Highlands County Quitclaim Deed (Trustee Grantor) Form

When Florida land sits in a trust, the public record shows the trustee as the titleholder, and the deed that moves the land out again is signed by that trustee in a representative capacity. This quitclaim deed prepares that conveyance: a trustee grantor releasing whatever interest the trust holds, using the statutory language Florida adopted in 2023 and the trust identification that Florida's trustee-title statutes reward.

Statutory Quitclaim Words, New in 2023

Chapter 2023-238, Laws of Florida, created Section 689.025, Florida Statutes, the state's first prescribed quitclaim form. A Florida quitclaim deed is now substantially in the statutory form: the first party, for the stated sum and other good and valuable consideration, does hereby remise, release, and quitclaim unto the second party forever, all the right, title, interest, claim, and demand which the first party has in and to the described parcel of land, with its improvements and appurtenances. The statute also requires a blank space for the parcel identification number, entered before recording when available. This deed carries that language verbatim, along with the statutory blank.

A quitclaim conveys the grantor's interest and promises nothing about it. The deed states that limit expressly: no covenant or warranty of title, express or implied. Florida's recording act nonetheless treats the grantee well; Section 695.01(2) deems quitclaim grantees bona fide purchasers without notice within the meaning of the recording act.

Why the Trustee Capacity Line Does Real Work

Two statutes make the trustee identification more than a formality. Section 689.073 protects persons dealing with a trustee where the recorded instrument that vested title in the trustee conferred the power to sell and convey; this deed identifies that vesting instrument by its recording reference, so the chain of title shows the authority on its face. Section 689.07 supplies the trap the drafting avoids: a bare trustee label with no trust named can operate as an individual fee simple conveyance. The grantor line on this deed therefore carries the trustee's name together with the trust's title and date, matching the recorded vesting deed, and a capacity paragraph states that the trustee signs in the representative capacity only and not individually.

Two Witnesses, and Addresses for Both

A Florida deed conveying a freehold interest is signed in the presence of two subscribing witnesses under Section 689.01. Since January 1, 2024, Section 695.26 also requires each witness name printed beneath the witness signature and each witness post-office address on the instrument, a change made by the same 2023 act. The deed carries printed-name and address lines for both witnesses, the trustee's printed name and capacity beneath the signature, and the statutory short-form acknowledgment for a trustee, with the physical presence or online notarization checkboxes Florida certificates now use. At the counter, documentary stamp tax under Section 201.02 falls due with the recording fee, computed on consideration as the statute defines it, including any mortgage on the land.

Inside the Download

The package includes the blank deed as a fillable PDF with a non-recorded instructions page, a completed example showing a trustee's distribution of an Orange County lot, and a plain-language guide that walks through every blank, the witness and notary formalities, county recording charges, and the documentary stamp computation. The materials describe Florida law in general terms and are not legal advice.