An Alabama quitclaim deed transfers whatever ownership interest the signer (the grantor) has in a piece of real property to the recipient (the grantee), with no promises about whether that interest is valid, complete, or free of other claims. If the grantor owns the property outright, the grantee ends up owning it outright. If the grantor owns nothing, the grantee receives nothing. That is the entire mechanism, and it is why quitclaim deeds move quickly between people who already trust each other and why they are a poor choice almost anywhere else.
How It Differs From a Warranty Deed
The practical difference between deed types is the promises attached. A general warranty deed guarantees that the grantor owns the property, has the right to transfer it, and that no hidden liens or competing claims exist going back through the chain of title. If a defect surfaces years later, the grantee can hold the grantor responsible. Under Alabama law, using the words “grant,” “bargain,” or “sell” in a deed automatically creates these implied warranty covenants, even when nobody writes them out.1Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 35-4-271 – Construction of Words Grant, Bargain, or Sell; When Covenants of Warranty Implied
A quitclaim deed deliberately avoids those words. Instead, it uses language like “remise, release, and forever quitclaim,” which carries no implied guarantees.1Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 35-4-271 – Construction of Words Grant, Bargain, or Sell; When Covenants of Warranty Implied The grantor is saying, in effect, “whatever I have, if anything, is now yours.” That is why a quitclaim from a stranger in an ordinary purchase is a gamble; a buyer paying real money for property almost always wants a warranty deed instead.
When People Use One in Alabama
Quitclaim deeds show up most often in situations where the parties already know each other and no money is really changing hands:
- A parent deeding a house to an adult child, or siblings redistributing property they inherited together.
- A divorce settlement in which one spouse quitclaims the marital home to the other.
- Adding a new spouse to a title after marriage, or removing a former partner from one.
- Moving property from your own name into a living trust for estate planning.
- Clearing up a lingering title question by having someone with a possible residual claim quitclaim it away.
If you are buying from someone you do not know, this is not the right instrument.
What the Deed Must Include
Alabama law requires any deed transferring land to be in writing and signed at the bottom by the grantor or an authorized agent.2Justia. Alabama Code 35-4-20 – Conveyance Required to Be in Writing; Signature; Attestation by Witnesses Beyond that bare minimum, a usable quitclaim deed contains:
- The full legal names of the grantor and grantee, along with the grantee’s mailing address, which the probate office needs for recording.3Houston County, Alabama. Recording Requirements – Houston County Probate Office
- A legal description of the property. A street address alone will not do. You need a metes-and-bounds description, a plat book reference, or section-township-range information, which you can pull from the existing deed or the county assessor’s office.3Houston County, Alabama. Recording Requirements – Houston County Probate Office
- A consideration statement describing what the grantee gave in exchange, even if nominal, such as “for $10 and other good and valuable consideration.”
- A quitclaim granting clause using language like “does hereby remise, release, and forever quitclaim,” which avoids triggering the implied warranty covenants attached to “grant,” “bargain,” or “sell.”1Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 35-4-271 – Construction of Words Grant, Bargain, or Sell; When Covenants of Warranty Implied
- The name and address of the person who prepared the deed, printed, typed, or stamped on the document. Without it, the probate judge will not accept the deed for recording.4Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 35-4-110 – Instrument Not Recordable Unless Statement Endorsed on It
Signing, Notarizing, and Recording
The grantor signs the deed. Alabama law then requires either attestation by a witness or acknowledgment before an authorized officer such as a notary public or a judge of a court of record.2Justia. Alabama Code 35-4-20 – Conveyance Required to Be in Writing; Signature; Attestation by Witnesses Notarization is the standard route and satisfies the witness requirement on its own.5Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 35-4-23 – Acknowledgment – Operates as Compliance With Witness Requirements In practice, Alabama probate courts expect to see a notary seal.
After signing, file the deed with the probate court in the county where the property is located. Recording creates a public record of the transfer and protects the grantee against later claims by third parties who had no notice of it. Along with the deed, you submit a completed Real Estate Sales Validation Form (Form RT-1) documenting the purchase price or fair market value.6Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 40-22-1 – Deeds, Bills of Sale, Etc.7Alabama Department of Revenue. Real Estate Sales Validation Form
One more step is easy to overlook: the grantor has to actually deliver the signed deed to the grantee. A notarized deed that stays in a drawer transfers nothing.
Recording Fees and the Deed Tax
Recording a deed in Alabama has two cost components. The first is a per-page recording fee set by each county. Jefferson County, for example, charges $16.00 for the first page and $3.00 for each additional page.8Probate Court of Jefferson County, Alabama. Recording Costs Other counties set their own amounts, so call the local probate office before you go.
The second is Alabama’s deed recording tax: $0.50 for every $500 of the property’s value, or any fraction of that amount.9Alabama Department of Revenue. Recordation Tax A $200,000 property runs about $200 in deed tax. If an existing mortgage was already taxed when it was recorded, the outstanding balance can be subtracted from the taxable value.6Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 40-22-1 – Deeds, Bills of Sale, Etc.
The Mortgage Problem
This is where quitclaim deeds trip people up. A deed transfers ownership of the property. It does nothing to the loan. If your name is on the mortgage and you quitclaim the house to someone else, you are still personally responsible for every payment. When the new owner misses one, it hits your credit.
Most mortgages also contain a due-on-sale clause that lets the lender call the entire loan balance due the moment the property changes hands. A quitclaim transfer can trigger that clause. Federal law under the Garn-St. Germain Act blocks lenders from enforcing it on residential property with fewer than five units in certain situations, including transfers to a spouse or children, divorce-related transfers, transfers after the borrower’s death, surviving joint tenants, and transfers into a living trust in which the borrower remains a beneficiary and continues to live in the home.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 12 U.S. Code 1701j-3 – Preemption of Due-on-Sale Prohibitions Transfers outside those categories are exposed, so talk to the lender before signing.
If the real goal is to get the original borrower off the loan, a quitclaim deed will not accomplish that. The new owner usually has to refinance the property into their own name, which pays off the original loan, or arrange a formal loan assumption that the lender approves. Either way, the lender has to agree.
Gift Tax When You Transfer to Family
When you quitclaim property to someone without getting fair market value back, the IRS may treat the transfer as a gift. In 2026, you can give any one recipient up to $19,000 without any filing requirement, and married couples who elect gift-splitting can give up to $38,000 per recipient.11Internal Revenue Service. Whats New – Estate and Gift Tax Most houses are worth considerably more than that, so a quitclaim gift to a family member will usually require you to file IRS Form 709 with that year’s tax return.
Filing the form rarely means owing tax. The amount above the annual exclusion counts against your lifetime exemption, which is $15,000,000 in 2026.11Internal Revenue Service. Whats New – Estate and Gift Tax Few people will ever use that full amount. Skipping the form, though, can lead to IRS penalties.
What the Grantee Is Not Protected Against
The grantee of a quitclaim deed has no legal recourse against the grantor if the title turns out to be defective. The grantor might not actually own the property. There could be unpaid tax liens, contractor’s liens, or an old mortgage nobody mentioned. A prior owner might have a legitimate competing claim. In each of those situations, the grantee has no warranty to fall back on and no basis to sue. The grantee simply receives whatever interest the grantor had at the moment of transfer, and if that interest was worthless, so is the deed.
Even in family transfers, paying for a title search before accepting the deed can be worth it. A search costs considerably less than discovering a lien after you have already taken ownership.