Real Estate
Transfer on Death Deed Package
Name who receives your property when you die, without giving up any control now — starting with whether your state recognises this instrument at all.
Available product levels
Complete Legal Packages
$99.99Multi-document workflows for complex legal matters.
When to use this document
- Passing a home to a child or beneficiary without probate
- Keeping full control and the right to sell or change your mind
- A simpler alternative to a trust where the main asset is one property
- Adding a beneficiary designation to real property, as you would to an account
Information you will need
- Whether your state recognises transfer on death deeds
- Owner and beneficiary details, and any alternate beneficiary
- The property's legal description from the existing deed
- Your county's current recording requirements
- Notary and witness requirements for your state
What you receive
- State availability check
- County recording requirements worksheet
- Property and parties information sheet
- Transfer on death deed
- Beneficiary notification letter
- Recording instructions and after-recording checklist
- All six as separate PDF or DOCX files
Special situations
- Transfer on death deeds are not available in every state. Establish that yours recognises them before doing anything else — a deed recorded where the instrument is not recognised achieves nothing.
- It must be recorded during your lifetime. A transfer on death deed signed but never recorded generally has no effect at all.
- You keep full control while you are alive. You can sell, mortgage, or revoke it, and the beneficiary has no interest in the property until your death.
- The beneficiary takes the property subject to whatever is on it — mortgages, liens, and tax obligations all survive.
- It does not avoid creditors of your estate, and several states allow claims against property transferred this way.
- If the beneficiary dies before you and you named no alternate, the deed may fail entirely and the property falls back into your estate.
Jurisdiction
Whether a transfer on death deed is available at all, what it is called, the required form and wording, recording deadlines, and revocation procedure are set by state law and differ substantially. Several states do not permit them. This package reproduces no state's prescribed form.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use this in my state?
That is the first thing to establish, and the state availability check exists for it. These deeds are not recognised everywhere, and they go by different names where they are. A deed recorded in a state that does not recognise the instrument does nothing at all.
Do I lose control of my property?
No. While you are alive you can sell it, mortgage it, or revoke the deed. The beneficiary has no present interest and no say. That is the main advantage over transferring the property outright now.
Does it have to be recorded?
Yes, during your lifetime, and this is where these fail most often. A signed but unrecorded transfer on death deed generally has no effect. Record it promptly rather than filing it with your papers.
Does the beneficiary get the property free of the mortgage?
No. They take it subject to whatever encumbers it — mortgages, liens, and unpaid taxes all continue. A beneficiary who cannot service the loan may have to sell.
What if my beneficiary dies before I do?
If you named no alternate, the deed may fail and the property returns to your estate, going through probate — which defeats the point. Naming an alternate beneficiary costs nothing and avoids that outcome.
How is this different from a quitclaim deed?
A quitclaim transfers ownership now. A transfer on death deed transfers nothing until you die, and you keep complete control until then. Transferring your home to a child now, using a quitclaim, gives away control immediately and is rarely what people actually intend.
Related documents and guides
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Last reviewed July 29, 2026.