Mississippi quitclaim deed

What a quitclaim deed does in Mississippi

A quitclaim deed moves your interest in a property to someone else immediately, without guaranteeing that the title is clean. That makes it the wrong tool for a sale to a stranger and the right tool for transfers between people who already trust each other. Spouses, family members, a trust you control, or an LLC you own.

Mississippi's quitclaim rules are short: a deed without warranty passes whatever interest the grantor has (Miss. Code Ann. § 89-1-37), and it bars the grantor from later claiming a title acquired afterward (§ 89-1-39).

The Mississippi law behind this deed

Start with Miss. Code Ann. §§ 89-1-37, 89-1-39 if you want to read the statute's own language. The table below lists the main statutes behind the rules on this page.

When Mississippi property owners use a quitclaim deed

• Add a spouse to the deed after marriage
• Remove an ex-spouse after a divorce
• Transfer property into a living trust
• Move property into an LLC you own
• Transfer between family members
• Correct a misspelled name or a scrivener's error on a prior deed
• Clear a possible cloud on title

What Mississippi requires on the deed

These are the execution and formatting rules for Mississippi deeds. A chancery clerk may refuse a deed that lacks the telephone numbers, the preparer's details or the indexing instruction (Miss. Code Ann. §§ 27-3-51(2), 89-5-33(3)). A deed that misses the format rules is still recorded, for $10 more (§ 89-5-24(4)).

How to complete and record it in Mississippi

1. 1Find your current deedYou need the legal description from it, word for word. If you can't find your copy, the Chancery Clerk can provide one, usually for a few dollars.
2. 2Identify everyone by full legal nameNames must match the current deed and government ID exactly, middle names included. A mismatch creates a gap in the chain of title that shows up years later at closing.
3. 3Complete the deedIt needs the wording, notary certificate, and 3-inch first-page margin used for Mississippi deeds. You can prepare your own deed, or a Mississippi attorney can prepare it for you.
4. 4Sign in front of a notaryBring photo ID. Wait to sign until you are in front of the notary: you have to appear before the notary anyway, and signing there leaves no question about who signed.
5. 5Record it with the Chancery ClerkFile in the county where the property is located and pay the recording fee. Many offices in this state also accept e-recording, but usually only from approved submitters such as title companies. Keep the stamped receipt. It fixes your priority date.
6. 6Update insurance and tax recordsA change of ownership can affect your homeowner's policy, your homestead or senior exemption, and in some states the assessed value. Do this within a few weeks.

What it costs in Mississippi

We found no general Mississippi transfer tax on deeds. The only state-law tax on a deed that we found is the mineral documentary tax, which applies when a deed conveys or keeps back oil, gas or other mineral rights. The chancery clerk collects the mineral documentary tax: 3 to 8 cents per mineral acre, at least $1 (Miss. Code Ann. §§ 27-31-77 to 27-31-81). The grantor pays it on a reservation, the grantee on a conveyance. As far as we could find, it does not apply to an ordinary deed of the land that says nothing about minerals, but ask the chancery clerk if you are unsure.

Where to record it in Mississippi

Mississippi deeds are recorded with the Chancery Clerk in the county where the property sits, not where you live. There are 82 counties in Mississippi.

Many Mississippi recording offices accept e-recording through vendors such as Simplifile, CSC, or ePN. E-recording is generally open only to approved submitters such as title companies, attorneys, and lenders, so if you prepared the deed yourself, plan to record in person or by mail. Some offices accept filings from the public through those vendors; your county's website will say.

Recording offices we cover in Mississippi: Hinds, Harrison, DeSoto, Rankin, Jackson, Madison. See all Mississippi recording offices.

What a quitclaim deed does NOT do

Being honest about the limits is more useful than a sales pitch. Every one of these catches somebody out.

• It gives the new owner no warranty that the title is good. If a lien or a competing claim surfaces later, the grantee has no claim against the grantor under the deed.
• It does not remove anyone from the mortgage. The lender's loan is a separate contract; only a refinance or a release from the lender does that.
• It does not by itself avoid probate. The transfer happens now, not at death.
• A title insurer may decline to insure, or ask for more, when the chain of title rests on a quitclaim, especially one from an unknown party.

Quirks of Mississippi law that catch people out

• Mississippi records deeds with the Chancery Clerk, an office that also handles probate. Convenient when a transfer touches an estate.
• A chancery clerk may refuse a deed that does not give a mailing address and a telephone number for every grantor and grantee on page one (Miss. Code Ann. § 27-3-51(2)).
• A chancery clerk must refuse a deed without an indexing instruction (the section, township and range, and the quarter section), unless the land is a lot in a recorded subdivision or the deed gives that information elsewhere. The deed must also give the preparer's name, address and telephone number (Miss. Code Ann. § 89-5-33(3)).
• If the owner is married and living with the spouse, both spouses must sign a deed of homestead property, even where only one holds title (Miss. Code Ann. § 89-1-29).

How to hold title in Mississippi

When two or more people take title in Mississippi and the deed says nothing more, the law presumes a tenancy in common, which means no automatic survivorship. If you want the survivor to take the whole property, the words have to be on the deed. Forms of co-ownership available in Mississippi: tenancy by the entirety (married couples only), joint tenancy with right of survivorship, and tenancy in common.