Transfer on death deed in Texas

Texas at a glance

TOD deed for real estate

Yes

Name in Texas law

Transfer on death deed (Texas Real Property Transfer on Death Act)

Law

Tex. Estates Code ch. 114 (§§ 114.001-114.106)

Notary

Required

Witnesses

None

When to record

Before the death

Where to record

Deed records in the county clerk's office of the county where the property is located

After-death document

Affidavit of Death (TexasLawHelp form HA-TODD-201)

Notice to heirs

Not required

Official form

Yes

Your checklist

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Making a valid TOD deed in Texas

• What the law does. A recorded transfer on death deed passes an owner's interest in Texas real property to named beneficiaries at death, outside probate, and can be revoked during life.
• Signing. The owner signs personally; a power of attorney cannot be used. Capacity is the same as needed to make a contract (not a will). The deed must have the formalities of a recordable deed, so it is acknowledged before a notary. No witnesses.
• Recording. Must be recorded before the owner's death to be effective. No deadline after signing.
• Payment, delivery, acceptance. Effective without notice, delivery, acceptance, or payment.
• Form. TexasLawHelp.org Texas Transfer Toolkit: TOD deed (HA-TODD-101), Cancellation (HA-TODD-CANCELLATION), and Affidavit of Death (HA-TODD-201); no statutory form in ch. 114.

Changing it, and who you can name

• Revoking or changing. Revoke with a later TOD deed or an instrument of revocation, acknowledged after the original and recorded before death in the same county. A will cannot revoke it. A divorce judgment revokes it as to an ex-spouse beneficiary if notice of the judgment is recorded before death. A deed by joint owners with survivorship is revoked only by all living joint owners. Selling the property during life also defeats it.
• Beneficiaries. One or more beneficiaries (a 'person', including entities). A beneficiary must survive the owner by 120 hours; a failed share lapses and passes under the anti-lapse rules for wills (Estates Code ch. 255, subch. D). Co-beneficiaries take equal shares with no survivorship.

After the owner dies

• Document. Affidavit of Death (TexasLawHelp form HA-TODD-201)
• Where. Deed records of the county clerk where the property is located
• Steps. The statute names no after-death filing. Texas's legal-aid site says the beneficiary signs an Affidavit of Death before a notary and records it with the county clerk; until then the beneficiary cannot sell, borrow against, or claim tax exemptions. A title company may also ask for a death certificate. No deadline is stated.

Debts, Medicaid and the spouse

• Creditors and Medicaid. The beneficiary takes subject to mortgages and liens. If the estate cannot pay claims, administration costs, estate tax, or family allowances, the personal representative (or after a 90-day demand, a creditor or family member) can enforce them against the TOD property; suits must start by the second anniversary of death. TOD property is not probate-estate property for any purpose, including Medicaid estate recovery under Gov't Code § 546.0403.
• Surviving spouse. During life the deed does not affect homestead rights or tax exemptions. An owner can transfer only the owner's own interest; community property owners are not 'joint owners' for the act. Family allowances to a surviving spouse can be enforced against the property if the estate is short.

Good to know in Texas

• The deed does not trigger a due-on-sale clause or real-estate disclosure rules during life (§ 114.101).
• Applies to deeds signed and acknowledged on or after 2015-09-01.
• Joint owners with survivorship: survivors keep the property; the TOD deed works when the last joint owner dies (§ 114.103(b)).

Official pages

• Texas TOD deed form
• Texas statute
• Texas self-help page
• No TOD deed or other plan? How Texas handles a small estate without probate →

Sources

• Texas Estates Code ch. 114 (official, tcss.legis.texas.gov copy) (read October 28, 2026)
• Texas Estates Code ch. 114 (statutes.capitol.texas.gov) (read October 28, 2026)
• TexasLawHelp - Transfer on Death Deeds (TODDs) (read October 28, 2026)
• TexasLawHelp - Affidavit of Death form (read October 28, 2026)
• texas officialForm (verifier B) (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.