Study · statute-sourced · 2026
The 5 States Where a Notarized Deed Still Isn’t Enough
In 46 US jurisdictions, a deed needs only the grantor’s signature and a notary. But Connecticut, Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina demand two subscribing witnesses and Georgia one — miss them and the recorder bounces the deed, or worse, the defect clouds title for years. Every rule below is cited to statute.
Quick answers
Which states require witnesses on a deed?
Two witnesses besides the notary: Connecticut, Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina. One witness: Georgia. In the remaining 46 jurisdictions notarization alone is enough — the cite on each row links the statute.
Can the notary count as one of the witnesses?
It varies by state. Georgia’s scheme, for example, counts the attesting officer (such as the notary) as the “official witness” and requires one additional unofficial witness — a different person. Check the statute linked on your state’s row, and when in doubt use separate people: extra signatures never invalidate a deed, missing ones do.
What happens if a deed is missing a required witness?
The recorder can reject it, and even a recorded defective deed can cloud title — meaning problems surface years later at sale or refinance, when fixing them is hardest. Re-executing with the right formalities is cheap; quieting title later is not.
Which states have no transfer tax on deeds?
Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Texas, Utah, Wyoming levy no transfer or documentary tax, so a family quitclaim there typically costs only the recording fee.
4
states require 2 witnesses (CT, FL, LA, SC)
1
state requires 1 witness (GA)
46
jurisdictions: notary alone is enough
13
states levy no transfer tax on deeds
The witness states — where deeds get rejected
2 witnesses
Acknowledgment is part of valid execution itself: Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-5(a)(3) (deed must be acknowledged by the grantor); § 47-10 makes a conveyance ineffective against third parties until recorded on the town land records.
2 witnesses
Fla. Stat. § 695.03: to entitle an instrument to be recorded, execution must be acknowledged by the executing party, proved by a subscribing witness, or legalized/authenticated (foreign); formatting requirements in § 695.26.
2 witnesses
La. Civ. Code arts. 1833 & 1836 — a conveyance of an immovable must be an authentic act or an act under private signature duly acknowledged (acknowledgment of the signature before a notary/officer); recordation in the parish conveyance records gives effect against third persons (La. Civ. Code art. 1839; public records doctrine, arts. 3338 et seq.; acknowledgment forms, La. R.S. 35:511)
2 witnesses
S.C. Code § 30-5-30 — before recording, the deed must be (A) proved by affidavit of a subscribing witness before an authorized officer, or (B) acknowledged by the grantor 'in the presence of two witnesses' with the officer's certificate. In practice two witnesses sign and the notary may serve as one of them.
1 witness
Recording requires attestation, not after-the-fact acknowledgment: since the 2015 revision of O.C.G.A. § 44-5-30 (and § 44-2-14), the officer and the unofficial witness must actually attest (witness) the signing for the deed to be recordable; officers other than notaries and judges of courts of record may attest only within their county (§ 44-2-15).
Everywhere else: notary only — but check the local details
No subscribing witnesses required, but recording offices and transfer taxes vary. Each row links the statute and the state guide with the full recording checklist.
| State | Recording office | Transfer tax | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Judge of Probate (county Probate Office) | Deed recording privilege tax, Ala. Code § 40-22-1: $0.50 per $500 (or fraction) of value, paid at recording; NO general gift exemption — no-consideration transfers are taxed on the property's actual value (proof of value required), less assumed mortgage amounts already taxed | Ala. Code § 35-4-20 |
| Alaska | Recorder's Office, Alaska Department of Natural Resources — a single statewide agency operating recording districts (Alaska has no county recorders) · statutory form available | No transfer tax | AS 34.15.150 (execution); AS 34.15.040 (quitclaim) |
| Arizona | County Recorder · statutory form available | No transfer tax | A.R.S. § 33-401 |
| Arkansas | County Recorder — the Circuit Clerk serves ex officio as recorder in most counties (county clerk in a few) | Real Property Transfer Tax, Ark. Code Ann. § 26-60-105 (plus additional tax): $3.30 per $1,000 total, imposed only when consideration exceeds $100 — gifts and nominal-consideration (≤$100) quitclaims are exempt | Ark. Code Ann. § 18-12-104 |
| California | County Recorder · statutory form available | Documentary Transfer Tax, Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code § 11911: counties may impose $0.55 per $500 of consideration (cities may add), only when consideration exceeds $100 — no-consideration/gift transfers are not taxed (see also § 11930, gifts and transfers by reason of death); charter cities may levy much higher rates | Cal. Civ. Code § 1091 |
| Colorado | County Clerk and Recorder · statutory form available | Documentary fee (not a true transfer tax), C.R.S. § 39-13-102: $0.01 per $100 of consideration, only when total consideration exceeds $500 — no-consideration and ≤$500 transfers pay nothing; TABOR (Colo. Const. art. X, § 20(8)(a)) bars new state/local transfer taxes | C.R.S. § 38-30-113 |
| Delaware | Recorder of Deeds (one per county: New Castle, Kent, Sussex) · statutory form available | Realty Transfer Tax, 30 Del. C. § 5402: 3% state rate, reduced to 2.5% where the county/municipality imposes its full 1.5% local tax (4% combined) — among the highest in the US; first-time-homebuyer reduction of 0.5% on the grantee's half (up to $400k); § 5401(1) excludes family transfers (between spouses, parent–child and their spouses, siblings/half-/step-siblings), corrective deeds, and other no-consideration categories, so family quitclaims are typically exempt; de minimis: no tax under $100 value | 25 Del. C. §§ 121–122 |
| District of Columbia | Recorder of Deeds (DC Office of Recorder of Deeds — single district-wide office) · statutory form available | Double-barreled: deed transfer tax (D.C. Code § 47-903) AND deed recordation tax (§ 42-1103), each 1.1% of consideration plus an additional 0.35% except residential under $400,000 (i.e., effectively 1.1%/1.45% each, ~2.2%–2.9% combined); where consideration is nominal or absent the tax applies to fair market value — so gifts are NOT automatically exempt; specific exemptions listed at § 42-1102 (e.g., certain spousal/domestic-partner and parent-child deeds) | D.C. Code § 42-401 |
| Hawaii | Bureau of Conveyances (Department of Land and Natural Resources, Honolulu) — the only state with a single statewide recording office (HRS ch. 502); Torrens-registered land is instead recorded through the Land Court system (HRS ch. 501), with dual-system property recorded in both | Conveyance Tax, HRS §§ 247-1 and 247-2: tiered $0.10–$1.00 per $100 of consideration (rising to $0.15–$1.25 per $100 for condos/single-family homes without a homeowner's exemption), minimum $1; § 247-3 exempts documents with consideration of $100 or less and nominal-consideration transfers between husband and wife, reciprocal beneficiaries, or parent and child — a P-64A/P-64B certificate accompanies recording | HRS § 502-41 |
| Idaho | County Recorder (the elected county clerk serves ex officio as auditor and recorder, Idaho Code § 31-2001) | No transfer tax | Idaho Code § 55-601 |
| Illinois | County Recorder of Deeds (in Cook County the Recorder of Deeds office was merged into the County Clerk in Dec. 2020) · statutory form available | Illinois Real Estate Transfer Tax: state $0.50 per $500 of value (35 ILCS 200/31-10) + county $0.25 per $500 (55 ILCS 5/5-1031), plus home-rule municipal taxes (e.g., Chicago); deeds with actual consideration under $100 are exempt (35 ILCS 200/31-45(e)), as are no-consideration corrective deeds (31-45(d)) | 765 ILCS 5/10; 765 ILCS 5/20 |
| Indiana | County Recorder · statutory form available | No transfer tax | Ind. Code §§ 32-21-1-13, 32-21-1-15, 32-21-2-3 |
| Iowa | County Recorder (Iowa Code § 558.11 — 'recorder of deeds of the county in which the real estate is situated') · statutory form available | Iowa Real Estate Transfer Tax: $0.80 per $500 (or fraction) of consideration in excess of $500 (Iowa Code § 428A.1(1)(a)(2)); NO tax when there is no consideration or for corrective instruments (§ 428A.1(1)(a)(1)); spouse and parent-child deeds without actual consideration exempt (§ 428A.2(11)) | Iowa Code §§ 558.19, 558.42 |
| Kansas | Register of Deeds (of the county in which the real estate is situated, K.S.A. 58-2221) · statutory form available | No transfer tax | K.S.A. 58-2209; K.S.A. 58-2221 |
| Kentucky | County Clerk (KRS 382.110(1) — recorded 'in the county clerk's office of the county in which the property ... is located') | Kentucky real estate transfer tax: $0.50 per $500 of value (or fraction), imposed on the grantor (KRS 142.050); gift/nominal-consideration deeds are valued at fair market value, but transfers between spouses (incl. divorce), parent-child, and grandparent-grandchild with only nominal consideration are exempt (KRS 142.050(7)) | KRS 382.130; KRS 382.135 |
| Maine | County Registry of Deeds (Register of Deeds) · statutory form available | Maine Real Estate Transfer Tax: $2.20 per $500 (or fraction) of value, imposed half on grantor and half on grantee (36 M.R.S. § 4641-A); additional $3.80 per $500 on value over $1,000,000 effective 11/1/2025; deeds between spouses, parent-child, or grandparent-grandchild 'without actual consideration', divorce deeds, corrective deeds, and no-consideration partitions are exempt (36 M.R.S. § 4641-C(3),(4),(6)) | 33 M.R.S. § 203 |
| Maryland | Clerk of the Circuit Court (county land records) | Maryland state transfer tax: 0.5% of consideration (Md. Tax-Prop. § 13-203; 0.25% paid entirely by seller for qualifying first-time Maryland homebuyers), plus county transfer taxes and county recordation tax (varies); § 13-207 exempts instruments exempt under § 12-108, incl. transfers between spouses/domestic partners and between close relatives (no/nominal consideration) | Md. Code, Real Prop. §§ 4-101, 3-104 |
| Massachusetts | Registry of Deeds (county/district; registered (Torrens) land goes through the Land Court registry districts) · statutory form available | Massachusetts deeds excise: statutory $2.00 per $500 of consideration (G.L. c. 64D, § 1) plus a 14% surcharge = effective $2.28 per $500 ($4.56 per $1,000; different total in Barnstable County); no excise when consideration is $100 or less (c. 64D, § 1); paid by the grantor and evidenced by excise stamps | G.L. c. 183, § 29 |
| Michigan | County Register of Deeds · statutory form available | Michigan State Real Estate Transfer Tax: $3.75 per $500 (MCL 207.525) plus county real estate transfer tax $0.55 per $500 (MCL 207.504); exempt when consideration is less than $100, and for conveyances to the grantor's child/stepchild/adopted child or grandchild and certain spousal/entireties conveyances (MCL 207.526) | MCL 565.8 |
| Minnesota | County Recorder (abstract land); Registrar of Titles for registered/Torrens land · statutory form available | Minnesota deed tax: 0.33% (0.0033) of net consideration (Minn. Stat. § 287.21); minimum tax of $1.65 when there is no consideration or consideration (net of liens) is $3,000 or less — so no-consideration quitclaims pay only the $1.65 minimum; Hennepin and Ramsey counties levy a small additional environmental response fund rate | Minn. Stat. § 507.24 |
| Mississippi | Chancery Clerk (of the county where the land lies) | No transfer tax | Miss. Code § 89-3-1 |
| Missouri | Recorder of Deeds (county; duties under RSMo ch. 59) | No transfer tax | RSMo §§ 442.130, 442.380 |
| Montana | County Clerk and Recorder · statutory form available | No transfer tax | MCA 70-20-101 |
| Nebraska | Register of Deeds | Documentary stamp tax, Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-901: $3.32 per $1,000 of value (rate effective July 18, 2026; reverts to $2.32 on Jan 1, 2032 per LB 1067) — deeds between spouses, ex-spouses, or parent and child without actual consideration are exempt (§ 76-902(5)); non-family gifts are taxed on market value | Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-211 |
| Nevada | County Recorder | Real Property Transfer Tax, NRS 375.020: base $0.65 per $500 of value ($1.25 in counties with population 700,000+), plus county add-ons under NRS 375.023/375.026 (combined commonly $1.95/$500 in most counties, $2.55 in Clark County); exemptions in NRS 375.090 include no-consideration transfers between close relatives, between joint tenants, and mere changes in identity/form | NRS 111.105 |
| New Hampshire | Register of Deeds (county registry of deeds) · statutory form available | Real Estate Transfer Tax, RSA 78-B:1: $0.75 per $100 of price/consideration, imposed on both buyer and seller ($1.50/$100 combined); minimum tax $20 where consideration is $4,000 or less; transfers presumed taxable unless specifically exempt under RSA 78-B:2 — no blanket gift exemption, so nominal-consideration deeds typically owe the $20+$20 minimum | NH RSA 477:3 |
| New Jersey | County Clerk (styled Register of Deeds and Mortgages in some larger counties) | Realty Transfer Fee, N.J.S.A. 46:15-7: graduated — $1.25 state + $0.50 county per $500 base, plus additional and general-purpose fees at higher brackets (up to roughly $6.05/$500 total on high-value sales); deeds for consideration under $100 are exempt (N.J.S.A. 46:15-10(a)), as are transfers between spouses and parent/child | N.J.S.A. 46:26A-3 |
| New Mexico | County Clerk · statutory form available | No transfer tax | NMSA 1978, § 14-8-4 |
| New York | County Clerk (in the four NYC boroughs other than Staten Island, the NYC City Register) · statutory form available | Real Estate Transfer Tax, NY Tax Law § 1402: $2 per $500 of consideration, imposed only when consideration exceeds $500 — pure no-consideration gifts owe no tax; supplemental taxes apply to $1M+ residences ('mansion tax', § 1402-a) and NYC imposes its own separate RPTT | NY Real Property Law § 291 |
| North Carolina | Register of Deeds | Excise tax on conveyances, N.C. Gen. Stat. § 105-228.30: $1 per $500 of consideration or value, paid by the transferor to the register of deeds before recording; transfers by gift or where no consideration is due or paid are exempt (§ 105-228.29(5), (6)) | N.C. Gen. Stat. § 47-14 |
| North Dakota | County Recorder (office renamed from Register of Deeds in 2001) · statutory form available | No transfer tax | N.D.C.C. § 47-10-01 |
| Ohio | County Recorder · statutory form available | Real property conveyance fee, Ohio Rev. Code § 319.54(G)(3): $1 minimum or 10 cents per $100 ($1 per $1,000, 0.1%) of value, plus permissive county tax up to $3 per $1,000 (§ 322.02); exemptions include gifts between spouses or parent and child (§ 319.54(G)(3)(d)) and transfers among heirs with no money consideration ((G)(3)(s)) — claimed via form DTE 100(EX) | Ohio Rev. Code § 5301.01 |
| Oklahoma | County Clerk (acts as registrar of deeds) · statutory form available | Documentary stamp tax, 68 O.S. § 3201: $0.75 per $500 of consideration, applies only to realty 'sold' with consideration over $100; exempt: deeds without actual consideration between spouses, parent-child, or persons within the second degree of consanguinity, transfers to family-owned entities and revocable trusts, corrective deeds, etc. (68 O.S. § 3202) | 16 O.S. § 4 |
| Oregon | County Clerk (county recording officer) · statutory form available | None statewide — state law prohibits local real estate transfer taxes (ORS 306.815); sole exception is Washington County's grandfathered transfer tax of $1 per $1,000 (0.1%), which has its own exemption/application process | ORS 93.410 |
| Pennsylvania | Recorder of Deeds · statutory form available | Realty Transfer Tax, 72 P.S. § 8102-C: state tax of 1% of value plus local realty transfer tax (typically another 1%; ~3.278% total in Philadelphia); transfers between spouses, parent/child, siblings, grandparent/grandchild for no or nominal consideration are excluded (72 P.S. § 8102-C.3(6)), with a 1-year lookback on re-transfer | 21 P.S. § 42 |
| Rhode Island | Town Clerk (recorder of deeds) — Rhode Island records land evidence by TOWN/CITY, not county (R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 34-11-1, 34-13-1) · statutory form available | Real Estate Conveyance Tax: $3.75 per $500 of consideration (raised from $2.30 effective Oct 1, 2025), imposed only 'when the consideration paid exceeds one hundred dollars ($100)' — so no/nominal-consideration quitclaims are untaxed; additional $3.75/$500 Tier 2 on residential consideration above $800,000 (CPI-indexed, ~$824,000 for 2026). R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-25-1. | R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-11-1 |
| South Dakota | County Register of Deeds (SDCL 43-28-1 — 'must be recorded by the register of deeds of the county in which the real property... is situated') · statutory form available | Real estate transfer fee: $0.50 per $500 of value, paid by the grantor (SDCL 43-4-21); exemptions (SDCL 43-4-22) include spouse and parent-child transfers for nominal consideration, corrective deeds, distributions from estates — no blanket gift exemption for unrelated parties. | SDCL 43-25-26 |
| Tennessee | County Register of Deeds ('county register', Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-24-101) · statutory form available | Recordation transfer tax: $0.37 per $100 on the greater of consideration or value of the property (Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-4-409(a)); for QUITCLAIM deeds the tax is based 'only on the actual consideration given' — so a no-consideration quitclaim owes essentially no transfer tax. | Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-22-101 |
| Texas | County Clerk (Tex. Prop. Code § 12.001(b)(2); recording in the county where the land lies) | No transfer tax | Tex. Prop. Code § 12.001; § 5.021 (conveyance must be in writing, subscribed and delivered); § 13.006 (quitclaim/BFP rule) |
| Utah | County Recorder (Utah Code § 57-3-101 — 'the office of the recorder of the county where the real property is located') · statutory form available | No transfer tax | Utah Code §§ 57-1-13, 57-3-101 |
| Vermont | Town Clerk — Vermont records land by TOWN, not county (27 V.S.A. § 341(a)) | Property Transfer Tax (32 V.S.A. § 9602): general rate 1.25% of value; principal-residence rate 0.5% on first $200,000 then 1.25%; 3.4% on residential property NOT used as the transferee's principal residence (second-home rate added 2024); exemptions (32 V.S.A. § 9603) include transfers without actual consideration between spouses, parent/child (+spouse), grandparent/grandchild (+spouse) — but gifts outside close family are taxed on fair market value. | 27 V.S.A. § 341 |
| Virginia | Clerk of the Circuit Court of the county or city where the land lies (Va. Code § 55.1-600) · statutory form available | State recordation tax $0.25 per $100 on the greater of consideration or actual value (Va. Code § 58.1-801) plus grantor tax ($0.50/$500, § 58.1-802, plus regional additions in some areas); BUT § 58.1-811(D): NO recordation tax on a deed of gift or quitclaim deed 'when no consideration has passed between the parties,' provided the deed states on its face that it is a deed of gift or quitclaim deed without consideration. | Va. Code §§ 55.1-600, 55.1-612 |
| Washington | County Auditor (the 'recording officer' of the county where the property is situated, RCW 65.08.070; in a few charter counties a separate Recorder's Office) · statutory form available | Real Estate Excise Tax (REET): graduated 1.1% / 1.28% / 2.75% / 3.0% of selling price (thresholds $500k/$1.5M/$3M as enacted, CPI-adjusted every 4 years — currently ~$525k/$1.525M/$3.025M; flat 1.28% for timber/agricultural land), RCW 82.45.060, plus local REET (typically 0.25-0.5%); transfers 'by gift, devise, or inheritance' are excluded from the definition of 'sale' (RCW 82.45.010(3)(a); WAC 458-61A-201) — but relief from underlying debt counts as consideration and is taxed. | RCW 64.04.020 |
| West Virginia | Clerk of the County Commission (the 'County Clerk'), W. Va. Code § 39-1-2 · statutory form available | Real property transfer excise: $1.10 per $500 of value base rate (now retained by the county, W. Va. Code § 11-22-2(a)) plus additional county excise of $0.55/$500, which counties may raise up to $1.65/$500 (§ 11-22-2(b)) — typical combined $2.20/$500 — plus a flat $20 Affordable Housing fee on transfers for consideration; 'document' excludes quitclaim or corrective deeds without consideration, transfers of $100 or less, and no-consideration close-family transfers (§ 11-22-1(4)), so no-consideration quitclaims owe no excise. | W. Va. Code § 39-1-2 |
| Wisconsin | County Register of Deeds (Wis. Stat. §§ 706.05(1), 59.43) · statutory form available | Real estate transfer fee: $0.30 per $100 (0.3%) of value, imposed on the grantor and collected by the register at recording (Wis. Stat. § 77.22(1)); exemptions (§ 77.25) include conveyances between spouses (8m), between parent/stepparent and child or child's spouse for nominal or no consideration (8), corrective conveyances for no consideration (3), and TOD designations (10m) — but there is NO general gift exemption: a gift to anyone outside those categories is taxed on fair market value. | Wis. Stat. § 706.02 |
| Wyoming | County Clerk ('the office of the county clerk in the county where the land lies', Wyo. Stat. §§ 34-1-118, 34-1-119) · statutory form available | No transfer tax | Wyo. Stat. § 34-1-113 |
Methodology
Witness counts are subscribing witnesses required by statute for a deed to be validly executed or recorded, besides notarization, as of 2026 — quoting the conveyance/recording statute linked on each row. “No transfer tax” means the state levies no deed transfer or documentary stamp tax (local fees may still apply). 35 states also publish a statutory deed form in the act itself. This is a comparison of statutes, not legal advice.
This study is free to cite and reproduce (CC BY 4.0) — we only ask for a link to https://sealforms.com/us/deed-witness-requirements/.
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— 51 rows, one per jurisdiction. Each row carries the statute it comes from (cite, the authority) and a link to read it
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Transferring property? Every state guide includes a free quitclaim deed generator with your state’s execution checklist. See also the eviction notice periods study and the small claims limits study.