I have been asked for the difference between a deed and a quit-claim. The words are NOT synonymous, and to say "quit-claim deed" is legally quite inaccurate ! A "deed" represents to the person to whom it is made (the grantee/buyer) that the person making the deed (the grantor/seller) owns a specific interest in that property and is thereby conveying/transferring it. On the other hand, a "quit-claim" says, instead, that the person making it PERHAPS owns an interest, however he/she is not swearing that he/she actually owns anything atall. So, as the most frequent example, heirs of land from an estate find quit-claims to be convenient methods to transfer their interests in that estate to their brothers or sisters. In doing so, they are legally saying, "I am not saying that I know for sure what interest Dad and Mom owned, but whatever it was, I am conveying my part of it to you." So, notice that I can make a perfectly legal "quit-claim" of the Brooklyn Bridge to you, but I would be cheating you if, instead, I made a "deed" to you for that same interest, since I really own nothing atall in that bridge.