A Massachusetts quitclaim deed transfers real property from a grantor to a grantee with a narrower guarantee than a full warranty deed: under M.G.L. c. 183, § 11, the grantor promises only that the property is free of encumbrances they personally created and agrees to defend the title against anyone claiming through the grantor.1General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Code Chapter 183 – Quitclaim Deed That limited promise is why quitclaim deeds are the standard tool for transfers between family members, into or out of trusts, between divorcing spouses, and for other transfers where a full warranty is unnecessary. The form is short. The execution and recording rules are where people get tripped up.
Information to Gather Before You Start
Pull these details together before you touch the form:
- Full legal names and addresses for everyone involved. The grantor’s name must match the name on the current deed exactly. If the grantor’s name has changed since acquiring the property, use both: “Jane Smith, formerly known as Jane Doe.”
- The consideration — the price or value exchanged. For gifts and other nominal transfers, the standard phrasing is “$1.00 and other good and valuable consideration.”
- The legal description of the property, copied from the current deed word for word. It may be metes and bounds, a lot-and-block reference, or a reference to a recorded plan. Do not paraphrase. A single misplaced word can create a title defect.
- The Book and Page number of the current deed, or the Certificate of Title number if the property is registered land. About 90 percent of Massachusetts properties are recorded land identified by Book and Page. The rest are registered land governed by the Land Court. If you are not sure which system covers your property, call the Registry of Deeds in the county where the property sits.2Middlesex North Registry of Deeds. FAQs – Land Court Frequently Asked Questions
How Multiple Grantees Will Hold Title
If more than one person is receiving the property, the deed must say how they hold it. If it doesn’t, Massachusetts defaults to tenancy in common, which is often not what the parties intended.3Middlesex North Registry of Deeds. Massachusetts Real Estate Ownership The three options:
- Tenants in common. Each owner holds a separate, inheritable share. When one dies, that share passes through their estate, not automatically to the co-owner.
- Joint tenants. Each owner holds an equal, undivided interest, and a surviving joint tenant automatically receives a deceased co-owner’s share. The deed must expressly say the grantees hold “as joint tenants.”
- Tenants by the entirety. Available only to married couples, with survivorship and added creditor protection. The deed must state the grantees hold “as tenants by the entirety.”3Middlesex North Registry of Deeds. Massachusetts Real Estate Ownership
Spell it out. A married couple who wants survivorship protection but leaves vesting blank ends up as tenants in common, the opposite of the intent.
Filling Out the Deed
Massachusetts provides a statutory quitclaim form in M.G.L. c. 183, § 8. You are not required to use that exact template, but any form should follow the statutory language “in substance” to carry the legal effect described in § 11.1General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Code Chapter 183 – Quitclaim Deed Blank forms are available through individual county Registry of Deeds websites, at registry offices in person, or from legal document providers. Whatever source you use, confirm the form contains quitclaim covenants rather than full warranty language.
Enter the grantor’s full legal name as it appears on the current deed, followed by the grantor’s address, then the grantee’s full legal name and mailing address. Write the consideration in both words and figures, for example “Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($500,000.00).” For a gift or a transfer into a trust with no money changing hands, use “$1.00 and other good and valuable consideration.”
Insert the legal description exactly as it appears on the prior recorded deed. After the legal description, reference the source deed: “Being the same premises conveyed to [grantor name] by deed recorded with the [County] Registry of Deeds in Book _____, Page _____.” For registered land, reference the Certificate of Title number instead. If more than one grantee is named, add the vesting language immediately after the grantee names so there is no ambiguity.
Witness and Notary Requirements
A Massachusetts deed needs two things at signing, and both must be present. First, at least one witness must watch the grantor sign and then sign the deed themselves.4Justia. Massachusetts Code Chapter 183 – Section 39 Second, the grantor’s signature must be acknowledged before a notary public, with the notary’s printed name, signature, commission expiration date, and seal all appearing on the document.5Berkshire North Real Estate Records. Recording Requirements – Berkshire North Real Estate Records A deed that is signed but not notarized, or notarized but missing a witness signature, will be rejected at the registry.
Only the grantor signs. The grantee does not sign a quitclaim deed. If multiple grantors are transferring the property, every grantor must sign in front of a witness and a notary. Print each signer’s and each notary’s name legibly beneath their signatures; registries reject documents where they cannot read the names.
Homestead and Spousal Signatures
If the property is the grantor’s primary residence, it likely has a homestead protection under M.G.L. c. 188. To transfer the property to a non-family member, the deed must be signed by the owner and by any non-owner spouse or former spouse who lives in the home as a principal residence on the date of the deed.6Mass.gov. Memo – New Homestead Law Chapter 188 If the non-owner spouse does not sign, the homestead is not properly terminated, and the new owner may receive a title that is still encumbered.
For transfers between spouses, between co-owners, or between a trustee and a trust beneficiary, the homestead does not automatically terminate through the deed alone. Each person entitled to homestead benefits must execute a separate, recorded release unless the deed itself contains an express release of the homestead estate.6Mass.gov. Memo – New Homestead Law Chapter 188 Skipping this step is one of the more common title problems in family transfers, and it often doesn’t surface until the grantee tries to sell or refinance years later.
Recording the Deed
A signed, witnessed, and notarized deed is legally effective between grantor and grantee the moment it is delivered. But it does not protect the grantee against third-party claims until it is recorded at the Registry of Deeds in the county where the property is located. Record promptly. An unrecorded deed leaves the grantee vulnerable if the grantor later conveys the same property to someone else.
You can record in person, by mail, or through electronic recording. Most Massachusetts registries accept e-filings, though not every e-recording vendor serves every county.7Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. E-Recording Vendors If you file in person or by mail, bring two copies so the registry can stamp and return one as your confirmation. For registered (Land Court) properties, you file with the Land Court registration office at the same registry, but the process and form requirements differ, so call ahead if your property has a Certificate of Title number rather than a Book and Page reference.
Recording Fees and Deeds Excise Tax
The base recording fee for a deed at most Massachusetts registries is $155.8Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Registry of Deeds Fee Schedule A few registries add a small surcharge for mailing.9Norfolk County Registry of Deeds. Fee Schedule – Excise Tax – Norfolk County Registry of Deeds
On top of the recording fee, Massachusetts imposes a deeds excise tax under M.G.L. c. 64D whenever the stated consideration is $100 or more. Transfers where the consideration is under $100, including most gift deeds stating “$1.00 and other good and valuable consideration,” owe no excise tax. For taxable transfers, the rate in most counties is $4.56 per $1,000 of stated value, rounded up to the nearest $500.10Dukes County Registry of Deeds. Tax Stamps On a $500,000 sale, the excise tax is $2,280. Barnstable County is the exception: its rate is $6.48 per $1,000 because of an additional Cape Cod and Islands land bank surcharge.11Barnstable County. Fee Schedule and Recording Procedures – Barnstable County
The registry will not record your deed until all fees and applicable excise taxes are paid. Once recorded, the registry assigns a new Book and Page number (or annotates the Certificate of Title for registered land) that becomes the permanent reference for the grantee’s ownership. Keep a copy of the recorded deed with the stamped recording information; you will need it for refinancing, selling, or any future transfer.
Federal Gift Tax and Cost Basis
When a quitclaim deed transfers property for less than fair market value, such as a parent deeding a house to an adult child, the IRS treats the difference between fair market value and the consideration paid as a gift. If that gift exceeds $19,000 per recipient in 2026, the donor must file IRS Form 709 to report it.12Internal Revenue Service. About Form 709, United States Gift and Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax Return Married donors can split the gift, allowing up to $38,000 per recipient before a Form 709 is required.
Filing Form 709 does not necessarily mean owing tax. The excess reduces the donor’s lifetime estate and gift tax exemption. The bigger issue is often cost basis. When property is received as a gift, the grantee inherits the donor’s original cost basis rather than receiving a stepped-up basis at the property’s current market value.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 1015 – Basis of Property Acquired by Gifts and Transfers in Trust If the donor bought the property decades ago for $80,000 and the grantee later sells it for $500,000, the capital gain is calculated from the $80,000 basis, not from the value on the date of the gift. For high-value properties, that carryover basis can create a much larger tax bill than the grantee expected. Talking to a tax preparer before the transfer, not after, is worth the hour.