California TOD Form: Filling Out, Recording, and Revoking

The California Transfer on Death deed form is a fixed statutory template set out in Probate Code Section 5642, and you have to use its exact language to name someone who will inherit your home without probate.¹ You sign it in front of a notary with two adult witnesses watching, then record it with the county recorder where the property sits within 60 days of notarization. Miss that window and the deed is void. The current law is scheduled to sunset on January 1, 2032; deeds recorded before that date should remain valid, but the legislature would need to extend the statute for new ones to be created afterward.²

Whether Your Property Qualifies

Probate Code Section 5610 limits the deed to two categories of California real estate:³

Land improved with one to four residential dwelling units. That includes single-family homes, duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes.
An individual condominium unit and its share of common area in a common interest development, no matter how large the complex.

Agricultural parcels larger than 40 acres are excluded. A smaller agricultural parcel with a home on it can still qualify because it meets the residential improvement requirement. You also need the mental capacity to understand what you’re signing and what property you own.

Getting the Right Form

You can’t draft your own version of the deed or add extra instructions. The statutory language is mandatory.⁴ Most county recorder websites offer a downloadable copy of the approved form. The form comes with a “Common Questions” page that explains the legal and tax consequences of the transfer; that page is part of the deed and must stay attached to it.¹ Read it before you fill anything in. It flags issues like what happens to existing liens and how joint tenancy interacts with the deed.

What to Fill In

Your Name

Print and sign your name exactly as it appears on your current title documents. A minor mismatch can create title problems for your beneficiary later.¹ Pull out your last recorded deed and match it character for character.

Legal Property Description

A street address alone is not enough. You need the formal legal description, which includes items such as lot numbers, tract names, and the assessor’s parcel number.¹ Copy it from your most recently recorded deed or from your property tax statement.

Beneficiary Names

Use each beneficiary’s full legal name. If you name more than one person, they’ll generally take the property as tenants in common unless you specify otherwise. Under California’s anti-lapse statute, if a beneficiary who is related to you dies before you, that share may pass to their own descendants rather than lapsing entirely.

Signing, Witnessing, and Notarizing

Since January 1, 2022, California has required two adult witnesses to watch you sign the deed, or to hear you acknowledge your signature. Both witnesses must be present at the same time, and both must sign the form themselves.¹ Your signature also has to be notarized. The witnesses’ signatures do not.

A beneficiary named in the deed can technically serve as a witness, but doing so risks invalidating the entire deed. The statutory form warns explicitly against it.¹ Use neighbors, friends, or coworkers who have no stake in the property.

A Note If You Own the Property With Someone Else

If title is held in joint tenancy, signing a TOD deed severs your interest from the joint tenancy. When you die, your share passes to your named beneficiary rather than to the surviving joint tenant under the usual right of survivorship.⁵ Most joint tenants don’t expect that, so be sure it’s what you want before you record.

For community property, a deed signed by only one spouse affects just that spouse’s half interest. If both spouses sign the same deed, it covers both halves.⁵

Recording the Deed With the County

Once the deed is signed, witnessed, and notarized, take it (or mail it) to the county recorder in the county where the property is located. The deadline is 60 days from the date of notarization, and there is no grace period. If you miss it, the deed has no legal effect.¹

Fees vary by county. Expect roughly $15 to $25 for the first page. Most recordings also carry a $75 fee under the Building Homes and Jobs Act (SB 2), though transfers of residential property to an owner-occupier may be exempt from that charge.⁶ Call your county recorder for the exact amount before you show up. Once recorded, the deed becomes part of the public land records but does nothing to the title until you die.

Changing Your Mind Later

The deed is revocable at any time. Nobody, including the named beneficiary, can stop you from undoing it.¹ You have three options:

Record a statutory revocation form. Probate Code Section 5644 provides the form. Like the original deed, it must be notarized and recorded within 60 days of notarization.⁷
Record a new TOD deed for the same property. It automatically supersedes any earlier one.
Sell or transfer the property with a grant deed or quitclaim deed. To override a TOD deed that would otherwise take effect, the transfer document must be recorded within 120 days after the owner’s death.¹

You don’t have to explain the revocation or notify the beneficiary. Just make sure the paperwork actually gets recorded. A signed revocation sitting in a desk drawer will not undo the deed.

What the Deed Doesn’t Do

Recording the form does not shield the property from the owner’s debts. The beneficiary takes it subject to any existing mortgages, tax liens, and other encumbrances. If a probate is opened for the estate, the personal representative can demand restitution from the beneficiary to pay unsecured debts, capped at the property’s fair market value at the time of death minus liens and encumbrances that existed then.⁸

The deed also triggers a change in ownership for property tax purposes. Under Proposition 19, effective February 16, 2021, a parent-to-child transfer can partially carry over the parent’s assessed value if the child files for a homeowners’ exemption within one year and uses the home as a primary residence, but only up to the existing taxable value plus $1,044,586 (the inflation-adjusted figure effective February 16, 2025 through February 15, 2027). Anything above that combined figure gets added to the taxable value. Transfers to beneficiaries who are not the owner’s children don’t qualify for the exclusion, and the property is fully reassessed.⁹

One practical benefit worth knowing: for owners who received Medi-Cal benefits, California’s estate recovery program is currently limited to assets that pass through probate for deaths on or after January 1, 2017. Because the TOD deed transfers property outside of probate, the home generally avoids Medi-Cal recovery.

1
California Legislative Information. California Code Probate Code 5642 – Revocable Transfer on Death Deed
2
California State Board of Equalization. Revocable Transfer on Death Deed – Effect Upon Property Tax
3
California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 5610
4
Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk. California Probate Code Section 5642 – Revocable Transfer on Death Deed
5
California Law Revision Commission. Revocable Transfer on Death (TOD) Deed
6
Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk. Senate Bill 2 – Affordable Housing and Jobs Act Fee
7
California Legislative Information. California Code Probate Code 5644 – Revocation of Revocable Transfer on Death Deed
8
California Legislative Information. California Code Probate Code 5674
9
California State Board of Equalization. Proposition 19 Fact Sheet