Transfer on death deed in District of Columbia

District of Columbia at a glance

TOD deed for real estate

Yes

Name in District of Columbia law

Transfer on death deed

Law

D.C. Code §§ 19-604.01 to 19-604.19 (Uniform Real Property Transfers on Death)

Notary

Required

Witnesses

None

When to record

Before the death

Where to record

D.C. Office of the Recorder of Deeds

After-death document

Confirmatory deed reciting the TOD deed's recording information, with Form FP7/C, a copy of the death certificate, and a copy of the recorded TOD deed

Notice to heirs

Not required

Official form

Yes

Your checklist

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Making a valid TOD deed in District of Columbia

• What the law does. An owner can record a deed that passes D.C. real estate to named beneficiaries at death, revocable during life.
• Signing. The deed must have the essential elements and formalities of a recordable deed and state that the transfer occurs at the owner's death; the Recorder of Deeds form ROD 39 includes an acknowledgment. No witnesses are required by the statute. Capacity needed is the same as for a will.
• Recording. The deed must be recorded before the owner's death with the Recorder of Deeds. No deadline after signing. An unrecorded deed has no effect.
• Payment, delivery, acceptance. No consideration, and no notice, delivery, or acceptance by the beneficiary during the owner's life.
• Form. Recorder of Deeds form ROD 39 (TOD deed) and ROD 40 (revocation); optional statutory forms in D.C. Code §§ 19-604.16-19-604.17.

Changing it, and who you can name

• Revoking or changing. Revoke only by a recorded instrument: a later TOD deed, a revocation, or a regular deed that expressly revokes it, acknowledged after the original and recorded before death. Tearing up a recorded deed does not revoke it. A joint owners' deed is revoked only by all living joint owners.
• Beneficiaries. Any person: an individual, estate, business or nonprofit entity, government body, or other legal entity. A beneficiary must survive the owner or the share lapses; a lapsed co-beneficiary share goes to the others. Multiple beneficiaries take equal shares with no right of survivorship. The optional form allows an alternate beneficiary.

After the owner dies

• Document. Confirmatory deed reciting the TOD deed's recording information, with Form FP7/C, a copy of the death certificate, and a copy of the recorded TOD deed
• Where. D.C. Office of the Recorder of Deeds
• Steps. The Recorder of Deeds' exemption checklist lists, for a deed under a TOD deed: a newly drafted confirmatory deed, Form FP7/C, a copy of the owner's death certificate, and a copy of the recorded TOD deed. That deed is exempt from recordation tax. The statute itself sets no deadline. The checklist says all listed documents, tax forms, and affidavits must be notarized/acknowledged.

Debts, Medicaid and the spouse

• Creditors and Medicaid. The beneficiary is liable for allowed claims against the probate estate and spouse/child allowances if the estate is short, up to the value received. A proceeding needs a written demand to the personal representative and must start within one year after death. During the owner's life the deed does not affect public-assistance eligibility. The official sources do not say how Medicaid estate recovery applies to TOD property; ask the state Medicaid agency.
• Surviving spouse. The transfer is subject to the D.C. spousal and family provisions the statute cross-references (D.C. Code §§ 16-910, 18-308, 19-320, 19-502 and Chapter 1 of Title 19), and to spouse/child allowances if the estate is short.

Good to know in District of Columbia

• If other joint owners with survivorship outlive the owner, they take the property (§ 19-604.13(c)).
• The beneficiary takes subject to mortgages and liens; no warranty of title.
• The statute's definition of 'person' does not list trusts by name.
• D.C. Law 19-230, 59 DCR 13606.

Official pages

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

Sources

• D.C. Code Title 19, Chapter 6, Subchapter IV Uniform Real Property Transfers on Death (read October 28, 2026)
• D.C. Code § 19-601.02 Liability of nonprobate transferees (read October 28, 2026)
• OTR form ROD 39 Revocable Transfer-on-Death Deed (read October 28, 2026)
• OTR ROD-4 Documentation Required for Claiming Exemption (read October 28, 2026)
• OTR ROD-7 Exemptions from Recordation Tax (read October 28, 2026)
• OTR Recorder of Deeds forms (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.