What Is a Quitclaim Deed in Florida? When to Use One (and When Not To)

The one-sentence answer

A quitclaim deed transfers whatever ownership interest the signer happens to have in a piece of Florida real estate, and nothing more. No promises. No warranties. If the signer owns 100%, the buyer gets 100%. If the signer owns nothing, the buyer gets nothing.

That's it. That's the whole instrument.

What a quitclaim deed does not do

This is where most people get hurt. A quitclaim deed:

• Does not guarantee clear title. There could be liens, back taxes, easements, or other people on the deed you don't know about. The grantor is not promising any of those are gone.
• Does not pay off a mortgage. If there's a loan against the property, that loan stays in place.
• Does not remove the previous owner from a mortgage. Quitclaiming your half of the house to your ex does not get your name off the loan.
• Does not act like title insurance. If a problem surfaces after closing, you have no warranty claim against the grantor.

If any of those things matter to you, you want a warranty deed or special warranty deed, not a quitclaim.

When a quitclaim deed is the right tool

Quitclaims are common, cheap, and useful for the right job. In Florida they're typically used to:

• Move property between family members: parent to child, sibling to sibling, spouse to spouse.
• Add or remove a spouse from title after marriage or divorce.
• Move property into or out of a trust or LLC you control.
• Clear up a cloud on title: e.g., an old heir signs a quitclaim to confirm they have no interest, so the title company can insure the sale.
• Correct a scrivener's error on a prior deed (sometimes called a "corrective quitclaim").

In all of these, the grantor and grantee already know each other and are not relying on warranties.

When a quitclaim deed will wreck your sale

If you are selling vacant land to an arms-length buyer in Florida, do not hand them a quitclaim. Two things will happen:

1. The title company will not issue an owner's title insurance policy based solely on a quitclaim chain, or they'll issue one with major exceptions.
2. The buyer will walk or demand a steep discount, because they're taking all the title risk.

This is one of the most common reasons FSBO land deals fall apart at the closing table. The seller pulls a $10 quitclaim form off the internet, the buyer's title company kicks it back, and the deal dies.

When WPG Land buys a parcel, we close on a statutory warranty deed (or special warranty if the situation calls for it) through a licensed Florida title company. The seller gets paid, the buyer gets insurable title, and the chain stays clean for the next owner.

Quitclaim vs. warranty vs. special warranty: quick comparison

• Warranty deed (a.k.a. general warranty deed). The strongest. Grantor warrants clear title going all the way back, against everyone. Standard for retail home sales.
• Special warranty deed. Grantor only warrants against title problems that arose during their own ownership. Common with banks, REO sales, and some investor resales.
• Quitclaim deed. No warranties at all. "I'm giving you whatever I've got, if anything."

If you're a Florida landowner and not sure which deed is on your property, pull it from your county Clerk of Court site: the type is usually written across the top.

How a quitclaim deed gets executed in Florida

For a Florida quitclaim to be recordable, it has to:

1. Be in writing and identify grantor, grantee, and the legal description (not just the address).
2. Be signed by the grantor in the presence of two witnesses.
3. Be notarized.
4. Be recorded in the Official Records of the county where the property sits.
5. Have documentary stamp tax paid, even for many family transfers. (Florida charges $0.70 per $100 of consideration in most counties, $0.60 in Miami-Dade.)

Skip any of those steps and the deed may not be valid or recordable.

Common quitclaim mistakes Florida landowners make

• Using the street address instead of the legal description. Always copy the legal description verbatim from the prior deed.
• Forgetting the two-witness requirement. Florida is one of the few states that still requires two witnesses on deeds.
• Not recording the deed. An unrecorded deed is valid between the two parties but invisible to the rest of the world, including future buyers and the tax collector.
• Assuming a quitclaim removes liens. It does not. Liens follow the property, not the person.
• Using a quitclaim to "sell" to a stranger. See the previous section. Don't.

If you're trying to sell, not just transfer

If your end goal is to actually sell Florida land, not just move it inside the family, you don't need to mess with deed types. The title company chooses the right instrument at closing, based on what your title search shows.

Send us the parcel ID and the situation (probate, divorce, multiple heirs, missing co-owner, whatever it is) and we'll tell you today whether we can buy it, what we'll pay, and what kind of deed will be used at closing. There's no charge to find out.

You can read more on related topics in our inherited land guide, the back-taxes walkthrough, and the complete Florida selling guide.