Montana Quitclaim Deed

About the Flathead County Clerk & Recorder

Flathead County is home to Kalispell, Whitefish, and Columbia Falls, and serves as the western gateway to Glacier National Park — which makes it one of Montana's most active markets for vacation homes and investment property alongside standard residential transfers. If your property borders park land or the Flathead National Forest, it's worth double-checking your legal description against the county's plat records before filing — boundary descriptions near federal land are a more common source of delays here than in a typical inland county.

Cities and Communities Served

Recording jurisdiction runs countywide, not by city limits — if the property sits anywhere within Flathead County, this is the Clerk & Recorder’s office that will accept the deed. That includes:

Incorporated cities: Columbia Falls, Kalispell (county seat), and Whitefish.

Unincorporated communities: Bigfork, Coram, Evergreen, Hungry Horse, Kila, Lakeside, Marion, Martin City, Olney, Somers, and West Glacier.

A small piece of the Flathead Indian Reservation (whose core lies in neighboring Lake County) extends into Flathead County near Niarada and Elmo; none of the county’s three incorporated cities are on reservation land.

Office Details

Address: 800 S. Main Street, Room 114, Kalispell, MT 59901

Phone: (406) 758-5526  |  Fax: (406) 758-5865

Hours: Monday – Friday, 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Recording Fee: A flat statewide fee set by Montana law (MCA § 7-4-2637) — not a Flathead-specific rate, and not a percentage of the property's value.

No additional county fees beyond the statewide rate were found for Flathead County.

Good to know before you go: Any deed with a legal description needs sign-off from the Plat Room before it can be recorded — build that into your timeline if your description isn't already on file.

Official Website Get Directions

How to File a Document

  1. Prepare Your Document: Make sure your deed meets Montana's formatting and content requirements before you file.
  2. Get It Notarized: Have the document signed in front of a Montana notary public or other authorized official. No notary nearby in Kalispell? Montana allows remote online notarization — you can notarize your Flathead County deed online instead.
  3. Complete a Realty Transfer Certificate: Montana law requires a completed Realty Transfer Certificate (Form RTC) to accompany every deed submitted for recording — even transfers that don't require disclosing the sale price still need the form filed.
  4. Record It: You can file in person at the Flathead County Clerk & Recorder's office; call the office to confirm whether mail-in filing is accepted.
  5. Pay the Recording Fee: A flat statewide rate for the first page, with a lower rate for each additional page.
  6. Keep Your Receipt: Your recorded document (or a certified copy) is your proof of filing.

Still Have Questions About Filing With the Flathead County Clerk & Recorder?

Ask below and get an instant answer on Montana quitclaim deeds.

Filing? Get a Deed the Flathead County Clerk & Recorder Will Accept

FREE generic forms are the most common reason Montana deeds get rejected — usually over formatting, the legal description, or notary acknowledgment.

Two ways to avoid that:

Download the form yourself $14.95 Have it prepared for you $39.95

Both are built to meet Montana's recording requirements, tailored to what the Flathead County Clerk & Recorder asks for.

Disclosure: affiliate links to Standard Legal, our partner — no extra cost to you.

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