To transfer property in Texas, the current owner signs a written deed that identifies the new owner and the land, has the signature notarized, and files the original with the county clerk in the county where the property sits. The deed is legally effective between the two parties once it’s signed and delivered, but recording is what protects the new owner against later buyers, creditors, and other claims. Government fees for a straightforward transfer run roughly $25 to $40, and the whole process can be completed in a single afternoon if the paperwork is right.
What follows walks through each decision and step in the order you’ll face them.
Choose the Right Type of Deed
Texas recognizes four common deed types, and the choice sets how much protection the new owner has if a title problem surfaces later.
- General warranty deed. The strongest protection. The grantor guarantees clean title stretching back through every prior owner. This is the standard for residential sales.
- Special warranty deed. The grantor warrants only against title defects that arose during their own ownership. Anything older is the new owner’s problem. Common in commercial deals and bank-owned sales.
- Deed without warranty. Transfers whatever interest the grantor actually holds, with no guarantees. If a defect turns up, the new owner has no recourse against the grantor.
- Quitclaim deed. Releases whatever interest the grantor might have, if any. A 2021 change to Texas law softened a long-standing problem with these: four years after a quitclaim deed is recorded, it no longer affects a later buyer’s good-faith status or serves as notice of unrecorded claims.1State of Texas. Texas Property Code Section 13.006 – Effect of Recording Quitclaim Deed
For a family gift or transfer between spouses, a general warranty deed is usually still the right choice because the grantee inherits the same warranty protections the grantor originally received.
What the Deed Must Contain
Texas law and court decisions treat five items as essential: the deed must be in writing, signed by the grantor, name the grantee, contain a legal description of the property, and be delivered to and accepted by the grantee. Miss any one and the transfer can fail.
Parties and Mailing Address
Use the full legal names of both the grantor (current owner) and the grantee (new owner). Every grantee’s mailing address must appear somewhere in the deed or in an attached writing. Omit the address and the county clerk charges a penalty equal to the greater of $25 or twice the normal recording fee.
Consideration
The deed states what the grantee gave in exchange. In a sale that’s usually money, but the deed does not have to disclose the actual price. Family transfers commonly recite “love and affection” or “ten dollars and other good and valuable consideration.”
Legal Description
A street address alone will not do. The deed needs the formal legal description that identifies the boundaries. In subdivisions this is typically a lot-and-block reference to a recorded plat. For rural land it’s a metes-and-bounds description tracing the perimeter with compass bearings and distances. The safest practice is to copy the legal description verbatim from the most recent deed in the property’s chain of title, which you can pull from the county clerk’s records.
Granting Language
The deed must show the grantor intends to transfer ownership. Texas general warranty deeds usually use phrasing like “grant, sell, and convey.” Deeds that transfer less than full ownership add a habendum clause specifying the scope, such as a partial mineral interest or a life estate.
Formatting
Pages must be no wider than 8½ inches and no longer than 14 inches, with text in at least 8-point type that scans cleanly. The document type (for example, “General Warranty Deed”) must appear as a clear heading on the first page.2State of Texas. Texas Local Government Code Section 191.007 – Specifications for Legal Papers; Increased Fees Documents that don’t meet these standards are rejected at the counter.
Sign and Notarize
Only the grantor signs. The grantee doesn’t sign, but must accept delivery for the transfer to take effect. Sign exactly as your name appears on the current title to avoid holdups at recording.
To be eligible for recording, the deed needs one of two forms of authentication: the grantor’s signature acknowledged before a notary public, or the grantor signing in the presence of two credible subscribing witnesses.3State of Texas. Texas Property Code Chapter 12 – Recording of Instruments Notarization is what title companies and clerks expect in practice.
Texas also allows remote online notarization, where the grantor and a commissioned online notary meet by audio-video conference and the notary verifies identity through a credential analysis service.4Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Getting Started as an Online Notary That’s the practical option when the grantor lives out of state or can’t travel.
Notary fees in Texas are capped at $10 for the first signature and $1 for each additional signature on the same document.5State of Texas. Texas Government Code Section 406.024 – Fees Charged by Notary Mobile notaries who come to you charge a separate trip fee, which isn’t regulated.
Record the Deed with the County Clerk
A signed and notarized deed is legally binding between the grantor and grantee even without recording. What recording adds is protection against everyone else. An unrecorded deed is void against a later buyer who pays for the same property without knowledge of your transfer.6State of Texas. Texas Property Code Chapter 13 – Effects of Recording File as soon as possible after signing.
Bring the original signed and notarized deed to the county clerk in the county where the property is located. Anyone presenting a deed in person for recording must show a photo ID.3State of Texas. Texas Property Code Chapter 12 – Recording of Instruments
What It Costs
The statutory base fee is $5 for the first page and $4 for each additional page or attachment.7State of Texas. Texas Local Government Code Section 118.011 – Fee Schedule Records management, records archiving, and other statutory add-ons push most standard one- or two-page deeds to roughly $25 to $30 total. If the deed lists more than five parties to be indexed, there’s an extra $0.25 per additional name. And again, omitting a grantee’s mailing address triggers the penalty fee on top.
What Recording Accomplishes
Once recorded, the deed is public notice to the world that ownership has changed.6State of Texas. Texas Property Code Chapter 13 – Effects of Recording The clerk assigns an instrument number, scans the document, and mails the original back to the grantee after processing.
If There’s a Mortgage on the Property
A deed does not eliminate a mortgage. The lender’s lien follows the property, not the person, so the loan stays attached no matter who owns the land.
Most mortgage contracts also include a due-on-sale clause, which lets the lender demand the full remaining balance the moment ownership changes hands. If the borrower can’t pay, the lender can foreclose. Call the lender before transferring any mortgaged property to find out whether they’ll consent or require a refinance.
Federal law blocks lenders from enforcing due-on-sale clauses on residential property with fewer than five units for certain transfers: a transfer to the borrower’s spouse or children, a transfer resulting from the borrower’s death, a transfer incident to a divorce decree, and a transfer into a living trust where the borrower remains a beneficiary.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 12 U.S. Code 1701j-3 – Preemption of Due-on-Sale Prohibitions Outside those categories, assume the lender can call the loan.
Taxes After the Transfer
Texas has no state-level real estate transfer tax, which saves a meaningful amount compared to states that charge one. Federal tax rules still apply, and property tax registrations have to be updated on the new owner’s end.
Gift Tax If You Transfer for Less Than Fair Value
The IRS treats any transfer below fair market value as a gift for the difference. In 2026, each person can give up to $19,000 per recipient per year without gift tax reporting; a married couple giving jointly can double that to $38,000. Real estate almost always exceeds those thresholds, so a gift deed typically means filing IRS Form 709. Filing doesn’t necessarily mean owing tax: the lifetime gift and estate tax exemption for 2026 is $15,000,000 per person, and no tax is actually due until cumulative lifetime gifts above the annual exclusion exceed that amount.9Internal Revenue Service. What’s New – Estate and Gift Tax
Homestead Exemption for the New Owner
If the new owner will live in the property, they should apply for a homestead exemption with the county appraisal district as soon as possible. The general residential homestead exemption cuts the property’s taxable value for school district taxes and often for county and city taxes as well. File Texas Comptroller Form 50-114 with the county appraisal district. Applications postmarked by April 30 are processed for that year’s tax bill. Miss that date and you can still apply retroactively up to one year after the delinquency date for the tax year (usually February 1 of the following year). The application is free and only needs to be filed once as long as ownership and occupancy continue.
Passing Property at Death Without a Regular Deed
If the goal is to hand property to someone after you die rather than during your lifetime, a regular deed is the wrong tool. Texas allows a transfer on death deed under Chapter 114 of the Estates Code: you sign and record the deed now, but the property doesn’t move until your death, and you keep full control in the meantime, including the right to sell, borrow against, or revoke. The transfer on death deed must contain the essential elements of a recordable deed, state that transfer occurs at the transferor’s death, and be recorded in the county deed records before the transferor dies. A will cannot revoke one; to cancel it you record a separate revocation or a superseding transfer on death deed.10State of Texas. Texas Estates Code Chapter 114 – Transfer on Death Deeds One tradeoff: creditors of the deceased owner’s estate can pull the property back within two years of death if the estate lacks enough assets to pay debts.
Title Insurance for the New Owner
An existing owner’s title insurance policy protects the owner only while they hold an interest in the property.11NAIC. The Vitals on Title Insurance – What You Need to Know The old policy does not follow the property to the new owner. In a standard sale, the buyer purchases a new owner’s policy at closing. In a gift or family transfer where no title company is involved, buying a new policy is easy to skip and expensive to have skipped if a defect surfaces later.
After the Deed Is Recorded
The county appraisal district gets notice of the ownership change from the clerk and updates its records. Future property tax bills go to the grantee’s address as it appears on the deed, one more reason to get that address right before filing. Processing times vary, but expect a few weeks before the original deed is mailed back.
If a loan was involved, confirm that both the deed and the deed of trust (the lender’s security instrument) show up in the county records. Recording errors happen. Catching one now is far easier than untangling it years later when you try to sell or refinance.