Also known as: quitclaim deed · quit claim deed · quitclaim
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A deed that conveys whatever interest the grantor possesses in the described property. It contains no covenants or warranties of title.
Harbor Energy conveyed a decommissioned plant site to SunRise Solar by quitclaim deed after SunRise negotiated a lower price to account for possible title issues. Prairie Pipeline later asserted a recorded surface easement blocking solar construction. SunRise sued Harbor for breach of title covenants. Because the quitclaim deed transferred only whatever interest Harbor held without any warranties, Harbor faced no liability for the easement.
Stone Clean granted Justin a life estate in a community garden parcel while retaining the reversion. Years later Stone Clean executed a quitclaim deed transferring that reversion to Nova Resource. Justin challenged the transfer as inconsistent with the organization's mission. The quitclaim deed passed whatever reversionary interest Stone Clean held, so Nova Resource received a valid future interest subject only to Justin's life estate.
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Seabreeze HOA granted Harbor Court Partners a written easement for beach access over a private lane. Seabreeze later executed an unsealed quitclaim deed conveying the lane to Shoreline Realty and claimed the easement was extinguished. Harbor Court sued for a declaration of its rights. The quitclaim deed transferred only Seabreeze's interest in the servient estate and could not operate as a release by the dominant owner, so the easement remained in force.
A married couple held property as tenants by the entirety. One spouse executed a quitclaim deed purporting to convey an interest to a third party. The United States later asserted a tax lien against the conveying spouse. The quitclaim deed transferred only whatever interest the spouse actually held, leaving the non-conveying spouse's survivorship rights intact and limiting the lien's reach.
A quitclaim deed transfers only the interest the grantor actually holds and contains no covenants of title. A general warranty deed includes present and future covenants such as seisin, right to convey, against encumbrances, quiet enjoyment, and warranty that run with the land and support claims by the grantee or successors.
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No. A quitclaim deed provides no warranties, so the grantee assumes the risk of any defects in title that existed at the time of conveyance. The grantee cannot recover from the grantor for encumbrances or lack of title under the deed itself.
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Yes. The owner of a reversionary interest may convey it by quitclaim deed or any other permitted form of conveyance. The deed passes whatever reversion the grantor holds, subject to any life estate or other interest already created.
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No. A quitclaim deed transfers only the grantor's interest in the servient estate. It does not release or extinguish an easement held by the dominant owner unless the dominant owner separately executes a proper written release meeting the required formalities.
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…a conveyance in fee simple to the grantee, ... (Emphasis supplied.) K.S.A. 58-2204 sets forth a similar statutory form for a quitclaim deed. Under these sections an instrument, to constitute a deed, must "describe the premises." The degree of specificity of the description of the premises required is not indicated. The manner…