What a Quitclaim Deed Does in California — and the Four Things It Does Not
A California quitclaim deed transfers whatever interest the signer happens to own at that moment — possibly all of it, possibly none — with no promise that they own anything at all. It is a common tool for moving property between spouses, family members and trusts. It is also the single most misunderstood document in California real estate, and using one carelessly can complicate a sale years later.
Quitclaim Versus Grant Deed
Most ordinary California sales use a grant deed, authorized by Civil Code § 1092. The word “grant” carries two implied covenants under Civil Code § 1113: that the grantor has not already conveyed the same estate to someone else, and that the estate is free of encumbrances the grantor created. Break one and the buyer has a claim.
A quitclaim carries none of that. It conveys the grantor’s present interest and nothing more. There is a second, subtler difference: under Civil Code § 1106 a grant deed automatically passes after-acquired title, so if the grantor later obtains an interest they did not have when they signed, it flows to the grantee by operation of law. A quitclaim does not do that. Title acquired after the quitclaim was signed stays with the signer.
Where It Is Genuinely the Right Instrument
Quitclaims work well where nobody is warranting anything and everyone knows it: removing an ex-spouse from title after a marital settlement agreement, moving a house into or out of your own revocable living trust, adding or removing a family member, or buying out a disputed claimant who will not warrant a thing but will sign away whatever they might have.
They do not work well as the deed in an arm’s-length sale to a stranger. A buyer paying market value should be getting a grant deed and a title policy.
Four Things It Does Not Do
- It does not remove anyone from the mortgage. The lender was not a party to the deed. Signing your interest away while staying on the note leaves you liable for a loan on a house you no longer own — the worst of both positions.
- It does not clear liens. Judgment liens, tax liens and deeds of trust stay attached to the property and ride along to the new owner.
- It does not guarantee the grantor owned anything. A quitclaim from someone with no interest transfers exactly that.
- It does not avoid the assessor. Recording a deed is a change in ownership unless an exclusion applies.
The Tax Paperwork Nobody Mentions
California counties collect documentary transfer tax under Revenue and Taxation Code § 11911, and cities may add their own. Many family transfers are exempt — a bona fide gift, a transfer into or out of a living trust under § 11930, a conveyance between spouses in dissolution of marriage under § 11927 — but the exemption has to be claimed by citing the code section on the face of the deed. Omit it and the recorder computes tax on full value.
A Preliminary Change of Ownership Report goes to the recorder with the deed. Skip it and there is a small penalty at recording, followed by a Change in Ownership Statement from the assessor with a much larger penalty attached if that is ignored too.
Then reassessment. Transfers between spouses are excluded. Transfers into your own revocable trust are excluded because beneficial ownership has not changed. Parent-to-child transfers are far narrower than they used to be — under Proposition 19 the property generally has to have been the parent’s principal residence and must become the child’s, within a year, with a value cap above which the excess is added to assessed value. We cover that shift in detail in our piece on Prop 19 and inherited property. Deeding a rental or a second home to a child now generally triggers full reassessment.
How a Quitclaim Shows Up Years Later
When the house eventually sells, the title officer reads the chain. A quitclaim in that chain is a link with no warranties behind it, and depending on the circumstances it can prompt questions, requirements, or an exception on the policy. That is not fatal, but it is the reason a do-it-yourself quitclaim signed around a kitchen table sometimes surfaces as a title problem that needs clearing long after everyone involved has moved on.
When Not to Reach for One
If the real goal is to get one person off the loan, a quitclaim is not the answer — a refinance or a sale is. If the goal is to avoid probate, a trust or a transfer on death deed is the better-designed tool, and quitclaiming to a child during your lifetime also hands them your original cost basis instead of the stepped-up basis they would have received at death. That mistake can cost far more than probate would have.
And if co-owners are deadlocked, a quitclaim only helps if somebody is willing to sign. When nobody is, the remedies are negotiation or partition, not paperwork.
This is general information rather than legal or tax advice; deeds have consequences that are hard to undo, so have a California real estate attorney review one before you record it. If you would rather sell than untangle a title, Cash Home Buyers CA can make a no-obligation cash offer.