A Colorado quitclaim deed hands the grantee whatever the grantor owns, with no promise about the title and no after-acquired title. It needs a notary (no witnesses), the grantee's legal address, a $43 flat recording fee at the county clerk and recorder, a documentary fee of one cent per $100 if money changed hands, and a TD-1000 transfer declaration stapled to it.
There is no state transfer tax and the recording fee is one flat number, so most Colorado mistakes are paperwork: a missing address, a missing TD-1000, or a deed that forgets the water.
This is general information, not legal advice. A real estate attorney in your state can confirm how it applies to you.
If you need the basics first, read how a quitclaim deed works in general.
What does a Colorado quitclaim deed form say?
Colorado puts its deed forms in one statute, C.R.S. § 38-30-113. The warranty deed form starts with the grantor's name and street address, the city or town, county and state, the consideration paid, and the words "sell(s) and convey(s) to" the grantee. Subsection (1)(d) says a deed in that same form with "quitclaim(s)" swapped in for "convey(s)", and with no words of warranty, is a quitclaim deed. It carries no covenants and passes no after-acquired title.
So if the grantor later inherits the rest of the parcel, the grantee does not get it. The difference is spelled out in quitclaim deed vs warranty deed.
Many sites still cite § 38-30-116 for the form. HB 19-1098 repealed it in 2019 and moved all four statutory deed forms into § 38-30-113. The old wording still works; the cite is just stale.
Other states' versions are collected in quitclaim deed forms by state.
Does a quitclaim deed have to be notarized in Colorado?
Yes. Under C.R.S. § 38-30-126 the grantor's signature is acknowledged before a notary public, a court clerk or deputy clerk, or the county clerk and recorder. A notary in another state works too. Section 38-35-101 does not require witnesses, and the notary's commission expiration date must appear on the certificate.
Two more things the clerk checks before stamping it:
- Grantee's legal address. C.R.S. § 38-35-109(2) requires every deed to carry the grantee's legal address, street address included where there is one. The clerk is told to reject a deed without it.
- Legal description. Lot, block and subdivision, or metes-and-bounds or section language for rural ground. A street address alone is not enough.
How much does it cost to record a quitclaim deed in Colorado?
Since July 1, 2025, every Colorado county charges a flat recording fee of $43 per document, regardless of page count. That is $40 under C.R.S. § 30-1-103 plus the $1 Electronic Recording Technology Board surcharge and the $2 electronic filing surcharge under § 30-10-421, both of which HB 24-1269 extended through April 30, 2029. El Paso County and Denver both posted the change; the old $13-plus-$5-a-page schedule still lingers on some county pages.
On top of recording, Colorado collects a documentary fee under C.R.S. § 39-13-102: one cent for each $100 of consideration, or major fraction of $100, but only when the consideration is more than $500. Below that, nothing.
| Transfer | Recording fee | Documentary fee | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gift to a child, "$10 and love and affection" | $43 | $0 | $43 |
| Sale at $20,000 | $43 | $2 | $45 |
| Sale at $150,000 | $43 | $15 | $58 |
The fee is tiny, but it is printed on the recorded deed, which is how anyone can back into your sale price.
Do I need a TD-1000 with a quitclaim deed?
Almost always. C.R.S. § 39-14-102 says any conveyance document presented for recording must be accompanied by a Real Property Transfer Declaration, the form the Division of Property Taxation calls the TD-1000. Either the grantor or the grantee fills it out and signs it. It asks for the price, the date, whether the deal was arm's length, and what personal property or financing came with it.
The clerk will still record your deed if the TD-1000 is missing. Under § 39-14-102(1)(b) the clerk records it and tells the assessor, and the assessor mails the grantee a notice. Ignore that notice for 30 days and the assessor can add a penalty of $25 or 0.025 percent of the sale price, whichever is greater, to your tax bill. Jefferson County's completion guide spells out the same rule.
The TD-1000 is not recorded. Under § 39-14-102(1)(c) only the grantee, the assessor and the property tax administrator can see it. Jefferson County's guide ties the form to deeds that owe the documentary fee, so a true no-money gift may not need one. File it anyway; it costs nothing and heads off the notice.
Is there a transfer tax on a quitclaim deed in Colorado?
No state transfer tax. TABOR, Article X, Section 20(8)(a) of the Colorado Constitution, reads: "New or increased transfer tax rates on real property are prohibited." The documentary fee above is the whole state-level charge. A few resort towns kept transfer taxes that were on the books before 1992, so if your parcel sits inside a mountain-town limit, ask that town's finance office before closing.
The documentary fee itself has exemptions in C.R.S. § 39-13-104. The ones that come up with quitclaims:
- A true gift (no consideration), including the standard parent-to-child transfer
- A deed where the United States, Colorado, or a county, city or district is grantor or grantee
- A deed that confirms or corrects a deed already recorded
- A transfer caused by an owner's death
- A court decree or order vesting title
- Easements and rights-of-way
Divorce transfers between spouses usually fit under the no-consideration rule or a court decree, so they record for the flat $43.
What about water rights and minerals on rural Colorado land?
This is where Colorado quitclaims bite people who bought a template online.
Water. C.R.S. § 38-30-102 says water rights are conveyed with the same formalities as real estate. Land Title Guarantee Company's guide notes that appurtenant water rights can pass with the land even when the deed does not mention them, but if the deed is silent, the seller's intent becomes a question of fact decided from how the water was historically used. CSU Extension's water rights bulletin calls imprecise or incomplete deed language a common source of litigation in Colorado, and points out that mutual ditch company shares are personal property that move by stock assignment, not by the deed at all. If a decreed right, a well permit or ditch shares go with the parcel, name them in the deed (amount, source, case number) and assign the ditch stock separately.
Minerals. Colorado is a split-estate state. The State Land Board's severed estate page explains that a prior owner, or the federal government at patent, may have reserved the minerals under your surface. A quitclaim passes only what the grantor has, so if the minerals were severed decades ago, the grantee gets the surface and nothing underneath. Land Title's advice: start with the vesting deed and the title policy, then search the county records, because an old reservation will not show in the current deed.
When a quitclaim deed is the wrong tool
Quitclaims are built for transfers between people who already trust each other: spouse to spouse, parent to child, owner to the owner's LLC or trust, or fixing a name in the chain of title. They are a poor fit for selling land to a stranger, who gets no warranty and whose title insurer will usually want a warranty deed.
If you are selling rather than transferring, the deed is the last question. Check Colorado land prices, decide whether to list or sell land in Colorado directly to a buyer, and let the title company draft the deed that fits. A cash land buyer typically closes in 7 to 21 days and runs the deed, the TD-1000 and the recording through title, which is why many owners of small rural parcels skip a listing that can take six to eighteen months.
FAQs
How much does it cost to file a quitclaim deed in Colorado?
$43 flat at any county clerk and recorder since July 1, 2025, plus one cent per $100 of consideration if the price is over $500. A $20,000 sale costs $45 all in; a gift costs $43.
Does Colorado require a TD-1000 for a quitclaim deed?
Yes for any deed with consideration over $500. The clerk records the deed without it, the assessor sends a notice, and a $25 or 0.025 percent penalty (whichever is greater) follows if you do not return the form within 30 days.
Does a quitclaim deed need witnesses in Colorado?
No. Colorado requires the grantor's signature to be acknowledged before a notary or a court or county clerk, and nothing more. Witnesses are not part of the recording statute.
Does a quitclaim deed transfer water rights in Colorado?
Not reliably. Appurtenant rights can pass with the land, but a deed that does not name them leaves the question to the facts, and ditch company shares never pass by deed. Describe the water right in the deed and assign the ditch stock separately.