To transfer a property deed in Georgia, you (or more commonly a Georgia-licensed attorney) prepare the correct type of deed, have the grantor sign it in front of two witnesses including a notary, file a PT-61 transfer tax declaration and pay any tax due, and then record the deed with the Clerk of the Superior Court in the county where the property is located. The state transfer tax runs $1 for the first $1,000 of the sale price plus $0.10 for each additional $100, and recording fees typically land around $25 per document.
An Attorney Almost Always Prepares the Deed
Georgia is one of the few states where preparing a deed for another person counts as the practice of law.1Justia. Georgia Code 15-19-50 – Practice of Law Defined A non-attorney who drafts a deed for someone else is engaged in unauthorized practice, which the statute prohibits.2FindLaw. Georgia Code 15-19-51 A Georgia-licensed attorney typically handles drafting, title review, execution, and the closing itself.
You are allowed to prepare a deed for property you own yourself, and this is where family transfers often get muddled. Even a simple quitclaim from parent to child is a legal instrument Georgia classifies as conveyancing. The cost of a lawyer for a straightforward deed is small next to the cost of fixing a defective one later.
Choosing the Right Type of Deed
The deed type controls how much protection the new owner has if a title problem surfaces later.
Limited Warranty Deed
This is the standard instrument in most Georgia sales. The seller guarantees they personally did nothing to cloud title during their ownership but makes no promises about anything that predates them. Title insurance usually fills the gap.
General Warranty Deed
The strongest protection available. The seller guarantees clear title going back through the property’s entire history and is on the hook for defending against any defect, even one from decades earlier. That open-ended liability is why general warranty deeds are uncommon in typical Georgia transactions.
Quitclaim Deed
A quitclaim transfers whatever interest the grantor happens to have, with no warranties at all. Common uses include transfers between family members, between divorcing spouses, or to fix a defect like a misspelled name on an earlier deed.
What Has to Be in the Deed
A valid Georgia deed needs a few non-negotiable elements. Any of them missing or wrong can make the document unrecordable or ineffective.
- Full legal names of the grantor (transferring) and grantee (receiving). Misspellings cause title search problems for years.
- Granting language that clearly expresses intent to convey. The exact phrasing depends on the deed type.
- A legal description of the property. Usually a lot and block reference to a recorded plat, or a metes-and-bounds description for unplatted land. A street address alone is never enough.
- Consideration. The purchase price in a sale, or “love and affection” or a nominal amount like ten dollars for a gift.
- The grantor’s signature. The grantee does not sign.
Copy the legal description exactly from the existing deed or a current survey. A single wrong number in a metes-and-bounds description can shift the boundaries and require a corrective deed to unwind.
File the PT-61 and Pay the Transfer Tax
Before the deed can be recorded, the real estate transfer tax has to be paid and documented on a PT-61 (Real Estate Transfer Tax Declaration).3Justia. Georgia Code 48-6-4 The PT-61 is filed electronically through the Georgia Superior Court Clerks’ Cooperative Authority (GSCCCA) portal.4Georgia Department of Revenue. Real Estate Transfer Tax Even exempt transfers require a PT-61.
To complete the form you need the parcel identification number, both parties’ full names, the transfer date, the sale price, and the county. The system generates a confirmation page that must go to the clerk with the deed. Without it, the clerk will reject the recording.
Common Transfer Tax Exemptions
Georgia law exempts several categories of transfer from the tax, though the PT-61 still has to be filed with the correct exemption code:5Justia. Georgia Code 48-6-2 – Exemption of Certain Instruments, Deeds, or Writings From Real Estate Transfer Tax
- Gifts between family members or anyone else.
- Property transferred between spouses as part of a divorce.
- Deeds from an executor, administrator, or trustee distributing property without payment.
- Any deed involving the United States, Georgia, or a political subdivision.
- Transfers between an individual and a corporation, partnership, or LLC when the individual holds a majority interest in the entity.
- Division of jointly owned property among the co-owners, with no consideration beyond the division itself.
Even for an exempt transfer, the PT-61 must show the total consideration.5Justia. Georgia Code 48-6-2 – Exemption of Certain Instruments, Deeds, or Writings From Real Estate Transfer Tax A few transactions skip the PT-61 entirely, including security deeds, releases of a security interest, and most leases.6Georgia Superior Court Clerks’ Cooperative Authority. Information for New Users – Real Estate Transfer Tax (RETT)
Signing and Witnessing
Georgia requires two witnesses to attest a deed before it can be recorded, and one of the two must be an authorized official: a notary public, a judge, a magistrate, or a clerk of the superior court.7Justia. Georgia Code 44-2-15 In practice, that authorized witness is almost always a notary, who verifies the grantor’s identity and affixes the seal. The second witness can be any competent adult.
Both witnesses must be present when the grantor signs. A deed with only one witness, or without an authorized official, cannot be recorded as-is. It is far easier to line up the witnesses correctly the first time than to correct the problem afterward.
Recording the Deed
Recording puts the transfer into the public land records and gives notice to the world that ownership has changed. The deed has to be recorded with the Clerk of the Superior Court in the county where the property is located.8Justia. Georgia Code 44-2-1 Filing in the wrong county accomplishes nothing.
As of January 1, 2025, HB 1292 changed how deeds get filed. If you are a party to the deed and filing it yourself (a “self-filer”), you must submit electronically through the GSCCCA eFiling portal at efile.gsccca.org and complete identity verification that includes a photo check. Licensed attorneys, banks, mortgage lenders, title insurance companies, and certain other professionals still have the option to file paper, though many eFile anyway. An attorney handling your closing will take care of the recording.
Costs to Expect
Several separate charges come due at or near recording.
Real Estate Transfer Tax
The transfer tax rate is $1.00 for the first $1,000 of the sale price (or any fraction of $1,000) and $0.10 for each additional $100 or fraction of $100.9Justia. Georgia Code 48-6-1 – Transfer Tax Rate The tax applies to the consideration paid minus any existing liens that remain on the property after the sale. On a $300,000 sale with no prior liens, the transfer tax works out to $3,000. No tax is due when the value transferred is $100 or less or when an exemption applies.
Intangible Recording Tax
When the buyer finances with a mortgage or other loan secured by the property, an additional intangible recording tax applies to the security instrument. The rate is $1.50 for every $500 of the loan amount, capped at $25,000 per note.10Justia. Georgia Code 48-6-61 On a $250,000 mortgage the intangible tax is $750. The lender owes the tax but almost always passes the cost to the borrower, and the security instrument must be recorded within 90 days or a 50% penalty plus 1% monthly interest kicks in.11Georgia Department of Revenue. Intangible Recording Tax
Recording and Notary Fees
The Superior Court clerk’s recording fee is typically around $25 per document for a standard deed, with slight variation by county. Georgia caps notary fees at $2 per notarial act, though an attorney’s overall closing fee will be much larger.
Record Promptly
Georgia does not set a general deadline for recording a voluntary deed, but waiting creates real exposure. Under the state’s recording statute, an unrecorded deed loses priority to a later-recorded deed from the same seller if the second buyer had no knowledge of the earlier transfer.8Justia. Georgia Code 44-2-1 If a seller deeds property to you and then deeds the same property to a second buyer who records first without knowing about you, that second buyer wins.
An unrecorded deed is still valid between the original parties, so the seller cannot pretend the transfer never happened. But it gives no protection against third parties, including later buyers and creditors. Record as soon as possible after closing.
After the Transfer
A few post-transfer items are easy to miss and expensive if you do.
If the property will be your primary residence, apply separately for Georgia’s homestead exemption. The prior owner’s exemption does not carry over. You must own the property as of January 1 of the tax year, and the application deadline is April 1, though Georgia now allows applications up to 45 days after your notice of assessment.12Georgia Department of Revenue. Property Tax Homestead Exemptions Missing that deadline costs a full year of unreduced property tax.
If the transfer is a gift and the fair market value exceeds the federal annual gift tax exclusion ($19,000 for 2025, with the 2026 threshold to be confirmed by the IRS), the grantor must file IRS Form 709.13Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 709 Filing the form does not necessarily mean owing gift tax, since the lifetime exemption shelters most people, but skipping the filing is a compliance problem the IRS can pursue years later.
Finally, deal with the existing mortgage and insurance. A deed transfer does not release the seller from the loan. If there is an outstanding mortgage, the lender’s due-on-sale clause can require full repayment when the property changes hands. Coordinate with the lender before recording so the transfer does not trigger a payoff demand after the deed is already public.