Missouri Quit Claim Deed Form
A Missouri Quit Claim Deed is a DIY form that allows a person to gift/transfer a property to another person or party. It is highly recommended that only those that are well acquainted with one another use the form, as it doesn’t contain any protections for the Grantee (person receiving the property) that the title is clear. The person transferring the property (the “Grantor”) could state they have a good title, when in reality there could be other individuals with a stake in the property (among other issues).
Situations in which the form is recommended include gifting a child the rights to property, transferring property to a recently divorced ex, or transferring commercial property to a business partner. Regardless of the situation, it is a good idea to do a title search before executing the deed—even if the Grantor is trustworthy—as doing so may uncover previously unknown conflicting claims to the property.
Download: Adobe PDF, MS Word (.docx)
Laws: § 447.670
Requirements
Appearance (§ 59.310. 1(1)): The form must comply with the following requirements:
- Writing must be on only one (1) side of each page,
- The pages cannot be permanently bound (no staples),
- Font cannot be smaller than eight (8) point,
- Paper used has to be white and cannot have a paperweight less than twenty (20) pounds,
- All signatures need to be in either black or dark ink, and
- The top of the page has to have a minimum margin of three inches (3″). All other margins need to be at least three-quarters of an inch (3/4″). Non-important information such as page numbers can be placed in the margins.
Mandatory Information (§ 59.310. 1(2)): The following details must be stated on the first page of the form:
- The title of the document,
- The date of the deed,
- The names of the Grantor and Grantee,
- Statutory addresses (if any),
- A legal description of the property, and
- Reference book and pages for statutory requirements (if applicable).
Signing Requirements (§ 442.150): The form must be signed by the Grantor and acknowledged by a Notary Public. In the City of St. Louis, § 15.152.020 states that the form must also bear the notarized signature of the Grantee.
Additional mandatory forms: Four (4) counties in Missouri require a Certificate of Value (COV) to be filed at the same time the deed is filed. The following are the counties listed with their respective form:
Heavy penalties may be imposed if the COV is not filed. For example, in St. Charles County, failure to file will result in a penalty of five hundred dollars ($500.00) or one percent (1%) of the selling price.
How to File
Once the deed has been completed, it has to be filed at the County Recorder of Deeds. The County Recorder will require the party filing the form to pay a service charge. Some counties also demand that a Certificate of Value is also filed, as explained in the “Additional Mandatory Forms” section above.