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

One of the two signatures on this deed conveys nothing. A spouse whose name never reached the title still holds an estate of homestead in the family home under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 188, and Section 10 of that chapter ties the end of that homestead, on a sale outside the family, to that spouse's signature on the deed itself. This Massachusetts quitclaim deed form is drawn for that arrangement: one married owner of record who conveys with the statutory quitclaim covenants, and one non-owner spouse who joins to release homestead and passes no title.

The signature that releases instead of conveying

Chapter 188 protects the home to $125,000 automatically and to $1,000,000 under a recorded declaration, and it reaches the owner's spouse and minor children whether or not they hold title. Clause (1) of Section 10(a) states the consequence: a deed to a non-family member terminates the homestead when it is signed by the owner and, if any, a non-owner spouse or former spouse who resides in the home as a principal residence as of the date of the deed. A deed signed by the owner of record alone leaves that spouse's homestead estate standing, and it stands against the buyer. Section 2 of this form names the spouse and recites the three facts the clause turns on: the marriage, the absence of record title, and residence in the property as a principal residence. Section 10 then carries an express release spoken by both signers, the mechanism subsection (b) uses for a deed that stays inside the family, so the release reads on the record either way.

Covenants that run from the owner alone

The covenant side is the ordinary Massachusetts one. A deed drawn in substance on the statutory Quitclaim Deed form of General Laws Chapter 183, Section 11 takes effect as a conveyance in fee simple and carries the covenant that section attaches to it: the premises were free of encumbrances the grantor made, and the grantor will defend the title against claims by, through or under the grantor, and against none other. Section 17 compresses all of it into two words. The covenants belong to the owner of record; the joining spouse, having held no title, promises nothing about it, and the deed says so. Section 8 collects the mortgage, easements, and other matters the conveyance is subject to, and the operative section excepts them from the covenant.

When the title stands in one spouse's name

A home bought before the marriage and never re-titled, a home that came to one spouse by inheritance or by gift from a parent, and a home taken in one spouse's name alone at a lender's insistence each present the pattern this deed recites: one owner of record in Section 1, one spouse in Section 2 who lives in the home and holds no record interest, two signature blocks, and a certificate for each signature, so the two may be acknowledged on different days and before different notaries. Massachusetts law does not require a certificate for each signer. The form is not set up for co-owned title, for an unmarried sole owner, for an entity grantor, or for a fiduciary signing in a representative capacity. Searches for a Massachusetts quit claim deed with spousal joinder, or for a deed where the husband or wife is not on the title, describe this configuration.

Excise stamps and the counter rules

Recording happens at whichever of the Commonwealth's county and district registries covers the land. Chapter 183 supplies the counter rules, and the form carries a blank for each: Section 6, the grantee's full name, residence and post office address with a recital of the full consideration, a figure the statute measures without deducting an assumed mortgage; Section 6A, a title reference to the prior recorded deed or plan; and Section 6B, the street address. The recording fee for a deed is $155 statewide, and the deeds excise runs $2.28 per $500 of consideration or fraction, $3.24 in Barnstable County, denoted by stamps at recording. The completed example carries an Essex County fact pattern through every blank, with one certificate taken in Essex County and the second in Suffolk County two days later.

The download delivers the fillable deed, the completed example, and a guide covering all eleven numbered sections, both certificates, the homestead release, and the recording steps, including the deeds excise and the assessor transfer reporting. The materials describe Massachusetts law in general terms and are not legal advice.