Colorado Quitclaim Deed Form

What Is a Colorado Quitclaim Deed?

A Colorado quitclaim deed hands over a property interest without any guarantee behind it. The person transferring the property, the grantor, isn't promising a clear title or even that they legally own the property in the first place.

That makes it different from a warranty deed, which comes with actual title guarantees. Both accomplish the same basic transfer, but only one protects the person receiving the property if a title problem surfaces later.

Colorado law sets specific wording requirements for this document. Under C.R.S. § 38-30-116, a valid quitclaim deed must use “quitclaim” instead of “convey” and cannot include any promise or guarantee about the title.

Because that guarantee is missing, this document works best between people who already know each other. A buyer paying full price to a stranger should ask for a warranty deed instead.

Colorado Quitclaim Deed Requirements

You need to meet a handful of requirements before the county will accept the document for recording:

• The grantor's signature, properly acknowledged before a notary public
• An accurate legal description of the property, not just the street address
• The grantee's mailing address, listed on the first page
• One-inch margins on top, half-inch on the other sides, in text clean enough to scan
• A completed Real Property Transfer Declaration (TD-1000) submitted alongside the deed

Colorado doesn't require witnesses for a deed to be valid, only notarization. Skip a required field, and the county recorder can reject the filing outright until the issue is corrected. The whole document then goes back for correction before it's added to the public record.

Common Uses for a Colorado Quitclaim Deed

People reach for a Colorado quitclaim deed when trust between the parties already exists, and a full title guarantee isn't the point.

A few situations come up again and again:

• Adding or removing a spouse from the title after marriage or divorce
• Transferring property into or out of a living trust
• Gifting real estate to a family member
• Clearing up a minor title defect, like a misspelled name on an old deed
• Settling an inherited property among siblings

Each of these shares a common thread: the parties already know what they're agreeing to, so a full title search rarely changes the outcome.

A gift transfer or a deed correcting a prior recording error is exempt from Colorado's documentary fee under C.R.S. § 39-13-104. A sale between unrelated parties typically isn't. Paying full market value for a property is usually a sign that a warranty deed fits the transaction better anyway.

Create Your Colorado Quitclaim Deed

Colorado Quitclaim Deed with Mortgage

Filing a quitclaim deed doesn't touch the mortgage sitting on the property. The loan stays exactly where it was, tied to whoever originally signed it, regardless of whose name now appears on the title.

That distinction especially trips people up in divorces. Removing an ex-spouse from the deed doesn't remove them from loan responsibility. Only refinancing or a lender-approved release does that.

Most mortgages also carry a due-on-sale clause, letting the lender demand full repayment if ownership changes. Lenders rarely enforce this for a quitclaim between family members, but the risk doesn't disappear just because it's rarely used. Anyone unsure how their specific loan handles a title change should check with the lender first, before recording anything.

How to File a Quitclaim Deed in Colorado

Filing a quitclaim deed in Colorado comes down to six steps.

1. 1

   Confirm the legal description

   Pull the exact legal description from the current deed or a recent survey rather than guessing from the address. A mismatched description is one of the most common reasons a county rejects a filing.

2. 2

   Identify the grantor and grantee

   List full legal names for whoever is giving up the interest and whoever is receiving it, spelled exactly as they appear on prior recorded documents.

3. 3

   Draft the deed

   Use Lumr's Colorado quitclaim deed template, which already follows the required statutory wording under state law, so nothing needs to be drafted from scratch.

4. 4

   Sign before a notary

   The grantor signs in front of a notary public, who confirms their identity and witnesses the signature. Colorado doesn't require additional witnesses beyond that.

5. 5

   Complete the TD-1000

   Fill out the Real Property Transfer Declaration and attach it to the deed before recording, since most county offices won't accept one without the other.

6. 6

   Record with the county

   Submit the signed deed and TD-1000 to the county clerk and recorder where the property sits, along with the recording fee. That step makes the transfer part of the public record.