What Is A Quit Claim Deed?

One logical thing about real estate law is that you cannot sell or convey something you do not own. When you sell a house, you can only sell what you actually own, and nothing more. Although that sounds rather simplistic, in legal terms it's more complicated. That's why it seems like lawyers always complicate everything, but it's really the situation that's complicated.

I buy and sell homes in Oklahoma, which is an oil-producing state. In most cases I do not obtain the mineral rights to the real estate because they have been sold previously and excepted from my deed at the time I bought a house. So that means the mineral rights will be excepted from the deed I provide to my buyer when I sell a house, too. This is what I mean when I say I cannot sell what I do not own. I cannot convey the mineral rights to another buyer because I didn't receive the mineral rights when I bought the property.

My example involving mineral rights is so common in many areas that it is handled by deed restrictions. But many other situations require a special form of deed called a "quit claim deed." You've probably heard people say "quick claim deed," but that is wrong, now you know the real term. When we quit something that means we are done with it, and a quit claim deed is a document that a person signs to assert that he or she has no legal claim to the property. Most people who sign quit claim deeds never had a legal interest in a property anyway, but without the quit claim deed there could have been some doubt about it in the future. A quit claim deed is a sworn statement that at least one possible claimant is out of the way, and it does not convey ownership interest in a property at all.

One common use of a quit claim deed is when a married couple buys a house, then they get divorced and one of them needs to sell the house. It's not enough for the divorce decree to specify that the house belongs to the wife. A divorce decree is not sufficient to provide clear title to sell a house. If the husband fails to sign a quit claim deed to prove he has no legal interest in the house there could be a cloud on the title and cause a problem when you try to sell a home quick.

Another example is a man who passed away and who had children by a previous marriage, but his widow (not the children's mother) is selling their house. His children from the previous marriage will very likely be required to sign a quit claim deed stating that they have no ownership interest in her house. Decisions regarding the need for quit claim deeds are made by the lawyers working directly for the seller or for the title company. It's better to make sure there are no issues regarding the present sale or any future sale when you need to sell a house.


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Leo Kingston and his wife Paulette own 18002sellhomes in Oklahoma City. They have been helping people sell a home fast for cash for over 20 years in the central OKC area. They offer house owners a way to sell a house fast without the hassles of having to use banks or Realtors.