North Carolina · Document Recording
Recording a Deed or Document in Beaufort County, NC
Beaufort County (population 44,652) records real-property documents through the Beaufort County Register of Deeds. Below is what it costs and how to submit. Filing a memorandum of contract? We record it with the county for $199, notary included — no trip to the courthouse.
Beaufort County recorder — contact
- Recording office
- Beaufort County Register of Deeds
- Mailing address
- PO Box 514, Washington, NC 27889 (physical: 112 W. 2nd Street, Washington, NC 27889)
- Phone
- 252-946-2323
- Checks payable to
- Beaufort County Register of Deeds
- Electronic recording
- Available via Simplifile, CSC
Beaufort County recording fees
- First page / base fee
- $26 for first 15 pages (general instruments); $64 for first 35 pages (deeds of trust/mortgages)
- Additional pages
- $4 per additional page
- Other fees
- $10 per additional cross-reference/multi-instrument indexing; excise stamps $1 per $500 of consideration; nonstandard-document fee if formatting not met
Counties change fees without notice. Check with the Beaufort County Register of Deeds before you mail a check.
What Beaufort County requires
- Page formatting
- Statewide NC standard (NCGS 161-14): 3-inch blank top margin on first page, 0.5-inch margins elsewhere, black ink on white paper, minimum 9-point font, printed one side only, instrument type stated at top of first page
- Cover sheet
- Not required under NC law; nonstandard-document fee charged instead if margin/font rules unmet
- Submission & return
- Recorded original returned by mail to submitter (include self-addressed stamped envelope) or returned electronically via eRecording vendor
- Hours & turnaround
- Same day to ~2 business days via eRecording; roughly 1-3 weeks for mailed-in documents (varies by office volume)
Can you e-record in Beaufort County?
Yes. Beaufort County accepts electronic recording through Simplifile, CSC, so a properly formatted document can be recorded the same or next business day without mailing paper.
How to record a document in Beaufort County, North Carolina
- Prepare the document so it meets Beaufort County's formatting rules (above): legal description, grantee address, signature block, and the blank space the recorder reserves for its stamp.
- Notarize it if the instrument requires acknowledgment. Most deeds and affidavits do.
- Submit electronically through Simplifile, CSC, or by mail to Beaufort County Register of Deeds.
- Pay the recording fee, payable to Beaufort County Register of Deeds.
- Receive the recorded instrument back with its book/page or instrument number as proof of record.
Looking up a Beaufort County property
Owner names, parcel numbers and legal descriptions for Beaufort County property are searchable at Beaufort County Tax Assessor / GIS-Land Records (Parcel Viewer). A deed or memorandum needs the exact legal description, so pull it from there or from the last recorded deed.
Filing with Jurably in North Carolina
North Carolina requires notarized signatures from both the record owner and the purchaser, plus an expiration date (N.C. Gen. Stat. §47-119.1). See the states we file in.