Deed Types Explained: Quitclaim, Warranty, and the One Built for Death

A deed is the legal document that transfers ownership of real estate from one person, the grantor, to another, the grantee.^[1] The type of deed sets what the grantor promises about the title: a general warranty deed guarantees it against every claim,^[3] a special warranty deed guarantees it only for the grantor's own time as owner,^[5] and a quitclaim deed guarantees nothing at all.^[2]

The deed matters at death more than most people expect. A house titled with survivorship wording or a recorded beneficiary deed passes outside the will entirely, and a house titled in one dead person's name alone usually goes through probate. Whoever settles an estate ends up reading a deed, and whoever plans one should read theirs first. Our breakdown of jointly owned houses covers the co-ownership wording; this piece covers the deed types themselves.

The grantor transfers the property. The grantee receives it. Cornell's legal dictionary defines a grantor as "a person who transfers an interest in real property either by gift or by sale."^[1] The suffix carries the direction: -or gives, -ee gets, the same pattern as donor and donee or payor and payee.

On a deed, the grantor signs; the grantee usually signs nothing. The word follows you through the rest of estate planning too: the person who creates a revocable living trust is also called the grantor. And after a death the owner can no longer convey anything. In Minnesota, for example, the personal representative signs the instrument that moves estate real property to whoever inherits it.^[9]

A general warranty deed carries the grantor's promise that the title is good against everyone, including problems that started before the grantor ever owned the property. Virginia's conveyancing statute shows the standard wording: a grantor who "will warrant generally the property" is promising to "forever warrant and defend" it against "the claims and demands of all persons."^[4] If a forgotten lien from 1985 surfaces after closing, that's the seller's problem.

Cornell's legal dictionary calls this "the highest level of protection to the buyer."^[3] It's the deed the other two types get measured against.

A special warranty deed guarantees the title only against problems the grantor caused or allowed during their own ownership. Virginia's wording again: the grantor defends the title against "the claims and demands of the grantor and all persons claiming or to claim by, through, or under him."^[5] A contractor's lien recorded while the grantor owned the house is covered. A defect from three owners back belongs to the grantee now.

Despite the name, the coverage is narrower than a general warranty deed's. Special warranty deeds come from sellers who can vouch for their own time on the title and nothing earlier. In Texas, the state law library's post-divorce guide points spouses to a special warranty deed form for signing the house over to an ex.^[8] If you're offered one in a regular purchase, the title search and title insurance are doing more of the protective work, so take both seriously.

A quitclaim deed (often written "quit claim deed," often misheard as "quick claim deed") transfers whatever interest the grantor actually holds, which might be full ownership and might be nothing. Cornell's definition: a document that conveys the grantor's "present interest, if any" in the property "without representing, covenanting, or warranting that the title is good."^[2]

Michigan's statewide legal self-help site puts it plainer: "A quitclaim deed only passes the interest in the property that the seller actually has, without any guarantee."^[7]

Nobody should buy property from a stranger on a quitclaim. It shows up between people who already know the title history:

• Divorce. "It is common to use a quitclaim deed to transfer property in a divorce."^[7] One spouse signs their interest over to the other, usually because the judgment of divorce says so.
• Family transfers. A parent adding a child to title, siblings sorting out an inherited house, a new spouse going on the deed.
• Funding a living trust. Moving your own house into your own revocable trust requires no warranty. You already hold the title you're transferring.
• Cleaning up the record. Removing an ex after a divorce decree, releasing a possible heir's interest, fixing a name.

State law changes the answer. In Texas, "using this form ... can cause problems with the chain of title," and the state law library tells divorcing couples to use a special warranty deed instead.^[8] California wrote promises into a different instrument: the grant deed Under the state's Civil Code, the word "grant" automatically implies two promises, that the grantor hasn't already conveyed the property to someone else and that it carries no undisclosed encumbrances the grantor created.^[6]

Which deed your county expects is a state question. Start with your state's guide.

Estates have their own deed vocabulary, and three patterns cover most of it.

• The personal representative's deed (deed of distribution). When an executor transfers estate real estate to the person who inherits it, the executor signs the transfer instrument as grantor, under authority that comes from the probate case, which is why the court appointment matters so much. Minnesota's probate code, for example, requires the personal representative to "execute an instrument or deed of distribution" as evidence of the new owner's title.^[9]
• Quitclaims between heirs. Three siblings inherit one house and one wants to keep it. The other two commonly quitclaim their interests to the one buying them out; everyone involved already knows where the title came from.
• No new deed at all. A house owned with survivorship wording passes to the surviving co-owner by the deed that already exists. What the survivor records varies by state; our guide to jointly owned houses covers the wording and the follow-up.

One caution for grieving families. A quitclaim signed "just to keep things simple" hands over your entire interest, permanently. If a relative gives you deed paperwork to sign in the weeks after a funeral, wait, and have a licensed attorney read it first.

The plan sounds tidy: deed the house to the kids now, skip probate later. For most families it creates a tax problem larger than the probate problem it solves, because of a rule called stepped-up basis.

Property received as a gift keeps the giver's cost basis. IRS Publication 551: when the property is worth more than the donor paid, "your basis is the donor's adjusted basis at the time you received the gift."^[10] Property received at death starts over instead, at "the FMV of the property at the date of the individual's death."^[10]

Run one house through both rules. Your parents paid $80,000 in 1994. It's worth $430,000 today.

• Quitclaimed to you while they're alive: your basis is their $80,000. Sell for $430,000 and you're looking at $350,000 of taxable capital gain.^[10]
• Inherited at their death: your basis resets to $430,000. Sell at that price and the taxable gain is zero.^[10]

The home sale exclusion usually can't fix the gifted version. It shelters up to $250,000 of gain, $500,000 on a joint return, only for someone who owned the home and used it as their main home for at least 24 months of the previous 5 years.^[15] A kid who lives across town gets none of that.

The gift also comes with paperwork. The IRS defines the gift tax as "a tax on the transfer of property by one individual to another while receiving nothing, or less than full value, in return," and it "applies whether or not the donor intends the transfer to be a gift."^[12] The annual exclusion is $19,000 per recipient in 2026,^[11] a house is worth more than that, and transfers above the exclusion are what Form 709, the federal gift tax return, exists to report.^[13]

Almost no one owes gift tax out of pocket; gifts above the exclusion count against the same lifetime amount that covers estates, $15 million for deaths in 2026.^[14] The real cost of the quitclaim is the lost step-up.

Two more problems, briefly. Once the deed records, the house belongs to your kids, and nothing obligates them to give it back if your plans change. And a giveaway can delay long-term-care Medicaid: federal law looks back 60 months at transfers made for less than fair market value.^[16]

If keeping the house out of probate is the goal, a deed exists for precisely that. A transfer on death deed "automatically transfers property to a designated beneficiary upon the death of the property owner," without probate.^[17] You record it now, keep full ownership and control while you're alive, and the transfer happens only at your death. It accomplishes what the quitclaim-to-the-kids plan attempts without giving the house away while you're alive.

Availability and mechanics are state law: some states allow TOD deeds, some have their own variations, and some don't allow them at all. Our full guide, Transfer on Death Deed: The Deed Most People Have Never Heard Of, covers how to record one, the pitfalls, the tax treatment, and what to use where they don't exist. Every MORTL state guide also states whether your state allows one and cites the statute behind it.

Three situations, three moves.

• You own a home. Pull your current deed from the county recorder; many counties post records online. Read who the grantees are and exactly how they hold title. Then check your state's guide to see whether a TOD deed is available to you.
• Your parents are talking about "putting the house in your name." Show them the basis math above before anyone signs. A TOD deed or a living trust avoids probate without a lifetime gift, and sometimes the right answer is a will plus ordinary probate.
• Someone just died. Find the most recent recorded deed before making decisions. Its wording determines whether the house passes automatically, by beneficiary designation, or through the estate, and if they died without a will, state intestacy law picks the heirs. Sign nothing you don't fully understand.

Deeds are state law, and this article is general legal information. The rules quoted here belong to the states named; yours may differ, and that's what the 51 state guides are for. For a contested title or a complicated estate, pay a licensed attorney for an hour before you record anything.