Two Very Different Tools
Both of these move a house from one person to another, which is why they get confused. What they actually do is almost opposite.
A quitclaim deed transfers your interest right now, permanently. Once it's signed and recorded, the house belongs to whoever you named. You can't undo it without their cooperation.
A transfer on death deed transfers nothing until you die. You keep full ownership and control, you can sell or refinance, and you can revoke it at any time without asking anyone. See our TOD deed guide for where they're available.
That difference in timing is where the money is.
The Step-Up in Basis: The Whole Ballgame
When someone inherits property at death, their tax basis resets to the market value on the date of death. When someone receives property as a gift during your lifetime, they take your original basis — whatever you paid decades ago, plus improvements.
The consequence is stark. Work through a realistic case:
| Quitclaim to child now | TOD deed (inherits at death) | |
|---|---|---|
| What you paid in 1985 | $60,000 | $60,000 |
| Market value when child sells | $560,000 | $560,000 |
| Child's tax basis | $60,000 (carried over) | $560,000 (stepped up) |
| Taxable gain on sale | $500,000 | $0 |
| Federal tax at 15% | ~$75,000 | $0 |
Same house, same child, same eventual sale. The only difference is which piece of paper you signed and when. And note that the child in the left column can't use the homeowner's exclusion to fix it unless they actually lived in the house for two of the previous five years — see capital gains when selling a home.
Gift Tax Paperwork and the 2026 Gift Tax Exclusion
Deeding a house to someone for nothing is a gift, and gifts above the annual exclusion require a return. The 2026 limits:
| 2026 gift tax figure | Amount |
|---|---|
| Annual gift tax exclusion, per recipient | $19,000 (unchanged from 2025) |
| Married couple splitting a gift | $38,000 per recipient |
| Gifts to a spouse who is not a U.S. citizen | $194,000 |
| Lifetime gift and estate tax exemption | $15,000,000 per person ($30 million per couple) |
A house is far over the annual exclusion, so you must file Form 709 by the April tax deadline after the year of the gift (April 15, 2027 for a 2026 gift). That's true even if you only add a child to the deed: giving away a half interest in a $400,000 house is a $200,000 gift.
Filing rarely means paying. The excess over $19,000 is simply subtracted from your $15 million lifetime exemption, which the 2025 tax law made permanent and indexes for inflation from 2027. Only gifts and estates above that level owe the 40% tax. But the return is required, and the gift permanently reduces what you can pass tax-free later. The bigger cost is the lost step-up in basis shown above, which the gift tax exclusion does nothing to fix.
A TOD deed creates none of this. It isn't a completed gift while you're alive, so there's nothing to report until death.
The Medicaid Look-Back
If long-term care is anywhere in your future, this is decisive. Medicaid reviews asset transfers made in the five years (60 months) before an application — two and a half years in California, the one outlier. Giving away a house inside that window creates a penalty period during which Medicaid won't pay for your care, calculated from the value you gave away.
There are narrow exceptions, including transfers to a spouse, to a "caretaker child" who lived with you and provided care for at least two years, or to a co-resident sibling with an equity interest. These are technical and worth an elder law attorney's time. The general point stands: quitclaiming the house to the kids as an asset-protection move often backfires, and does so at the worst possible moment.
Other Ways Gifting Now Goes Wrong
- You lose control. The house is theirs. If they divorce, get sued, or file for bankruptcy, your home is an asset in that proceeding.
- You may lose your exemptions. Removing yourself from title can cost you the homestead or senior exemption you were receiving, raising the bill immediately.
- It may trigger reassessment. A lifetime transfer is a change of ownership in most states. In California it can reset the Prop 13 base, which is precisely what families with old, low assessments are trying to preserve.
- No warranty. A quitclaim deed conveys only whatever interest you actually have, with no guarantee of clear title and no recourse if a lien or defect surfaces later.
When a Quitclaim Deed Is the Right Tool
It has real uses — just not for estate planning:
- Divorce: transferring the home to one spouse under a settlement agreement.
- Adding or removing a spouse from title during a marriage.
- Moving property into a revocable living trust you control.
- Correcting a defect such as a misspelled name or an old clouded interest.
What these share is that the parties already know and trust each other, and title warranty isn't the point. Never accept a quitclaim deed from a stranger in an arm's-length purchase — that's what warranty deeds are for.
Bottom Line
If your goal is to pass your home to your children without probate, a transfer on death deed (or a Lady Bird deed, or a trust) does it while preserving the step-up in basis, avoiding gift tax filings, keeping you in control, and staying clear of the Medicaid look-back. A quitclaim deed to your kids gives up all four, and the capital gains cost alone can run into six figures. Use a quitclaim for divorce, spouses and trusts — and talk to an estate planning attorney before signing anything that moves your house while you're still living in it.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Deed and Medicaid rules vary by state — consult an attorney licensed where the property is located.