Utah QuitClaim Deed

Transfer Utah Property the Way the County Recorder Expects

A Utah quitclaim deed is one of the simplest ways to transfer property between people who already know and trust each other — no title search, no complicated paperwork, just a straightforward way to update who's on the title. Families use it all the time for the kind of changes covered in the common scenarios below. Every Utah county recorder has its own formatting rules for accepting a deed, but our recording requirements guide walks you through exactly what's needed, so nothing catches you by surprise.

Need help filling out your quitclaim deed? See our simple step-by-step instructions here.

What a Utah Deed Needs to Get Recorded

A typical quitclaim deed has three sections a Utah recorder checks against the statute before accepting it:

Top Right Corner: A blank 2.5-by-4.5-inch space reserved for the recorder's stamp — required before your county recorder will accept the deed.
Body: A complete legal description of the property and the grantee's mailing address for tax assessment.
Signature Block: Acknowledgment before a notary public, in person or via Utah's remote online notarization option.

Grantor and Grantee, Quickly

The terms grantor and grantee get mixed up constantly:

Grantor: The person giving up their interest in the property.
Grantee: The person receiving that interest — the one with the strongest reason to make sure the deed actually gets recorded.

Simplest way to remember it: “grantor” gives, “grantee” gets.

Why a Quitclaim Deed, Specifically, in Utah?

Utah charges no state-level real estate transfer tax, so the only cost to record a deed is the recording fee itself — a flat amount per document rather than a percentage of the property's value, set by state statute rather than by each county on its own (with Salt Lake and Utah counties carved out at a different rate than the rest of the state). That statute has changed as recently as 2026, so check with your county recorder for the current figure rather than trusting an old number. Once your deed is properly formatted and notarized, it's recorded with the Recorder in the county where the property is located — each of Utah's 29 counties runs its own office with its own address, hours, and filing options.

Common Scenarios for Using a Quitclaim Deed

Transferring Property into a Living Trust: If you've set up a revocable living trust for estate planning, transferring title of your property into the trust's name is what actually makes it work — your family can skip probate court after you're gone instead of the property sitting tied up for months. A quitclaim deed is the standard way to make that transfer, since you're just moving your own property into your own trust, not selling to someone else.
Divorce: During a divorce, property transfers can be complex. A quitclaim deed can simplify the process when:
- One name must be removed from the title.
- Both names are on the mortgage, requiring additional steps like refinancing or selling the property.
Name Corrections: Correcting a misspelled name, adding or removing a middle initial, or updating a title after marriage or divorce are other common uses.

How to Get Started