A California transfer on death deed lets you name someone to inherit your home without probate, and you create one by completing the statutory form in Probate Code Section 5642, signing it in front of two witnesses and a notary, and recording it with your county recorder within 60 days of notarization.1California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 5626 – Execution The deed has no effect while you are alive. You keep the right to sell, refinance, or revoke it, and the property only changes hands when you die.
Whether Your Property and Situation Qualify
The TOD deed is limited to residential property. It works for parcels improved with one to four dwelling units, condominium units (including the appurtenant common area), and agricultural land of 40 acres or less.2California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 5610 – Real Property Commercial buildings, vacant unimproved lots, and larger agricultural parcels are not eligible. Eligibility is judged based on the property’s condition when you sign the deed.
You must sign as an individual with capacity to contract. An LLC, corporation, partnership, or trust cannot execute a TOD deed. Your beneficiary, on the other hand, can be a person, a trust, a corporation, or another entity.3California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 5642 – Statutory Forms
One boundary catches co-owners off guard. If you hold title as a joint tenant or as community property with right of survivorship, the survivorship rule wins. Your TOD deed only takes effect if you are the last surviving co-owner; if you die first, the property goes to your co-owner and the TOD deed does nothing.4Sacramento County Public Law Library. Transfer on Death (TOD) Deed – Naming Beneficiaries and Revoking TOD Deeds Co-owners who both want this arrangement each need to sign their own deed.
Filling Out the Statutory Form
You have to use the form set out in Probate Code Section 5642 substantially as written. Do not add extra language, instructions, or conditions; the form itself warns against inserting anything beyond what it asks for.5Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk. Revocable Transfer on Death (TOD) Deed Blank copies are available on many county recorder websites, including Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Bernardino, and at county law libraries.
The form asks for four pieces of information.
Your name goes on first. Print and sign it exactly as it appears on your current title documents. A mismatch between the name on your TOD deed and the name on record can create title trouble later.6San Diego County Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk. Revocable Transfer on Death (TOD) Deed
The legal description of the property comes next. Copy it word for word from your most recent grant deed, or pull it from the county recorder’s office. This is not the street address. It is the formal description that identifies your parcel by lot, block, tract, or metes and bounds. Check it character by character. A single wrong lot number can cloud your title and require a court action to fix.
The Assessor’s Parcel Number (APN) appears on your property tax bill and identifies the parcel in county records.
Finally, the beneficiary information. Use each beneficiary’s full legal name. Do not write general terms like “my children.” You may note the relationship (spouse, daughter, friend) but that is optional. You can name more than one beneficiary, and you can name trusts or entities alongside individuals.3California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 5642 – Statutory Forms Naming an alternate beneficiary on the same form is a simple way to build in a backup plan.
The three errors that most often invalidate a TOD deed are a bad legal description, a name that doesn’t match the title, and missing witness or notary signatures.
Signing, Witnessing, and Notarization
Execution takes two separate steps, and both are required.
First, sign the form in front of two witnesses who are physically present at the same time. The witnesses watch you sign, or hear you acknowledge that you already signed, and then sign and print their names on the deed.7San Bernardino County Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk. Revocable Transfer on Death (TOD) Deed Witness signatures do not need to be notarized.
Second, your own signature must be acknowledged before a notary public. The notary verifies your identity and applies an official seal. The notary is not checking whether the contents of the deed are accurate or whether you own the property; the certificate only confirms your identity.3California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 5642 – Statutory Forms California caps notary acknowledgment fees at $15 per signature, though a mobile notary who travels to you may charge an additional trip fee.
A missing witness signature or notary acknowledgment invalidates the deed, and there is no fix after the fact. You would need to start over with a new form.
Recording the Deed Within 60 Days
After signing and notarization, record the deed with the county recorder in the county where the property sits. The deadline is strict. The deed must be recorded within 60 days of the date the notary acknowledged your signature.1California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 5626 – Execution Miss that window and the deed is void. You will have to execute an entirely new one.
You can record in person or mail the original with payment. Fees vary by county and are higher than most people expect. The base recording fee for the first page runs roughly $17 to $20, and most TOD deeds also trigger the SB 2 Building Homes and Jobs Act fee of $75.8San Diego County Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk. Recorder/County Clerk Fee Schedule Additional pages cost about $3 each.9Sacramento County Clerk/Recorder. Fee Schedule Plan on roughly $95 to $100 total for a standard TOD deed. After recording, the county returns the original with a recording stamp and document number. Keep it with your other estate papers.
Changing or Revoking the Deed Later
You can revoke a TOD deed at any time while you have capacity to contract.10California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 5630 – Revocation Revocation works by recording a new document: a revocation form in the statutory format, a new TOD deed naming a different beneficiary, or a deed that transfers the property outright, such as a grant deed into a trust. The replacement document must be signed, notarized, and recorded to take effect.
One rule catches people off guard. A will cannot revoke a TOD deed.11San Diego County Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk. Revocable Transfer on Death (TOD) Deed FAQs Even if your will leaves the property to someone else, the recorded TOD deed controls. Updating your will accomplishes nothing for property covered by a TOD deed.
If a Beneficiary Dies Before You
If a named beneficiary dies before you do, that beneficiary’s share lapses. California’s general anti-lapse statute, which in other contexts lets a deceased beneficiary’s descendants inherit, does not apply to TOD deeds.12California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 5652 – Transfer Rules The beneficiary’s children do not step into their place automatically. If you named only one beneficiary and that person predeceases you, the deed is effectively dead and the property passes through your estate as though it never existed.
Review your TOD deed periodically. If a beneficiary dies, record a new deed.
What the Beneficiary Does After Your Death
A TOD deed does not transfer title automatically. Your beneficiary has a few steps to complete.
The beneficiary records an Affidavit of Death of Transferor with the county recorder, along with a certified copy of your death certificate.13Sacramento County Clerk/Recorder. Affidavit – Death Forms The affidavit identifies you, the property, and the beneficiary, and tells the county that the transfer condition has occurred.
The beneficiary must also send written notice to your heirs, along with a copy of the TOD deed and the death certificate. The notice gives heirs 120 days to challenge the deed in court. Notice must be served by mail or personal delivery to each heir’s last known address. If several beneficiaries are named, only one of them needs to handle notification. A beneficiary who skips this step can be personally liable for damages to any heir entitled to notice.14California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 5681 – Notice to Heirs
Debts, Property Taxes, and Medi-Cal
Skipping probate does not shield your beneficiary from your unsecured debts. Each beneficiary is personally liable for those debts, and creditors can enforce them against the beneficiary the way they could have against you.15California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 5672 – Beneficiary Liability Liability is capped at the property’s fair market value at your death, minus liens and encumbrances already on the property.16California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 5674 – Liability Limits On a $600,000 home with a $400,000 mortgage, the beneficiary’s exposure to unsecured creditors would top out at $200,000.
The deed does not trigger a property tax reassessment during your lifetime because no transfer takes place until you die. At death, the transfer counts as a change in ownership, and what happens next depends on who your beneficiary is. Under Proposition 19, a parent-to-child transfer of a primary residence can partially preserve the parent’s lower assessed value, but only if the child uses the home as their own primary residence and claims the homeowner’s exemption within one year of the transfer. If the home’s fair market value does not exceed the existing assessed value by more than $1,044,586 (the inflation-adjusted threshold through February 15, 2027), no reassessment occurs.17California State Board of Equalization. Proposition 19 If the gap is larger, there is a partial reassessment. A child who does not move in and claim the exemption loses the protection, and the county reassesses at full market value. Transfers to anyone other than a child, or a qualifying grandchild whose parent is deceased, receive no Proposition 19 protection.
The beneficiary does get a stepped-up cost basis for capital gains purposes. The basis resets to the property’s fair market value on your date of death, which can wipe out decades of appreciation for income tax purposes.
For homeowners on Medi-Cal, the deed carries a real advantage. Since 2017, California has limited Medi-Cal estate recovery to assets that pass through probate. Property that transfers by TOD deed generally falls outside the reach of recovery.
The 2032 Sunset Date
The TOD deed statute is not permanent. It is set to expire on January 1, 2032, unless the legislature extends it again.18California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 5600 The legislature already extended the program once, from an original 2021 expiration. Any TOD deed executed and recorded before the sunset date remains valid and will still function when you die. Expiration would only prevent new deeds from being created after that date.