TL;DR: Yes, a Florida property owner can fill out and sign their own quit claim deed on property they own. The deed needs a correct legal description, the grantor’s signature, two subscribing witnesses, and notarization to be recordable, and it does not remove a mortgage. What you cannot do is have someone who is not a licensed Florida attorney choose, draft, or advise on a deed for you. A document preparation service can type it from the information you supply.
If you own property in Lee County and need to add a spouse, remove an ex, or transfer a house into a trust or to a family member, a quit claim deed is usually the document that does it. This post covers what you’re allowed to do yourself, what a Florida document preparation service is and is not permitted to do for you, and what commonly goes wrong when a deed is filled out without knowing the requirements. As always: Lee County Document Preparation, Inc. is a non-attorney service. We prepare documents from the information you give us in writing; we do not give legal advice and we do not tell you which deed to use.
Can I Prepare My Own Quit Claim Deed in Florida?
Yes. Florida law does not require you to hire an attorney to prepare a deed transferring your own property. You can fill out a quit claim deed yourself, as long as it correctly identifies the property, names the grantor and grantee, and is properly signed, witnessed by two people, and notarized before it’s recorded.
The catch is that “you can do it yourself” only covers your own property. It does not cover doing it for someone else, which is a separate legal question addressed further down. It also does not mean a self-prepared deed is automatically correct. The requirements below are what the Lee County Clerk of Court checks before it will accept a deed for recording, and a deed that’s missing one of them gets rejected, not corrected for you.
What Has to Be on the Deed for the Clerk to Record It?
To meet Florida deed requirements, a quit claim deed needs the grantor’s name and marital status, the grantee’s name, a complete and accurate legal description (not just a street address), the consideration or a statement of nominal consideration, the grantor’s signature, two subscribing witnesses, a notary acknowledgment, and a preparer’s name and address block.
Two subscribing witnesses are a Florida-specific requirement most people don’t expect. Under Fla. Stat. 689.01, a conveyance of real estate is not valid at law unless it’s signed in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. A deed notarized without two separate witnesses present is one of the most common reasons a self-prepared deed comes back rejected, and it has to be fixed and re-recorded, which costs time and, if you’re paying recording fees a second time, money.
What Goes Wrong on Do It Yourself Deeds
The most frequent problems on a self-prepared quit claim deed come from working off the wrong source document rather than the actual recorded legal description. A property tax bill or a mailing address is not a legal description, and copying one onto a deed produces a document the Clerk can reject or, worse, records with an inaccurate description of what was actually conveyed.
Other recurring issues: only one witness signs instead of two, the notary block is filled out incorrectly (a notary cannot also serve as one of the two witnesses on the same deed), the preparer’s name and address block is left off entirely, or the consideration amount doesn’t match what’s needed to calculate documentary stamp tax correctly. Someone searching how to fill out a quit claim deed in Florida on their own is usually trying to avoid exactly these mistakes without knowing which ones are the costly ones. [VERIFY: client anecdote for a specific rejected-deed example, if Betsy has one she’s comfortable sharing]
Who Is Allowed to Prepare a Deed for Someone Else in Florida?
This is where the line matters, and it’s worth stating plainly rather than glossing over it. The Florida Supreme Court has held that it is the unlicensed practice of law for a nonlawyer to prepare a warranty deed or quitclaim deed for someone else, while a nonlawyer may sell blank forms and complete them using information the customer supplies in writing. That distinction comes from Florida Bar v. Brumbaugh, and it is still the controlling rule.
In practice, that’s the model a Florida document preparation service has to follow: the customer fills out the information (who’s on the deed, the legal description, how title is to be held), and the preparer types the document from what the customer supplies. A document preparer cannot choose which deed you need, cannot advise you on how title should be held, and cannot tell you whether your situation calls for a quit claim deed, a warranty deed, or something else. That’s the boundary between a document preparation service and legal advice, and if you’re weighing whether you need an attorney or a preparer for your specific situation, we’ve written more on how the two roles differ.
Does a Quit Claim Deed Actually Transfer Ownership?
Yes, a properly executed and recorded quit claim deed transfers whatever interest the grantor actually holds in the property to the grantee. What it doesn’t do is guarantee that interest is clear of liens, judgments, or other claims, because a quit claim deed carries no warranty of title at all.
That’s the tradeoff against a warranty deed: a quit claim deed is faster and simpler for transfers between people who already trust each other’s ownership (adding a spouse, moving property into a trust, a divorce settlement), but it offers the grantee no protection if a title problem surfaces later. For a deeper comparison, our page on quit claim deeds in Florida covers when a quit claim deed is the right tool and when it isn’t.
What It Costs to Do It Yourself Versus Have It Prepared
Preparing the deed yourself costs whatever a blank form costs, plus your own time getting the legal description, witnesses, and notarization right, plus the risk of a rejected recording if something’s missing. Having Lee County Document Preparation, Inc. type the deed from the information you supply costs $225.00 to prepare it, per our current pricing.
Recording a deed with the Clerk of Court runs $18.50 for the first page, plus $8.50 for each additional page over one, plus $1.00 per name over four, and documentary stamp tax is calculated at .007 times the sales price or consideration, with a minimum of 70 cents. Those figures are the same whether you file it yourself or have it filed for you. What you’re paying for in the $225.00 preparation fee is having someone who knows the Clerk’s recording requirements type the document correctly the first time, not a legal opinion on which deed to use. You can start that process through our quit claim deed request page, or read more about how the process works end to end.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I prepare my own deed in Florida?
Yes, you can prepare a deed transferring property you own. It needs a correct legal description, the grantor’s signature, two subscribing witnesses, and a notary acknowledgment to be recordable. What you cannot do is prepare a deed for someone else unless you’re a licensed Florida attorney or you’re completing a form using information the other person supplied in writing.
How much does it cost to file a quit claim deed in Florida?
Lee County Document Preparation, Inc. charges $225.00 to prepare a quit claim deed and $18.50 to record it, plus $8.50 for each additional page over one and $1.00 per name over four. Documentary stamp tax is .007 times the sales price or consideration, with a minimum of 70 cents. See our pricing page for current figures.
Can a non attorney prepare a deed in Florida?
A non attorney cannot prepare a deed for someone else in the sense of drafting it, choosing which deed type to use, or advising on the transaction. A non attorney document preparation service can complete a deed form using information the customer supplies in writing, which is the model Lee County Document Preparation, Inc. follows.