Washington Quitclaim Deed (Married Couple as Grantors)

Washington asks something particular of a deed a married couple signs. Under RCW 26.16.030(3) one spouse or one state registered domestic partner cannot convey community real property alone: the other joins in executing the instrument, and both acknowledge it. This quitclaim deed is configured for that joinder. Section 1 names each grantor and states the relationship between them, and the conveyance section recites that both join in executing the deed and that each acknowledges it, so the instrument shows on its face why two signatures and two certificates appear.

One deed that reaches the whole community interest

A couple's deed reads as one act rather than two releases because of characterization. RCW 26.16.030 makes what a couple acquires after marriage or registration community property unless it is separate under RCW 26.16.010 or RCW 26.16.020, and neither spouse may devise more than half of it. A deed signed by both moves the entire community interest in one recording, with no half left behind to be sorted out later by will or in probate. Homestead property answers to a second rule in RCW 6.13.060, which reaches the conveyance whatever name the record title carries.

What the form carries, and what it does not

The form recites exactly two grantors and describes them as married to each other or as state registered domestic partners of each other, with a blank for that relationship rather than an assumption printed into the boilerplate. Two signature lines with printed names and dates follow, each with its own certificate in the individual capacity short form of RCW 42.45.140(1), so a staggered appearance is accommodated. Washington does not make separate certificates a requirement, the statutory short forms naming the individuals in the plural; the paired layout is a drafting choice in this form. Community real property titled in both names or in one name, and a homestead conveyed by a couple, all present this configuration. A single owner conveying separate property, or the interspousal transfer RCW 26.16.050 authorizes, follows a one-signature pattern this form does not carry.

A family gift, and the statement that travels with it

Family transfers are where the configuration turns up most often in Washington land records: a couple deeding community real property to adult children, into a revocable living trust they created, or to an entity they own. Because the operative words are the statutory conveys and quitclaims of RCW 64.04.050, the grantees take the rights the couple holds on the date of the deed and nothing more, with no covenant or warranty and no reach to after-acquired title. A gift still meets the excise tax system: an affidavit accompanies the deed, the exemption is claimed by code, and a completed Real Estate Excise Tax Supplemental Statement goes with it. Where the grantees take subject to a mortgage, the Department of Revenue treats relief of debt as consideration.

How the grantees take, and what Washington no longer recognizes

The receiving side has its own defaults. RCW 64.28.020 makes an interest created in two or more people a tenancy in common unless the instrument expressly declares a joint tenancy under RCW 64.28.010, and where a couple takes as declared joint tenants, RCW 64.28.040 presumes community property while still passing it to the survivor. Two vestings are gone from Washington law: RCW 11.04.071 abolished survivorship as an incident of tenancy by the entirety, and RCW 11.04.060 abolished dower and curtesy, so no release of either belongs on a Washington deed.

At the recording counter

The treasurer sees the deed before the auditor does, because RCW 82.45.090 bars the auditor from accepting a taxable conveyance until the tax is verified as paid or not due. The auditor then indexes from the first page, which the form builds to RCW 65.04.045: a three inch recording band with the return name and address in the statutory top left position, the title, the grantor and grantee names, an abbreviated legal description, the assessor's parcel number, and reference numbers of documents assigned or released. Statutory add-ons drive the cost, among them the RCW 36.22.185 covenant homeownership assessment and the RCW 36.22.250 surcharge.

This package includes the blank deed as a fillable PDF, one completed example prepared for a Snohomish County family gift, and a plain language guide to the blanks, the notarization, the excise tax affidavit, and the recording steps. Many searchers spell the instrument as a quit claim deed. The materials describe Washington law in general terms and are not legal advice.