San Juan County Quitclaim Deed (Reserving Life Estate) Form

Last validated July 31, 2026 by our Forms Development Team

San Juan County Quitclaim Deed (Reserving Life Estate) Form

San Juan County Quitclaim Deed (Reserving Life Estate) Form

Fill in the blank Quitclaim Deed (Reserving Life Estate) form formatted to comply with all New Mexico recording and content requirements.

Document Last Validated 7/31/2026
San Juan County Quitclaim Deed (Reserving Life Estate) Guide

San Juan County Quitclaim Deed (Reserving Life Estate) Guide

Line by line guide explaining every blank on the Quitclaim Deed (Reserving Life Estate) form.

Document Last Validated 7/31/2026
San Juan County Completed Example of the Quitclaim Deed (Reserving Life Estate) Document

San Juan County Completed Example of the Quitclaim Deed (Reserving Life Estate) Document

Example of a properly completed New Mexico Quitclaim Deed (Reserving Life Estate) document for reference.

Document Last Validated 7/31/2026

All 3 documents above included • One-time purchase • No recurring fees

Immediate Download • Secure Checkout

Important: Your property must be located in San Juan County to use these forms. Documents should be recorded at the office below.

Where to Record Your Documents

San Juan County Clerk

Address:
100 South Oliver Dr, Suite 200 / PO Box 550
Aztec, New Mexico 87410

Hours: 7:00 am - 5:00 pm Monday - Friday

Phone: (505) 334-9471

Recording Tips for San Juan County:
  • Bring your driver's license or state-issued photo ID
  • Make copies of your documents before recording - keep originals safe
  • Bring extra funds - fees can vary by document type and page count
  • If mailing documents, use certified mail with return receipt

Cities and Jurisdictions in San Juan County

Properties in any of these areas use San Juan County forms:

  • Aztec
  • Blanco
  • Bloomfield
  • Farmington
  • Flora Vista
  • Fruitland
  • Kirtland
  • La Plata
  • Nageezi
  • Navajo Dam
  • Newcomb
  • Sanostee
  • Sheep Springs
  • Shiprock
  • Waterflow

View Complete Recorder Office Guide

Hours, fees, requirements, and more for San Juan County

How do I get my forms?

Forms are available for immediate download after payment. The San Juan County forms will be in your account ready to download to your computer. An account is created for you during checkout if you don't have one. Forms are NOT emailed.

Are these forms guaranteed to be recordable in San Juan County?

Yes. Our form blanks are guaranteed to meet or exceed the applicable formatting requirements used for recording in San Juan County, including margin requirements, font requirements, and other layout standards. This guarantee applies to formatting, not to the legal sufficiency of information entered by the user or the suitability of a form for a particular transaction.

Can I reuse these forms?

Yes. You can reuse the forms for your personal use. For example, if you have multiple properties in San Juan County you only need to order once.

What do I need to use these forms?

The forms are PDFs that you fill out on your computer. You'll need Adobe Reader (free software that most computers already have). You do NOT enter your property information online - you download the blank forms and complete them privately on your own computer.

Are there any recurring fees?

No. This is a one-time purchase. Nothing to cancel, no memberships, no recurring fees.

How much does it cost to record in San Juan County?

Recording fees in San Juan County vary. Contact the recorder's office at (505) 334-9471 for current fees.

Questions answered? Let's get started!

New Mexico reads a reservation generously. Under NMSA 1978, Section 47-1-33, a deed or reservation of real estate is construed to convey or reserve an estate in fee simple unless a different intention clearly appears in the deed, so an owner keeping a smaller estate has to put that intention on the page, and this quitclaim deed puts it there in operative text: the grantor quitclaims the property and reserves, for the term of the natural life of the grantor, the estate the grantor keeps.

Two estates come out of one signing

A life estate deed splits ownership along the calendar rather than along a boundary line. The grantee takes the remainder, a present interest that vests at delivery even though possession waits, while the grantor keeps the right to occupy the land and take its rents, issues, and profits for life. When the life estate ends the remainder becomes an estate in possession, and the record already shows who holds it. Section 47-1-4 supplies the foundation: a person holding any right or title to New Mexico real estate, absolute or limited, in possession, remainder or reversion, may convey it. The same structure sets the trade the instrument makes: after delivery the life tenant alone can move only the life estate, and a conveyance of the whole fee takes the life tenant and the remainderman signing together.

Where the reservation sits on the page

Section 9 carries the mechanism in one operative sentence that quitclaims the described real estate to the grantee and reserves the life estate to the grantor in the same breath, followed by a paragraph naming what the reserved estate carries. Section 47-1-30 tells the record what the quitclaim form accomplishes: a deed in substance following the statutory quitclaim form has the force and effect of a deed in fee simple of any interest the grantor owns in the premises, without warranty. Read with the reservation, that interest is the remainder.

One grantor, one grantee entry, one certificate

The form recites one individual grantor with a marital status line, one grantee entry described as the remainderman, and eleven numbered sections closing with one signature line and one acknowledgment certificate in the New Mexico short form wording of Section 14-14A-15. An owner deeding the family home to a niece while keeping the right to live there, a landowner passing a parcel to a younger relative and holding the rents until death, and an owner putting a life tenant and remainderman arrangement of record without a trust all present the reserved life estate pattern this deed recites. A life estate measured by the life of someone other than the grantor, two grantors signing one instrument, and a deed granting with warranty covenants present configurations this form does not recite. Because New Mexico voids a one-spouse transfer of community real property under Section 40-3-13(A), the guide traces the joinder statute and the recorded instruments it accepts in place of a joining signature.

No covenants attach to the remainder

Implied covenants of title reach a New Mexico deed through two defined phrases and nothing else, warranty covenants under Section 47-1-37 and special warranty covenants under Section 47-1-38. This instrument uses neither phrase, says so in capital letters, and passes the interest the grantor holds at delivery, less the life estate reserved, with liens and easements of record riding through.

At the clerk's window, and thirty days later

The acknowledged original goes to the clerk of the county holding the land, at the flat statutory charge of twenty five dollars for a document indexed in ten or fewer entries; acknowledgment is the only statutory condition of recording. New Mexico levies no transfer tax and no documentary stamp. Residential property adds one companion filing under Section 7-38-12.1, a confidential declaration of the transfer terms due to the county assessor within thirty days, whose seventeen exemptions the guide walks through.

What the package includes

The package delivers this reserved life estate configuration as a fillable PDF, a completed example filled in for a Rio Arriba County parcel, and a plain-language guide covering each numbered section, the statutes behind the reservation, the forms in which grantees may hold New Mexico title, and the recording steps. Searches arrive as a life estate deed, a quit claim deed, or a quick claim deed with a reserved life estate; the New Mexico statutes spell it quitclaim. This is general information rather than legal advice; a New Mexico attorney can read a life estate reservation against a title.

Important: Your property must be located in San Juan County to use these forms. Documents should be recorded at the office below.

This Quitclaim Deed (Reserving Life Estate) meets all recording requirements specific to San Juan County.

Our Promise

The documents you receive here are guaranteed to meet or exceed the applicable San Juan County recording format requirements. If there is a rejection caused by our formatting, we will correct the issue or refund your payment. This guarantee applies to document formatting only and does not extend to information entered by the user, the selection of the form, or the legal effect of the completed document.

Save Time and Money

Get your San Juan County Quitclaim Deed (Reserving Life Estate) form done right the first time with Deeds.com Uniform Conveyancing Blanks. At Deeds.com, we understand that your time and money are valuable resources, and we don't want you to face a penalty fee or rejection imposed by a county recorder for submitting nonstandard documents. We constantly review and update our forms to meet rapidly changing state and county recording requirements for roughly 3,500 counties and local jurisdictions.

4.8 out of 5 - ( 4774 Reviews )

Charlotte M.

April 1st, 2024

Absolutely perfect! Quitclaim deed form was easy to complete and the recorder had no issues with it whatsoever, a rarity around here! Thanks sooo much!

Reply from Staff

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Hanna M.

June 10th, 2019

Very helpful information! Thank you for your service!

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Richard H.

October 5th, 2022

Excellent service, very user friendly

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Charles B.

December 14th, 2019

Excellent andeasy to navigate website for non-lawyers. Needed some forms for a specific county in a specific state, and Deeds.com took me right there, where I downloaded the forms and a guide on how to fill them out.

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WALTER L.

June 19th, 2019

GREAT SITE, HAD ALL THE FORMS I NEEDED AND INSTRUCTIONS WITH ILLUSTRATIONS.

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Shawn B.

November 17th, 2021

Deeds.com support is very quick and responsive. Would use again and recommend to others in need of e-recording.

Reply from Staff

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Kerrin S.

April 11th, 2020

Wow, this was so easy & helpful. I didn't get it finished in time for recording, so I'm still waiting on that part, but the rest was simple and straight-forward. Thanks!

Reply from Staff

Thank you!

Kirk G.

October 23rd, 2021

Excellent! I will be back!

Reply from Staff

Thank you!

CHERYL G.

April 11th, 2022

After my county rejected a deed from another company, I researched better and purchased my Lady Bird Deed from Deeds.com. Very simple, received everything immediately. Printed out sample and guide sheets and filled out my deed. Very thorough and easy to understand. All the additional forms were awesome. And the best part is, my county recorded my deed this morning! WooHoo! Very happy customer! Thank you!

Reply from Staff

Glad to hear! Thanks for taking the time to leave your review. We appreciate you. Have a great day.

Gary K.

November 15th, 2019

Straightforward and pretty easy to use. The only downside is that there is no way to contact them directly. The number on the website is answered only by a voicemail with no return calls. Pricing seems fair compared to other services and much more efficient that filing "over the counter."

Reply from Staff

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Christopher S.

October 5th, 2024

very easy to use, and comprehensive...I like the e-recording package

Reply from Staff

We are grateful for your feedback and looking forward to serving you again. Thank you!

Cheryl C.

November 19th, 2020

So far this looks like exactly what I need and at a reasonable price. Glad it was so easy to find online. Thank you.

Reply from Staff

Thank you for your feedback. We really appreciate it. Have a great day!

Ann M.

February 11th, 2022

I was extremely pleased with how easy this process was, and how quickly my document was recorded. I will definitely use this again!

Reply from Staff

We appreciate your business and value your feedback. Thank you. Have a wonderful day!

Gary G.

November 4th, 2020

I'm glad I found this service . Very useful. Time saving

Reply from Staff

Thank you for your feedback. We really appreciate it. Have a great day!

Marina M.

April 16th, 2022

Very easy to choose template and download. The price seems fair. Not sure the section on the deed for 6 witnesses is necessary....

Reply from Staff

Thank you for your feedback. We really appreciate it. Have a great day!