West Virginia Code § 39-1-2 now provides that quitclaim deeds without consideration (or any other type of deed) for which no transfer tax is paid, shall not be admitted to record in the County Clerk’s Office unless the deed is signed by the grantor and the grantee. Any deed recorded in violation of this provision is void, and no interest is conveyed by the deed. The statute provides for a very narrow exception where husbands and wives; parents and children; and grandparents and grandchildren may convey property to each other without the deed being signed by the grantee.
I frequently come across recorded deeds where individuals have drafted them on their own or have printed a quitclaim deed off the internet and filled in the blanks. The form of deeds for conveyances without consideration which has been used for the last 100+ years are no longer “recordable instruments” in many scenarios. If a deed without consideration is recorded without the grantee signing, the deed is void, and no interest transfers, even if the document is mistakenly recorded by the county clerk. This could have catastrophic consequences for the titles to real estate in West Virginia due to the frequency in which individuals prepare their own deeds without seeking the advice of an attorney. Drafting a “simple quitclaim deed” is no longer simple.