Transfer on death deed in Arkansas

Arkansas at a glance

TOD deed for real estate

Yes

Name in Arkansas law

Beneficiary deed

Law

Ark. Code Ann. § 18-12-608

Notary

Required

Witnesses

None

When to record

Before the death

Where to record

County recorder of the county where the property is located

After-death document

No specific filing named in the law

Notice to heirs

Not required

Official form

Yes

Your checklist

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Making a valid TOD deed in Arkansas

• What the law does. A beneficiary deed recorded before the owner's death passes the owner's interest in Arkansas real estate to the named grantee at the owner's death; nothing vests in the grantee before then.
• Signing. The owner signs; the statutory form ends with an acknowledgment. No witnesses are required by the statute. For tenancy by the entirety or joint tenancy with survivorship, the deed works only if the last surviving owner signed it. The statute does not state a capacity standard.
• Recording. Valid only if recorded before the owner's death in the county where the land is. No deadline after signing. If more than one beneficiary deed exists, the recorded one last signed before death controls.
• Payment, delivery, acceptance. A beneficiary deed is by definition a deed 'without current tangible consideration'; the statutory form recites 'a non-monetary, intangible consideration, of value to the Grantor'. No interest vests in the grantee before the owner's death. The statute does not expressly address notice to or acceptance by the grantee.
• Form. Statutory forms of beneficiary deed and revocation in Ark. Code Ann. § 18-12-608(g)-(h), as rewritten by Act 243 of 2007 (the deed form recites 'For a non-monetary, intangible consideration, of value to the Grantor').

Changing it, and who you can name

• Revoking or changing. Any owner who signed may revoke at any time with a revocation (statutory form) executed and recorded in the county before that owner's death. A revocation not signed by all owners works only if signed and recorded by the last surviving owner. A will cannot revoke, alter, or amend it.
• Beneficiaries. One or more grantees, in any valid tenancy (joint tenants with survivorship, tenants in common, tenancy by the entirety). The owner may name one or more successor grantees, including unnamed heirs of the original grantee(s); the deed must state the condition for a successor to take (such as the original grantee not surviving the owner). The trustee of a trust may be named even if the trust is revocable, and the deed may name unnamed successor trustees as successor grantees.

After the owner dies

• Where. County recorder of the county where the property is located
• Steps. The current statute names no document for the grantee to record after the death. Title vests in the grantee at the owner's death if the deed was recorded before death and not revoked. Ask the county recorder what it needs to show the new owner.

Debts, Medicaid and the spouse

• Creditors and Medicaid. The grantee takes subject to all conveyances, assignments, contracts, leases, mortgages, deeds of trust, liens, security pledges, oil, gas, or mineral leases, and other encumbrances the owner made or the property was subject to at death, whether created before or after the beneficiary deed. Act 570 of 2021 struck the rules that let the Department of Human Services claim reimbursement of benefits (including Medicaid) against the interest a beneficiary-deed grantee receives; the DHS claim now runs against 'the estate of a deceased recipient'. The 2005 rule treating a beneficiary deed as a revocable trust in bankruptcy or divorce was repealed by Act 243 of 2007.

Good to know in Arkansas

• Act 243 of 2007 rewrote the section: 'without current tangible consideration', excludes leasehold or lien interests, allows unnamed heirs as successor grantees, removed the third-party evidence clause, and renumbered the forms to (g)-(h).
• Act 570 of 2021 removed the DHS recovery claim against beneficiary-deed grantees.
• Arkansas law names no document for the grantee to record after the death; ask the county recorder what it needs.

Official pages

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

Sources

• Arkansas Act 1918 of 2005 (HB 1137) creating § 18-12-608 (read October 28, 2026)
• Arkansas Act 570 of 2021 (HB 1162) amending §§ 18-12-608 and 20-76-436 (read October 28, 2026)
• arkansas statute (verifier B) (read October 28, 2026)
• Arkansas Act 243 of 2007 (HB 1362), rewriting § 18-12-608 (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.