Highlands County Quitclaim Deed (Married Grantor with Non-Owner Spouse Joinder) Form

Florida title records are full of properties held in one spouse's name alone, and the Florida Constitution still gives the other spouse a decisive signature. Article X, Section 4(c) provides that the owner of homestead real estate, if married, may alienate the homestead by mortgage, sale, or gift only when joined by the owner's spouse. This quitclaim deed is drafted for exactly that title picture: one married grantor holding record title alone, conveying by quitclaim, with the non-owner spouse joining in the deed.

A constitutional signature, not a co-owner's

The joining spouse conveys no record title, because the spouse holds none. The joinder answers a different question: whether the deed of a married owner's homestead carries the spousal signature the constitution assigns to it. The form recites the joinder purpose, and the joining spouse also remises, releases, and quitclaims any homestead right or other marital interest to the grantee, so the recorded deed shows both the constitutional joinder and a release. One boundary is stated on the face of the deed: the joinder is not the separate waiver of homestead devise rights described in Section 732.7025, Florida Statutes, which exists only through its own prescribed statutory language.

The statutory quitclaim form Florida adopted in 2023

Section 689.025, Florida Statutes, created by chapter 2023-238, Laws of Florida, prescribes a quitclaim deed form: a deed substantially in the statutory form, with the operative words remise, release, and quitclaim, a legible legal description, and a blank for the parcel identification number. This form follows the statutory text, so the deed conveys all the right, title, interest, claim, and demand the grantor has in the parcel, together with improvements and appurtenances, and carries no warranty of title. The recording act adds a point specific to this deed type: under Section 695.01(2), Florida Statutes, grantees by quitclaim deed are deemed bona fide purchasers without notice within the recording act.

Two witnesses for every signature

Florida deeds are signed in the presence of two subscribing witnesses under Section 689.01, Florida Statutes, and since January 1, 2024, the recording statute also requires each witness's printed name beneath the witness signature and each witness's post office address on the instrument. The form carries a signature block, two witness blocks, and a separate statutory acknowledgment for the grantor and again for the joining spouse, so the two signers may appear on different dates, before different notaries, by physical presence or by Florida online notarization. The preparer's name and address, the grantee's post office address, the parcel identification number blank, and the blank three inch by three inch recording space at the top right of the first page are built into the layout, and the clerk of the circuit court records the deed in the county where the land lies, collecting documentary stamp tax on the consideration at recording.

The download includes the fillable blank deed, a completed example showing a realistic Orange County transfer from start to finish, and a plain language guide that walks through every entry, the joinder mechanics, the documentary stamp tax, and the recording steps. The materials describe Florida law in general terms and are not legal advice.