To get a warranty deed, you order a title search, have a real estate attorney or title company draft the deed using the property’s legal description and correct vesting language, sign it in front of a notary (with witnesses if your state requires them), and file it with the land records office in the county where the property sits. In a normal home purchase, the seller’s attorney or title company handles almost all of this and you receive the recorded deed a few weeks after closing. If you’re transferring property outside of a sale, like gifting a house to a child or moving real estate into a trust, you’ll need to arrange each step yourself.
Gather the Information the Deed Needs
Recorder’s offices reject deeds for surprisingly small errors, so accuracy at the front end saves weeks of rework. Before anyone drafts anything, pull together:
- Full legal names and mailing addresses for every grantor (the person transferring) and grantee (the person receiving), exactly as they should appear on the deed.
- The property’s legal description, which is the formal boundary description used in land records. You’ll find it on the current deed, the title commitment, or your county assessor’s records. A street address by itself is never enough.
- The tax parcel identification number, sometimes called an APN or PIN. Many counties require it alongside the legal description.
- The consideration, meaning the price or value being exchanged. Even a gift deed usually states a nominal amount such as “ten dollars and other good and valuable consideration.”
- Vesting language for how multiple grantees will hold title, such as joint tenants with right of survivorship or tenants in common.
The vesting choice matters more than people realize. Joint tenancy with right of survivorship means the surviving owner automatically inherits the other’s share. Tenancy in common means each owner’s share passes through their estate. Getting this wrong creates real problems when one owner dies or wants to sell. If you’re unsure which structure fits, talk to an attorney before the deed is drafted.
Order a Title Search
Before a warranty deed is drafted, someone needs to confirm the grantor can actually deliver clean title. A title company or real estate attorney examines public records to trace the ownership chain and flag any liens, judgments, unpaid taxes, easements, or other encumbrances.
In a standard home purchase, the title company runs the search as part of closing. For a private transfer, you’ll hire a title company or attorney to do it. Skipping this step is where most warranty deed problems start. The grantor may sincerely believe the title is clean and still be wrong: an old contractor’s lien, an undischarged mortgage, or a competing claim from an heir nobody knew about can all surface.
When the search turns up a defect, the grantor is typically responsible for clearing it before the deed is signed. A missing notary seal on an old document is cheap to fix. A competing ownership claim can take months to resolve.
Have the Deed Drafted
In a standard home purchase, the title company or closing attorney drafts the warranty deed as part of the closing package, and you don’t need to arrange anything separately. Private transfers are where people run into trouble: gifting property to a family member, moving real estate into a trust, or selling without an agent.
A real estate attorney will draft a warranty deed for roughly $300 to $600 as a flat fee, depending on complexity and location. Online legal services offer templated deeds for less, but templates don’t reliably handle a state’s specific formatting rules, required statutory language, or unusual situations like a partial interest transfer. Fixing a rejected or defective deed almost always costs more than hiring an attorney would have.
The attorney makes sure the deed contains the correct granting clause, warranty language, legal description, and any state-mandated disclosures. Many states have precise requirements on margins, font size, and page formatting, and the recorder’s office enforces them by rejecting non-compliant documents.
Sign and Notarize
Every grantor named on the deed must sign it. The grantee generally does not sign a warranty deed, because they’re receiving the property rather than making promises about it.
Nearly every state requires the grantor’s signature to be notarized. The notary verifies identity through a government-issued ID, confirms the signer is signing voluntarily, and adds a seal and signature. That’s what makes the deed eligible for recording.
A few states also require witnesses. Connecticut, Georgia, Louisiana, and South Carolina require two witnesses. Florida requires two witnesses for certain deed types. Your attorney or title company will know what your state requires, and the notary appointment is usually arranged as part of the closing or deed preparation.
Record the Deed With the County
Recording is the step that makes your ownership official in the public record. Until a deed is recorded, a later buyer or creditor could claim they had no notice of your ownership.
You file the deed with the land records office in the county where the property sits. The office goes by different names depending on where you are: County Recorder, County Clerk, or Register of Deeds. Most counties accept in-person filings, and many now accept mail-in or electronic submissions as well.
The recorder reviews the document for compliance with formatting and content requirements, stamps it with a recording number and date, and enters it into the public record. Processing typically takes one to several weeks, after which the original deed is mailed back to the grantee or their representative.
Recording Fees and Transfer Taxes
Every county charges a recording fee, and the amount varies widely. Some counties charge a flat fee per document; others charge by the page. Expect anywhere from $15 to $50 for a standard deed in many jurisdictions, though fees can run higher for longer documents or counties with extra surcharges.
Roughly three-quarters of states also impose a real estate transfer tax on property sales. Rates range from under 0.25% to over 1% of the sale price, depending on the state and sometimes the locality. Some jurisdictions require a transfer tax declaration form to accompany the deed at recording. Your closing attorney or title company handles this in a standard transaction. If you’re recording a deed yourself, call the county recorder’s office ahead of time to confirm what supplemental forms you’ll need.
After the Deed Is Recorded
Once processing is done, the original recorded deed is mailed back to the grantee. Keep it somewhere secure, like a fireproof safe or bank safe deposit box. Losing the original doesn’t affect your ownership because the recorded copy in the county’s records is what legally matters, but having the original simplifies future transactions.
Request a certified copy of the recorded deed and review it carefully. Errors in the legal description, misspelled names, or incorrect vesting language will create headaches when you sell or refinance. Catching a mistake early means a simple corrective deed rather than a title dispute years later.
If You’re Gifting Property Instead of Selling
When a warranty deed transfers property as a gift, federal gift tax rules apply. You can give up to $19,000 per recipient in 2026 without any tax reporting obligation. A married couple can combine exclusions to give $38,000 per recipient.1Internal Revenue Service. Gifts and Inheritances
Real estate gifts almost always exceed that annual threshold, which means the giver (not the recipient) must file IRS Form 709, the gift tax return, for the year of the transfer. Filing doesn’t necessarily mean you owe tax. The excess counts against your lifetime gift and estate tax exemption, which sits at $15 million per individual in 2026 under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed into law in 2025.2Internal Revenue Service. Whats New – Estate and Gift Tax A married couple can shelter up to $30 million combined. Most people never owe actual gift tax, but skipping Form 709 can trigger penalties and complicate the estate later.3Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 709
There’s also a capital gains trap. The recipient of a gifted property inherits the giver’s original cost basis instead of receiving a stepped-up basis. If your parents bought a house for $80,000 and gift it to you when it’s worth $400,000, you’d owe capital gains tax on up to $320,000 of gain when you eventually sell. If they’d left it to you through their estate instead, you’d receive a stepped-up basis at the property’s fair market value at the time of death. That difference can amount to tens of thousands of dollars, and it’s one of the most commonly overlooked consequences of transferring property by warranty deed during the owner’s lifetime.
When a Warranty Deed Isn’t the Right Tool
A warranty deed makes sense when money is changing hands between parties who don’t fully trust each other, because it backs the transfer with the grantor’s personal guarantees about clean title. For transfers between family members, divorcing spouses, or co-owners reshuffling title, a quitclaim deed is often the better instrument. A quitclaim transfers whatever interest the grantor has without any promises about title quality. That’s fine when you already know the property’s history and trust the person transferring it. If a stranger is involved or money is at stake, insist on a warranty deed.