How to Fill Out and Record an Illinois Quit Claim Deed Form

To fill out an Illinois quit claim deed, you complete the short statutory form under 765 ILCS 5/10 with the grantor’s name and residence, the consideration, the grantee’s name and address, the county, and the full legal description of the property; then you sign it before a notary, attach the required transfer tax declaration and any county-specific affidavits, and submit the package to the recorder of deeds in the county where the property is located.¹ A quit claim deed transfers whatever interest the grantor currently holds, with no warranty that the title is clear. That makes it well suited to family transfers, adding or removing a spouse, or moving property into a trust, and poorly suited to arm’s-length sales where the buyer needs assurances about the title.

What to Gather Before You Fill Anything In

The form is short. The information it demands has to be exact, and mismatches are the most common reason a deed comes back unrecorded.

Grantor and grantee names. Write the grantor’s name exactly as it appears on the existing deed. Any variation creates a gap in the chain of title. Use the grantee’s full legal name and current mailing address. The statutory form also asks for the grantor’s place of residence.²
Legal description. A street address will not do. Copy the full legal description straight from the current deed or title policy. If it is a metes-and-bounds description, it must include the section, township, and range with an identifiable point of beginning.
Property Index Number. Most Illinois counties require the PIN on the face of the deed. Cook County uses a 14-digit PIN; other counties use 10- or 12-digit versions. You can find yours on a recent property tax bill or assessment notice.³
Consideration. This is the value exchanged. Even when nothing changes hands, most forms recite a nominal figure such as “ten dollars and other good and valuable consideration” to satisfy the elements of a transfer.⁴

Filling In the Deed

Many county recorders publish blank quit claim deed forms on their websites or offer them at the counter.⁵ The statutory form itself asks for the grantor, consideration, grantee, legal description, and county.¹ Beyond those basic fields, a few items on the face of the document trip up first-time filers.

Prepared-by statement. Illinois recorders can refuse a deed that does not show the name and address of the person who prepared it, printed or stamped on the face of the document. Put this near the top of the first page.
Send tax bills to. The deed must show the name and address of the owner who should receive future property tax bills. Missing this does not void the deed, but it can delay recording.⁶
Return-to address. Include the name and address of the person who should receive the original deed after it is stamped and indexed.
Recorder’s blank space. Leave a blank area of at least 3½ by 3½ inches, usually in the upper-right corner of the first page, for the recorder’s stamps and indexing.¹
Typed names below signatures. Section 35c requires the names of everyone signing, including witnesses and the person taking the acknowledgment, to be typed or printed under their signatures.⁶

One boundary worth flagging: a quit claim deed does not automatically transfer any interest the grantor acquires after signing. If the grantor later gains new rights in the property, those rights stay with the grantor unless the deed’s language expressly extends to after-acquired title.¹

How Co-Grantees Should Take Title

If two or more people will hold the property, the deed has to say how. Illinois defaults to tenancy in common if the deed is silent, and correcting the form of ownership later is far harder than getting it right the first time.

Tenancy in common. Each owner holds a separate share. On death, that share passes through the owner’s will or estate, not to the co-owner.
Joint tenancy. Equal shares with a right of survivorship, so a deceased owner’s share passes automatically to the survivors and bypasses probate. The deed must expressly declare joint tenancy. Any joint tenant can sever the arrangement by transferring their share, which converts the ownership into a tenancy in common without the other owner’s consent.
Tenancy by the entirety. Available only to married couples or civil-union partners for a homestead property, and only if the deed expressly declares it. Neither spouse can sell or mortgage the homestead without the other’s signature. On death of either spouse, the survivor takes the entire estate; on divorce, the tenancy converts to tenancy in common.⁷

Notarization

Under 765 ILCS 5/35c, the grantor’s signature must be acknowledged by a notary public or another officer authorized under Section 20 of the Conveyances Act, such as a county clerk or judge.⁸ The notary attests to the acknowledgment with an official seal.⁶ An unacknowledged deed is technically valid between the grantor and grantee, but recorders will not accept it and title insurers will not rely on it. Treat notarization as mandatory.

Transfer Tax Declaration and Exemptions

Almost every deed submitted for recording must be accompanied by a Real Estate Transfer Declaration (PTAX-203). The recorder cannot accept the deed without it unless the deed itself carries an exemption paragraph or exemption stamps.⁹

The state transfer tax is $0.50 per $500 of value or fraction of $500, and counties may add $0.25 per $500.¹⁰ A $200,000 transfer generates $200 in state tax and $100 in county tax. Municipalities can layer on their own tax. Chicago charges $5.25 per $500 ($3.75 city plus $1.50 for CTA funding), which on that same $200,000 transfer comes to $2,100.¹¹

Under 35 ILCS 200/31-45, many family quit claim deeds qualify for an exemption:

Deeds where actual consideration is less than $100.¹²
Deeds that confirm, correct, or supplement a previously recorded deed without additional consideration.
Deeds to or from a governmental body, or between governmental bodies.
Transfers to or from qualifying charitable, religious, or educational organizations (PTAX-203 still required).
Deeds or trust documents that secure a debt.
Deeds issued to a mortgage holder after foreclosure, or transfers in lieu of foreclosure.
Deeds of partition and deeds made under federal bankruptcy or reorganization plans.¹²

If the transfer is exempt, the applicable exemption code has to appear on either the PTAX-203 or the deed itself. The Illinois Department of Revenue’s MyDec portal lets you prepare and file the PTAX-203 online, and many counties now require or strongly prefer electronic filing.¹³ Have the PIN, consideration amount, and any exemption code ready.

An Extra Step for Chicago Property

If the property is inside Chicago, the Cook County Recorder will not accept the deed until the City of Chicago Department of Finance issues a Full Payment Certificate confirming that water, sewer, and other utility charges are paid or not transferable to the new owner.¹⁴ Without it, you cannot obtain the Chicago transfer tax stamps. The application fee is $50, waived for transfers exempt from the Chicago transfer tax.

Plat Act Affidavit

Under the Illinois Plat Act (765 ILCS 205/1), recorders cannot record deeds that convey property in violation of subdivision requirements, and in practice many counties require a Plat Act Affidavit with every deed. If you are transferring the entire parcel without changing its boundaries, the affidavit is simple: check the box indicating no division of land, sign before a notary, and attach it. No county plat officer signature is needed.

The affidavit is more involved when land is being divided. If any resulting parcel is less than five acres, the Plat Act generally requires a survey and a recorded subdivision plat. Exemptions cover divisions where all resulting parcels are five acres or larger, sales between adjoining landowners, and transfers for railroad or public utility purposes, and those exemptions require the county plat officer’s signature. Check with your county recorder to confirm whether the affidavit is required locally and which version of the form to use.

Recording the Deed

Submit the signed and notarized deed to the recorder of deeds in the county where the property sits, along with the PTAX-203 (or exemption documentation), the Plat Act Affidavit if required, and any municipal certificates. Most recorders accept documents in person, by mail, or through electronic recording services.

Recording fees vary by county and bundle several statutory surcharges. DuPage County charges $86 for a deed, covering document storage, the geographic information system, and the rental housing support program.¹⁵ Cook County charges $107.¹⁶ Less-populated counties may charge less. Quit claim deeds filed solely to reflect a legal name change, where the grantor and grantee are the same person, are exempt from all recording fees under a law effective January 1, 2026.¹

Once the recorder verifies the package, the deed is stamped with the recording date, time, and document number, and public notice of the ownership change takes effect. The original comes back to the return-to address, usually within a few business days to a few weeks. Keep a copy.

Why Deeds Get Sent Back

The most common problems that cause a recorder to return a quit claim deed unrecorded:

Missing PTAX-203 declaration or exemption stamps.
Legal description missing, incomplete, or inconsistent with county records.
Prepared-by statement not on the face of the deed.
Wrong or unpaid recording fee.
Deed not notarized.
Missing Plat Act Affidavit in counties that require one.

Each round trip costs time. Walk through the list before you submit.

Mortgage, Title Insurance, and Gift Tax Cautions

A quit claim deed transfers the grantor’s interest. It does not remove the grantor’s name from an existing mortgage, so if you quit claim property that carries a loan, you remain liable on that loan. Most mortgages also include a due-on-sale clause that lets the lender demand full repayment when ownership changes. Federal law limits when a lender can enforce that clause: under the Garn-St. Germain Act, the due-on-sale provision cannot be triggered for several common family transfers, including a transfer to a spouse or child, a transfer into a living trust where the borrower remains a beneficiary, a transfer resulting from a divorce decree or separation agreement, and a transfer to a relative on the borrower’s death.¹⁷ Transfers outside those categories can prompt an immediate demand for the balance.

Title insurance is the other trap. Many owner’s title policies tie continuing coverage to the grantor’s liability under the deed’s warranties, and a quit claim deed carries no warranties. A grantee receiving property by quit claim likely cannot rely on the grantor’s existing policy and should consider buying a new one if the title history is anything less than certain.

There is also a federal gift tax angle. When you transfer property by quit claim for less than fair market value, the IRS treats the difference as a gift. If the gift to any single recipient exceeds $19,000 in 2026, you must file IRS Form 709.¹⁸ Married couples who elect to split gifts can give up to $38,000 per recipient before a filing obligation kicks in. Transfers between spouses who are U.S. citizens are generally exempt from gift tax entirely, so a quit claim adding or removing a spouse usually does not need Form 709.¹⁹ Filing Form 709 does not necessarily mean you owe tax; it reports the gift and counts it against your lifetime exemption. Failing to file when required leaves the statute of limitations on that gift open indefinitely.

1
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 765 ILCS 5/10
2
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 765 ILCS 5/9
3
Cook County Assessor’s Office. Where Do I Find My PIN
4
Rock Island County, Illinois. Illinois Quit Claim Deed Form
5
Peoria County, IL. Recording Forms
6
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 765 ILCS 5/35c
7
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 765 ILCS 1005/1c
8
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 765 ILCS 5/20
9
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 35 ILCS 200/31-25
10
Illinois Department of Revenue. Real Estate Transfer Tax Stamp Purchase Forms/Procedures
11
City of Chicago. Real Property Transfer Tax (7551)
12
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 35 ILCS 200/31-45
13
Illinois Department of Revenue. MyDec – Online Real Property Transfer Tax Declarations
14
City of Chicago. Full Payment Certificates
15
DuPage County, IL. Recorder Fee Schedule
16
Cook County Clerk. Recording Fees
17
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 12 U.S. Code 1701j-3 – Preemption of Due-on-Sale Prohibitions
18
Internal Revenue Service. Gifts and Inheritances
19
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 709