Does Alabama allow a transfer on death deed?

Alabama at a glance

TOD deed for real estate

No

How a house passes in Alabama without a TOD deed

• Small-estate affidavit cap. No affidavit
• Real estate. The summary procedure is only for people who owned no real property when they died. Land needs regular probate administration unless it passed automatically, for example by survivorship.
• Petition for summary distribution of a small estate (Revised Alabama Small Estates Act). This is the main no-administration route. The probate court orders distribution without appointing a personal representative, and holders must honor the order. The cap (the 'small estate amount') equals the combined maximum homestead allowance, exempt property and family allowance as adjusted by the State Treasurer. The Treasurer's July 1, 2023 amounts are homestead $18,800, family allowance $18,800 and personal property exemption $9,400; its July 1, 2026 amounts ($20,475, $20,475, $10,225) apply to exemptions claimed on or after 2027-04-01. No official source prints a single combined figure. Act 2025-431 took effect 2025-10-01.

All Alabama small-estate rules, with sources →

What people in Alabama use instead

The Code of Alabama itself recognizes a deed creating a joint tenancy with right of survivorship, where the deed must expressly say so (Ala. Code § 35-4-7), and life estates (Ala. Code §§ 35-4-170 to 35-4-171). No official Alabama source found names an enhanced life estate ("Lady Bird") deed.

Good to know in Alabama

• A 2016 bill (HB 406) proposed the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act; it is not in the current Code of Alabama.
• Bank/securities TOD registration exists separately (Ala. Code § 8-6-140 et seq.) and does not cover real estate.
• No official Alabama self-help page on probate-avoidance deeds was found, so the alternatives listed are limited to what the Code itself provides.

Official pages

• Alabama statute
• No TOD deed or other plan? How Alabama handles a small estate without probate →

Sources

• Code of Alabama § 35-4-7 Survivorship between joint tenants (ALISON) (read October 28, 2026)
• Code of Alabama Title 35, Chapter 4, Article 6 Life estates (ALISON) (read October 28, 2026)
• Code of Alabama § 8-6-148 Transfer on death (securities) (read October 28, 2026)
• Alabama 2016 HB406 (introduced) Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act (read October 28, 2026)

Legal information from the official sources above, not legal advice. A TOD deed can affect Medicaid, taxes, creditors and co-owners; for a decision about your own property, ask the county recorder, a legal aid office or a lawyer. How we check: methodology.