Why People File a Quitclaim Deed in Bear Lake County
Just Got Married
Newly married and updating who's on the title? That's exactly what a quitclaim deed is built for — a quick way to add your spouse's name to the property you already own.
Going Through a Divorce
Untangling ownership after a divorce usually comes down to one deed — this one — once you and your ex have settled who keeps the property.
Inherited Property
Inheriting a house doesn't automatically update the title — a quitclaim deed is usually how that final step gets handled.
Gifting to Family
Gifting a home to your kids or another family member? A quitclaim deed is how that gets recorded — no sale required.
About the Bear Lake County Clerk (recording function performed by the Clerk's Office)
Bear Lake County was established in 1875, fifteen years before Idaho statehood, and is named for Bear Lake itself — a roughly 20-mile-long natural lake whose northern half lies in Idaho and southern half in Utah. Paris, the county seat, was settled by Mormon pioneers in the 1860s as part of the broader colonization of the Bear River Valley, and the county's economy has long centered on ranching, dairying, and the lake's recreation trade.
Cities and Communities Served
Recording jurisdiction runs countywide, not by city limits — if the property sits anywhere within Bear Lake County, this is the Bear Lake County Clerk (recording function performed by the Clerk's Office) that will accept the deed. That includes:
Incorporated cities: Montpelier, Paris, Bloomington, Georgetown, St. Charles.
Unincorporated communities: Fish Haven, Dingle, Ovid, Bern, Bennington.
Office Details
Address: 7 E Center St / PO Box 190, Paris, ID 83261
Phone: (208) 945-2212, ext. 5 (also listed as (208) 945-2155, ext. 5)
Hours: 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Monday - Friday
Recording Fee: Recording fees are set by Idaho state statute and charged per document rather than based on property value, with a base rate for standard instruments and higher rates or per-page add-ons for longer documents like mortgages and deeds of trust; copies and plat/survey recordings follow their own separate fee lines.
E-recording: Simplifile
Good to know before you go: Two different phone numbers for the Clerk's office (945-2212 and 945-2155, both ext. 5) turn up across county and third-party sources; a human should confirm the current number before publishing.
How to File a Document
- Sign in Front of a Notary: Idaho law requires a deed to be acknowledged before a notary public before the Bear Lake County Clerk (recording function performed by the Clerk's Office) can record it (Idaho Code § 55-805). The deed is actually valid between you and the person you're transferring to as soon as it's signed and delivered — the notarized acknowledgment is what makes it eligible for recording, which is the step that protects you against someone else claiming the property later.
- Give the Grantee's Full Mailing Address: Idaho requires the deed itself to state the complete mailing address of the person receiving the property, not just their name. This is a simple detail that's easy to miss and a common reason a deed gets sent back.
- Attach a Full Legal Description, Not Just an Address: A street address alone isn't enough — Idaho deeds need the property's actual legal description (the metes-and-bounds, government survey, or platted-lot description used in the county's own records). You can usually copy this directly from the deed that transferred the property to you.
- Consider Online Notarization if an In-Person Visit Is Hard: Idaho has allowed remote online notarization since 2020, so if getting to a notary's office in person is difficult, a signer may be able to complete the acknowledgment through video with an Idaho-commissioned online notary instead.
- Record with the County Recorder: Bring, mail, or (where the county supports it) e-file the signed and notarized deed with the Bear Lake County Clerk (recording function performed by the Clerk's Office) for the county where the property sits. Idaho charges a flat recording fee set by state statute and based on the document and page count, not a percentage of the property's value — and unlike some states, Idaho has no separate real estate transfer tax or transfer declaration form to file alongside the deed.
Still Have Questions About Filing With the Bear Lake County Clerk (recording function performed by the Clerk's Office)?
Ask below and get an instant answer on Idaho quitclaim deeds.
Other Counties in Idaho
Filing somewhere else in the state? Here are a few other county pages:
You are not on the official Bear Lake County government website. IdahoQuitclaimDeed.com is a privately owned website and is not affiliated with any government agency.