Broward County Quit Claim Deed: Recording, Taxes, and Homestead

A Broward County quit claim deed transfers whatever ownership interest the grantor holds in a piece of Broward County real estate, with no promise that the title is clean.¹ That makes it a common tool for moving property between family members, adding or removing a spouse, or funding a living trust. It is a poor tool for an arm’s-length sale, because the grantee gets no protection against liens, competing claims, or defects in the chain of title.

What the Deed Actually Transfers

A quit claim deed passes whatever interest the grantor has at the moment of signing. That could be full ownership, a fractional share, or nothing at all. If the grantor turns out to own nothing, the grantee receives nothing, and there is no legal claim against the grantor for failing to deliver good title.¹

A warranty deed, by contrast, includes the grantor’s guarantee that title is clean and a promise to defend it against third-party claims. Buyers in a normal purchase insist on that protection. A quit claim deed skips it, which is why it belongs to situations where the parties already know the property: adding a spouse to title, removing an ex after divorce, fixing a misspelled name, or moving a home into a revocable trust.

What the Deed Must Contain

Broward County’s Recording Division publishes a checklist of everything the deed must include to be accepted.² Miss any of it and the document comes back unrecorded.

You need the full legal names and mailing addresses of the grantor and the grantee. Florida law specifically requires the grantee’s name and address on any instrument conveying real property other than a mortgage.³ The deed also needs the complete legal description of the property, transcribed exactly from a prior recorded deed or from the Property Appraiser’s records. Small discrepancies get the deed kicked back.

Include the parcel identification number, sometimes called the folio number. Florida law requires it on conveyance instruments in addition to the legal description, and it’s a 12-digit number available through the Property Appraiser’s website.⁴

The name and mailing address of the person who prepared the deed must appear on the instrument.³ The first page needs a 3-inch by 3-inch blank space in the upper right corner for the recording stamp, and each additional page needs a 1-inch by 3-inch blank in the same spot. Documents without the blank space are returned unrecorded.²

Signing, Witnesses, and Notarization

Florida draws a line between what makes a deed legally valid and what makes it eligible for recording. You need to satisfy both.

For validity, the grantor must sign in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, who also sign the deed. Witnesses can now participate remotely through audio-video technology, hearing the grantor acknowledge signing and electronically signing during the same session.⁵

For recording, the deed must carry a notary acknowledgment. Florida law requires that any instrument concerning real property be acknowledged by the party executing it, or proved by a subscribing witness, before a notary public or other authorized officer.⁶ The notary verifies identity, confirms the signing is voluntary, and applies an official seal. In practice, every quit claim deed recorded in Broward County goes through a notary.

Each person’s printed name must appear directly below their signature. That applies to the grantor, both witnesses, and the notary. Each witness’s mailing address also has to be printed under their signature.³ The notary block must include the names being acknowledged, the date, the notary’s signature and printed name, commission expiration date, and seal.²

Recording Fees and Documentary Stamp Tax

Recording a Broward County quit claim deed carries two costs: the recording fee paid to the clerk and the documentary stamp tax paid to the state.

Broward County charges $10.00 for the first page and $8.50 for each additional page.⁷ A typical deed runs one to two pages, so plan on $10.00 to $18.50 for recording.

Florida imposes a documentary stamp tax of $0.70 per $100 of consideration on any deed transferring an interest in real property.⁸ Consideration is not just cash. It includes any mortgage or lien on the property, whether or not the grantee formally assumes it.⁹ Transfer a property with a $200,000 outstanding mortgage to a family member for no cash, and the tax is still $1,400.

If the property is unencumbered and no money changes hands, the tax is calculated on zero consideration. Payment is due to the clerk at recording, provided you record before the 20th day of the month following delivery of the deed.⁹

Common Exemptions and a Common Myth

Two exemptions come up often. A transfer of homestead property between spouses is tax-free when the only consideration is the existing mortgage balance. A transfer between spouses or former spouses following a divorce is also exempt, so long as the property was their marital home at the time of the divorce.⁹ Property that was not the marital home is taxed on the full consideration, including any mortgage balance.

There is no separate exemption for transferring property into a trust for estate planning. Florida law does not carve out that exception, and the tax depends on whether there is consideration such as a mortgage the trust takes on.⁹

Where and How to Record

Once the deed is signed, witnessed, and notarized, submit it to the Broward County Records, Taxes and Treasury Division at 115 S. Andrews Avenue, Room 114, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301.¹⁰ Three options are available:

In person, bringing the original deed, payment for fees and taxes, and a self-addressed stamped envelope. This is the fastest route when timing matters.
By mail, with a check or money order payable to the Broward County Commission covering fees and taxes, plus a self-addressed stamped envelope. Mail-in recordings usually take four to six business days.²
Electronically, through an approved e-recording vendor. Title companies and attorneys typically use this method.¹⁰

The self-addressed stamped envelope is easy to forget. Without it, the clerk has no way to return your original recorded deed. You can check the status of mailed submissions through the county’s Work Request Status Update page.² Once accepted, the clerk indexes the deed into the Broward County Official Records, and the original is returned by mail.

Homestead Exemption and the Save Our Homes Reset

This is where a quit claim deed can get expensive in a way people rarely see coming. Florida’s Save Our Homes provision caps annual increases in a homesteaded property’s assessed value at 3% or the change in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower.¹¹ After years of ownership, the gap between assessed value and market value can save the owner thousands in property taxes each year.

A quit claim deed that changes ownership generally resets the assessed value to full market value as of January 1 of the following year, wiping out the accumulated benefit.¹¹ On a home that has been homesteaded for 15 or 20 years in a Broward County market, that reset can add several thousand dollars a year in taxes.

Some transfers preserve the cap. Transfers between spouses, including after a death or divorce, do not trigger a reset. A transfer that corrects an error or adds a name while the same homestead-exempt person stays on title is also protected, though a later homestead application by the newly added person counts as a change of ownership. Transfers at death to a surviving spouse, minor child, or legally dependent person also preserve the cap.¹¹

The new owner must apply for their own homestead exemption by March 1 of the year following the transfer to claim the exemption for that tax year. Miss the deadline and you generally forfeit the exemption for the year, though Broward County accepts late filings through the statutory late-filing deadline that typically falls in September.¹² The Broward County Property Appraiser’s office handles applications and posts each year’s filing window.¹³

Federal Gift Tax and Capital Gains

When a quit claim deed transfers property for less than fair market value, the IRS treats the difference as a gift. That creates a reporting obligation now and a potential tax trap for the recipient later.

The federal gift tax annual exclusion for 2026 is $19,000 per recipient.¹⁴ Real property transfers almost always exceed that, so the grantor must file IRS Form 709 for the year of the transfer.¹⁵ Filing does not necessarily mean owing tax; the excess simply reduces the grantor’s lifetime estate and gift tax exemption. Failing to file compounds over time, because the IRS has no statute of limitations on unfiled gift tax returns.

The bigger surprise is basis. When property is gifted rather than inherited, the recipient takes the donor’s original cost basis rather than the current market value.¹⁶ If a parent bought a Broward home in 1990 for $80,000 and quit claims it today when it is worth $500,000, the child’s basis for calculating capital gains at sale is still about $80,000, adjusted for qualifying improvements. That’s potentially more than $400,000 of taxable gain.

Inheriting the same property would give a stepped-up basis equal to fair market value at the date of death. The difference in tax exposure can be very large, and it’s the single strongest argument for pausing before using a quit claim deed to move family property during the owner’s lifetime.

Title Insurance After the Transfer

If the grantor holds an owner’s title insurance policy, transferring the property by quit claim deed generally ends that coverage. Standard policies continue only as long as the insured retains liability through covenants or warranties in the deed. A quit claim deed carries no warranties, so nothing remains for the policy to protect.

The grantee does not inherit the old policy. If a title defect surfaces after recording, there is no warranty deed to fall back on and no policy to claim against. For property with any history of prior liens, boundary questions, or outstanding judgments, that gap is a real risk. A grantee planning to hold the property long-term should consider buying a new owner’s policy, which will involve the title search the parties likely skipped when they chose a quit claim deed to begin with.

1
Broward County Property Appraiser. Broward County Property Appraiser – Frequently Asked Questions
2
Broward County, Florida. Recording Your Deed
3
Justia Law. Florida Code 695.26 – Requirements for Recording Instruments Affecting Real Property
4
Broward County Records, Taxes and Treasury. Tips for Searching the Tracking Log
5
Florida Senate. Florida Code 689.01 – How Real Estate Conveyed
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Florida Senate. Florida Code 695.03 – Acknowledgment and Proof
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Broward County Records, Taxes and Treasury. Fee Schedule
8
Florida Senate. Florida Code 201.02 – Tax on Deeds and Other Instruments Relating to Real Property or Interests in Real Property
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Florida Department of Revenue. Documentary Stamp Tax
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Broward County Records, Taxes and Treasury Division. Broward County Records
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The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 193.155 – Homestead Assessments
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The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 196.011 – Annual Application Required for Exemption
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Broward County Property Appraiser. File for a Homestead Exemption
14
Internal Revenue Service. Gifts and Inheritances
15
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 709
16
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 551 – Basis of Assets