How to Fill Out and Record a Colorado Quitclaim Deed Form

To fill out a Colorado quitclaim deed, you complete the statutory short-form language from C.R.S. § 38-30-113 with the grantor’s and grantee’s full legal names and addresses, the exact legal description of the property, and (optionally) a consideration amount; the grantor signs in front of a notary, and you then record the deed with the county clerk and recorder in the county where the property sits, together with a Real Property Transfer Declaration (Form TD-1000) and the recording fee. A quitclaim deed passes only whatever interest the grantor actually holds, with no warranty that the title is clean or that the grantor owns anything at all, so it is best suited to transfers between people who already trust each other: spouses, family members, divorcing couples, or someone moving property into their own revocable trust. It also does not pass after-acquired title, meaning any interest the grantor picks up later stays with the grantor unless a separate deed is signed.¹

What to Gather Before You Fill Anything In

Pull these together first. Getting them wrong on the deed creates title problems that are harder to fix than they are to prevent.

Full legal names and mailing addresses of the grantor (the person giving up the property) and the grantee (the person receiving it). Match the names to how they appear in official records. Middle initials matter.
The legal description of the property. This is not the street address. It is the formal surveyor’s description, usually a lot and block number with subdivision name, or a metes-and-bounds description, that appears on the most recently recorded deed for the property. Copy it character for character.
The county where the property sits. That is where the deed will be recorded.
Consideration amount. Colorado law does not require you to list any amount; a deed is valid whether or not it recites consideration. For a gift, you can leave the space blank, write “zero,” or write “love and affection.” The older habit of listing a token $10 is not required.¹
A “return to” address, where the clerk mails the recorded original back to you, and a “send tax statements to” address, where the county treasurer directs the property tax bills. They can be the same. Leaving them blank slows recording down.

Where the Form Comes From

The statutory short-form language lives in C.R.S. § 38-30-113. Most county clerk and recorder websites post a downloadable blank that follows the statute, and legal document sellers offer preformatted versions. Any of these works so long as the form substantially follows the statutory language. If you are drafting your own, the word that makes it a quitclaim rather than a warranty deed is “quitclaim” in the granting clause, replacing “convey.”¹

Completing the TD-1000

Colorado requires a Real Property Transfer Declaration (Form TD-1000) to accompany most deeds presented for recording. It gives the county assessor the information needed to keep property valuations accurate for tax purposes. You can download it from the Colorado Division of Real Estate website or pick one up at your local assessor’s office.²

The form asks for the total sale price (including any personal property bundled into the deal), the relationship between the parties, and whether the transaction was arms-length. On a family gift with no sale price, you would enter zero and indicate the parties are related. It also asks you to list any personal property such as appliances, equipment, or furniture that was part of the transaction and that materially affects the price.²

If you skip the TD-1000 or turn it in incomplete, the assessor can send a notice and impose a penalty of $25 or 0.025% of the property’s actual value if the completed form is not returned within 30 days.

Signing and Notarization

The grantor signs the deed in front of a notary public. Colorado law allows deeds to be acknowledged before any notary public holding a notarial seal.³ The notary checks the grantor’s identity, typically through a government-issued photo ID, watches the signature, then applies the notarial certificate and seal. The grantee does not sign. Only the person giving up the interest signs a quitclaim deed.

Colorado does not require witnesses. Notarization by itself satisfies the acknowledgment requirement. Banks, UPS locations, and law offices commonly offer notary services for a small per-signature fee.

Recording the Deed

Once the deed is signed and notarized, file it with the clerk and recorder in the county where the property is located. An unrecorded deed is still valid between the grantor and grantee, but it will not protect the grantee against someone else who records a competing claim first, so record promptly.⁴

Most county offices accept documents in person, by mail, or through authorized electronic recording services. Submit the notarized deed and the completed TD-1000 together, with payment.

Recording Fee

As of July 1, 2025, the recording fee for a deed in Colorado is a flat $40 per document, regardless of page count.⁵ The older per-page structure ($10 for the first page, $5 for each additional) no longer applies. Pay by check or credit card; the clerk will reject a filing that arrives without full payment.

Documentary Fee

Colorado also charges a documentary fee on deeds that convey property for more than $500 in consideration. The rate is one cent per $100 of consideration or major fraction of it, so a $400,000 sale carries a $40 documentary fee. No documentary fee is owed when consideration is $500 or less, or when there is no consideration at all.⁶ Gifts of real property are separately exempt, and you claim the exemption when you present the deed for recording.⁷ Most quitclaim transfers between family members will owe only the $40 recording fee.

Formatting

Clerks can reject documents that fail basic formatting standards. Expect to need at least a one-inch margin at the top of the first page and half-inch margins on the sides and bottom. Use letter-size paper (8.5 by 11 inches), black ink, and legible text. Non-standard documents can trigger extra fees or outright rejection.

After Recording

The clerk’s office assigns the deed a unique reception number and stamps it with the date and time of recording. That timestamp fixes when the transfer entered the public record. Once the document is scanned into the county’s permanent archive, the original is mailed back to the “return to” address on the deed; electronic filers get a confirmation through the recording platform.

Verify recording by searching the county’s online public records under the grantor’s or grantee’s name, or by looking up the reception number.

Federal Gift Tax Filing

When you use a quitclaim deed to transfer property as a gift, federal gift tax rules apply. For 2026, you can give up to $19,000 per recipient per year without triggering a filing requirement.⁸ Real property almost always exceeds that, which means the grantor will need to file IRS Form 709 (United States Gift Tax Return) for the year of the transfer.⁹

Filing Form 709 does not automatically mean tax is owed. Anything above the $19,000 annual exclusion draws down the lifetime gift and estate tax exemption, which is $15,000,000 for 2026.¹⁰ For most families no actual tax is due, but the return itself is still required.

There is also a cost-basis point worth knowing. A lifetime gift carries the grantor’s original cost basis over to the grantee. If the grantee later sells, capital gains are calculated from that carryover basis. Property inherited at death instead receives a stepped-up basis to fair market value on the date of death, which can wipe out years of built-up gains. For high-value property, that difference can change whether a lifetime quitclaim makes financial sense.

Mortgage and Due-on-Sale Concerns

A quitclaim deed does not remove or affect an existing mortgage. The loan stays in the grantor’s name, and the grantor stays personally liable, even though they no longer own the property. The deed and the mortgage are separate instruments; recording a new deed does nothing to the loan.

Most mortgages contain a due-on-sale clause allowing the lender to demand full repayment when the borrower transfers ownership. Federal law blocks the lender from enforcing that clause in several situations, including:

Transfers to a spouse or children of the borrower
Transfers into a living trust where the borrower remains a beneficiary and occupancy of the property does not change
Transfers from divorce or legal separation where the borrower’s spouse becomes the owner
Transfers on the borrower’s death to a relative or joint tenant

These protections apply to loans secured by residential property with fewer than five units.¹¹ If your transfer does not fit one of these categories, and a mortgage is still outstanding, the lender could call the loan due. Contact your lender before recording the deed if there is any doubt about whether the transfer qualifies.

1
Justia. Colorado Code 38-30-113 – Deeds – Short Form – Acknowledgment – Effect
2
Colorado Division of Real Estate. Real Property Transfer Declaration TD-1000
3
Justia. Colorado Code 38-35-103 – Acknowledgment Before Notary
4
FindLaw. Colorado Code 38-35-109 – Recording
5
Justia. Colorado Code 30-1-103 – Fees of County Clerk and Recorders – Report – Repeal
6
Justia. Colorado Code 39-13-102 – Amount
7
Justia. Colorado Code 39-13-104 – Exemptions
8
Internal Revenue Service. Frequently Asked Questions on Gift Taxes
9
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 709 (2025)
10
Internal Revenue Service. Estate Tax
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 12 USC 1701j-3 – Preemption of Due-on-Sale Prohibitions