proposition 19 – Intergenerational Transfer Exclusion
16
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 12 USC 1701j-3 – Preemption of Due-on-Sale Prohibitions
17
Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026
18
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 709 – United States Gift Tax Return