A Montana quit claim deed transfers whatever interest the grantor holds in a piece of real estate to the grantee, with no promise that the interest is good or free of liens. To use one, you fill out the deed with the full legal names and addresses of both parties, copy the property’s full legal description from a prior recorded deed, state the consideration, have the grantor sign in front of a notary, complete a Realty Transfer Certificate, and file everything with the clerk and recorder in the county where the property is located. Recording costs $20 for the first page and $10 for each additional page.1Montana Legislative Branch. Montana Code 7-4-2637 – Fees for Recording Documents – Rulemaking
What a Quit Claim Deed Actually Transfers
A quit claim deed is the simplest way to move a property interest from one person to another in Montana, but the grantor makes no guarantees about what they are handing over. If the grantor has full, clear title, the grantee gets full, clear title. If the grantor has nothing, the grantee gets nothing. There is no warranty against liens, encumbrances, or competing claims.
That trade-off is why these deeds show up mostly in non-sale situations: transfers between family members, adding or removing a spouse after a marriage or divorce, moving property into a trust, or clearing up a cloud on title. They are not typical in arm’s-length sales, where buyers insist on a warranty deed.
Information You Need Before You Start
Every quit claim deed needs several specific pieces of information, and an error can get the filing rejected or create title problems later.
- Full legal names of the grantor (person transferring) and grantee (person receiving). The grantor’s name must match the name on the current recorded deed exactly.
- Current mailing addresses for both parties, which the county uses for tax assessments and legal notices.2Montana State University Extension. Quitclaim Deeds in Montana
- The property’s full legal description. A street address is not enough, and neither is the abbreviated description on your annual property tax bill. The legal description typically includes township, range, and section numbers or lot and block information from a recorded plat. Pull it from a previously recorded deed.2Montana State University Extension. Quitclaim Deeds in Montana
- The consideration, meaning the dollar amount paid, or a note that the transfer is a gift or for nominal consideration.
If you cannot find the legal description on a prior deed, search the Montana Cadastral mapping system at gis.mt.gov or contact the county assessor where the property is located.3Montana State Library. MSDI Cadastral Errors in the legal description are one of the most common reasons a deed later needs legal action to fix. Copy it character for character.
How to Vest Title With More Than One Grantee
If the deed names more than one person as grantee, you must specify how they take title, and the default is not what most people expect. Joint tenancy with right of survivorship means that when one owner dies, their share automatically passes to the surviving owner without probate. Creating it requires explicit language, such as “John Jones and Mary Jones as joint tenants with right of survivorship and not as tenants in common.”4Montana State University Extension. Transferring Property Owned in a Joint Tenancy or in a Life Estate If the deed simply names two people without that language, Montana law defaults to tenancy in common, where each owner’s share passes through their own estate at death rather than to the co-owner.
Formatting, Signing, and Notarization
Montana sets specific formatting rules for recorded documents under MCA 7-4-2636. A deed that does not meet them is still recorded, but the county charges an extra $10 non-standard document fee.5Montana State Legislature. Montana Code 7-4-2636 – Standards for Recorded Documents – Exemptions
- White paper, either 8.5 × 11 or 8.5 × 14 inches.
- All text legibly printed or typed in blue or black ink. Signatures, initials, and dates also in blue or black ink.
- A top margin of at least 3 inches on the first page for the county’s recording stamps. Subsequent pages need at least 1 inch at top.
- Side margins of at least half an inch and a bottom margin of at least 1 inch on every page.
- The names of all parties to the conveyance must appear on the first or second page.
Before recording, the grantor’s signature must be acknowledged, meaning the grantor signs in front of a notary public who verifies their identity.6Montana State Legislature. Montana Code 70-21-203 – Acknowledgment of Instruments Required – Exceptions The notary completes a certificate of acknowledgment on the deed that includes their signature, official seal, and commission expiration date. Montana notaries can charge up to $10 per acknowledgment.7Montana Code Annotated. Montana Code 1-5-626 – Fees for Notarial Acts – Collection of Fees The grantee does not sign and does not need to be present.
The Realty Transfer Certificate
Every deed submitted for recording in Montana must come with a Realty Transfer Certificate, Form RTC. Without it, the clerk will reject the filing.8Montana State Legislature. Montana Code 15-7-305 – Realty Transfer Certificate Required The Department of Revenue uses the form to track property sales and verify taxpayer compliance on gains from real estate transfers.
The RTC asks for the consideration paid (or an indication the transfer is a gift or non-monetary exchange), the last four digits of each individual grantor’s and grantee’s Social Security Number (or the last four digits of the federal ID number for an entity like a corporation or trust), and the property’s classification as agricultural, residential, or commercial.9Montana Department of Revenue. Realty Transfer Certificate Form Download the current version from the Department of Revenue or pick one up at the county clerk and recorder’s office. Submitting an inaccurate or incomplete certificate can draw a fine of up to $500, up to six months in jail, or both.10Montana State Legislature. Montana Code 15-7-310 – Penalty
When You Don’t Have to Disclose the Price
Some transfers are exempt from disclosing the consideration on the certificate. Under MCA 15-7-307, the exemptions include gifts, transfers between spouses or between parent and child for only nominal consideration, transfers by court decree, transfers of a decedent’s estate, and corrections or modifications of a previously recorded instrument.11Montana State Legislature. Montana Code 15-7-307 – Certificate – Exceptions Many quit claim transfers fit one of these categories, so check the list before completing the consideration section. You still have to file the certificate itself; the exemption only covers the dollar amount.
Filing the Deed and Paying the Fee
Once the deed is signed, notarized, and the certificate is complete, submit everything to the clerk and recorder in the county where the property physically sits. You can deliver the package in person or mail it with a check.
The recording fee is $20 for the first page and $10 for each additional page.1Montana Legislative Branch. Montana Code 7-4-2637 – Fees for Recording Documents – Rulemaking A one-page quit claim deed costs $20. Add $10 if the deed misses the formatting standards. Montana’s constitution prohibits any state or local transfer tax on real property sales, so the recording fee is the only government charge at filing.12Montana Code Annotated. Montana Constitution – Section 17 – Prohibition on Real Property Transfer Taxes
The clerk indexes the deed into the public land records, stamps it with the recording date and time, and returns the original to the grantee. Most offices send it back within a few weeks. That recording date is what establishes priority and provides public notice that the property interest has changed hands.
What a Quit Claim Deed Does Not Do to an Existing Mortgage
A quit claim deed does not touch any mortgage on the property. If the grantor owes money, the mortgage stays in place after the deed is recorded. The grantor remains personally liable for the loan unless the lender agrees to a release, and the lender can foreclose if payments stop regardless of who now holds title. People get caught by this in informal family transfers where everyone assumes the deed takes care of it.
Most mortgages also include a due-on-sale clause letting the lender demand full repayment if the property changes hands without prior written consent. Federal law blocks the lender from enforcing that clause in several common quit claim situations. Under 12 U.S.C. § 1701j-3(d), a lender cannot accelerate the loan when the transfer is to a spouse or child of the borrower, results from the borrower’s death, follows a divorce decree or separation agreement, or moves the property into a living trust where the borrower remains a beneficiary.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 12 USC 1701j-3 – Preemption of Due-on-Sale Prohibitions These protections apply to residential property with fewer than five units. If your transfer does not fit one of the exceptions, contact the lender before filing.
Tax and Benefits Consequences to Weigh Before Filing
A quit claim deed is a filing task, but the choice to use one has consequences the county clerk will not warn you about.
If the deed transfers property for less than fair market value, the IRS may treat the difference as a taxable gift. For 2026, you can give up to $19,000 per recipient without any gift tax reporting requirement. Married couples who elect gift splitting can combine their exclusions to give $38,000 per recipient. Transfers above the annual exclusion eat into the lifetime exemption and require filing IRS Form 709.14Internal Revenue Service. Frequently Asked Questions on Gift Taxes
Cost basis is the other half of the tax picture. Property received as a gift carries the donor’s original cost basis: what they paid for it, plus improvements, minus depreciation. If a parent bought a house for $80,000 and quit claims it to a child when it is worth $300,000, the child’s basis is still $80,000, and capital gains tax applies to the difference on sale. Property received by inheritance instead gets a stepped-up basis equal to fair market value at the date of death, which can erase that gain entirely. A lifetime quit claim between family members is often more expensive, tax-wise, than waiting.
Transferring property for less than fair market value can also affect Medicaid eligibility if the grantor later needs long-term care. Medicaid reviews financial transfers made during the 60 months before an application and imposes a penalty period when a transfer looks like an attempt to reduce assets. Transfers to a spouse or a disabled child are exempt. Anyone using a quit claim deed as part of long-term care planning should work through the five-year timing before filing.
One more thing worth knowing: if the property has an owner’s title insurance policy, recording a quit claim deed can terminate that coverage, and most title insurers will not issue a new policy with a quit claim in the chain of title. That can make a later sale or refinance harder than expected.