On May 24, 2021, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law Senate Bill 558 (SB 885), which amends Chapter 13 of the Texas Property Code (Tex. Prop. Code Ann. §§ 13.001 to 13.005) by adding a new Section 13.006 relating to quitclaim deeds. SB 885 provides that four years after recording a quitclaim deed, a subsequent purchaser or creditor for value without actual notice of other unrecorded claims on the property has good faith protection. SB 885 also amends the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code (TCPRC) to provide that an adverse possession claim under the state's five-year statute of limitations period may not be based on a quitclaim deed (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §§ 16.025(b)). (2021 Tex. Sess. Law Serv. Ch. 94 (S.B. 885).) The new law takes effect September 1, 2021.

In Texas, a quitclaim deed conveys only the grantor's rights, if any, in the real property. A quitclaim deed contains no warranties of any kind and does not establish title in the person holding the deed.

The rule in most jurisdictions is that a recorded quitclaim deed, when taken in good faith for valuable consideration without notice, prevails over a prior unrecorded deed. A quitclaim deed in Texas, however, actually raises doubts about the grantor's interest and puts a purchaser on notice of those doubts. Because a quitclaim deed is insufficient by itself to prove ownership of the property, a recorded quitclaim deed in the chain of title could render the property unmarketable in perpetuity without a costly and time-consuming quiet title action.

There is no statutory form of quitclaim deed in Texas. The courts decide whether an instrument is a quitclaim deed by looking to whether the language of the instrument conveys only the grantor's rights (see Enerlex, Inc. v. Amerada Hess, Inc., 302 S.W.3d 351, 354 (Tex. App.—Eastland 2009, no pet.)). For example, a recorded document titled "Mineral Deed" could be later deemed a quitclaim deed by a Texas court.

For more information and a form of quitclaim deed for use in Texas, see Standard Document, Quitclaim Deed (TX).

SB 885 provides that four years after the recording of a quitclaim deed in the public records of the county where the real property is located, the quitclaim deed:

After the expiration of the four-year period, the recorded quitclaim deed will not provide inquiry notice to a subsequent bona fide purchaser or creditor for value that requires additional due diligence to determine the actual state of title.

Under Texas law, adverse possession (also known as limitation title) is a legal doctrine that allows a party without legal title to real property to obtain title by taking certain actions indicative of ownership consistently over a stated period. Various statute of limitation periods govern adverse possession claims in Texas. Generally, a quitclaim deed does not constitute a duly registered deed for purposes of the adverse possession's five-year limitations period (Mem'l Park Med. Ctr., Inc. v. River Bend Dev. Grp., L.P., 264 S.W.3d 810, 818 (Tex. App.—Eastland 2008, no pet.)).

SB 885 amends Section 16.025(b) of the TCPRC to codify case law in providing that an adverse possessor under the five-year statute may not claim land based on a quitclaim deed.

For more information on adverse possession claims in Texas, see Practice Note, Adverse Possession (TX).

Many states through statute or case law provide bona fide purchaser status to an innocent purchaser for value relying on a quitclaim deed in the property's chain of title. SB 885 does not provide complete good faith protection in the quitclaim context but adds some parameters by providing:

For more information on deeds in Texas, see State Q&A, Real Estate Ownership: Texas: Question 5.