A Michigan transfer on death deed lets you name someone to receive your real estate automatically when you die, without probate, by filling out the statutory form, signing it before a notary, and recording it with the county Register of Deeds while you are still alive. The authority for the deed sits in Michigan’s Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act at MCL 565.1701 through 565.1731. You keep full control of the property during your lifetime, the beneficiary has no ownership interest until you die, and you can revoke or change the deed at any point. One rule matters more than any other: an unrecorded deed, or a deed recorded after your death, has no legal effect.
What the Deed Does and Doesn’t Do
The deed transfers a specific parcel of Michigan real estate to a named beneficiary at the moment of your death. Until then, nothing changes. You can sell the property, mortgage it, rent it out, or tear the house down. The beneficiary cannot occupy the property, has no say in what you do with it, and does not even need to know the deed exists.
A few boundaries are worth knowing up front. The deed does not shield the property from your creditors — debts you leave behind can still reach it after it passes to the beneficiary. It only covers Michigan property, so land in another state needs its own arrangement under that state’s law. And it handles one parcel at a time. It is not a substitute for a will, which still needs to address your bank accounts, personal property, and anything else you own.
Information to Gather First
Missing or inaccurate information is the most common reason a Register of Deeds office rejects a deed. Before you fill anything in, pull together:
- Your full legal name and mailing address, exactly as they appear on your current deed. If your name has changed since you acquired the property, you may need to note the connection (for example, “Jane Smith, formerly Jane Doe”).
- The beneficiary’s full legal name and mailing address, spelled correctly and completely. A nickname or partial name can create title problems later.
- An alternate beneficiary, if you want one. This is optional but strongly worth including — it is the simplest protection against the property falling back into probate if your first choice dies before you do.
- The legal description of the property. This is not the street address. It uses lot numbers, subdivision names, or metes-and-bounds language to identify the exact parcel. Copy it character-for-character from your current deed or the county’s official property records. A wrong lot number or dropped qualifier can cause the deed to be rejected or attached to the wrong parcel.
- The property tax identification number (sometimes called a tax ID or sidwell number), which appears on your property tax bill or the county assessor’s website.
The form itself tracks the statutory language in MCL 565.1719. Many county Register of Deeds offices make blank forms available at the counter or on their websites.
Filling Out and Signing the Deed
The form is usually a single page. Enter your name and address as the transferor, the beneficiary’s name and address, and the alternate beneficiary if you are naming one. Copy the full legal description into the designated space and check every character against your existing deed.
Under MCL 565.1711, you must sign the deed in front of a notary public. The notary verifies your identity, witnesses your signature, and applies their seal. A deed signed without notarization will not be accepted for recording. You do not need any additional witnesses, and the beneficiary does not sign.
You must also have legal capacity at the time you sign. MCL 565.1715 sets the standard at the same level of capacity needed to make a valid will: you must understand what property you own, who your beneficiaries are, and what the deed does. If a disappointed heir later challenges your capacity, the deed can be invalidated, so signing while you are clearly competent matters.
Recording the Deed With the County
After notarization, deliver the deed to the Register of Deeds in the county where the property is located, in person or by mail. This has to happen while you are alive. A deed that reaches the Register of Deeds after your death cannot be recorded and has no effect.
The standard recording fee across Michigan counties is $30 per document, regardless of page count.
One recording rule is worth flagging in advance. Under MCL 211.135, the Register of Deeds ordinarily requires a tax certificate from the county or local treasurer showing no delinquent property taxes for the preceding five years. The statute exempts quitclaim deeds and other conveyances that contain no covenants of warranty. Because a transfer on death deed makes no warranty of title, most counties treat it as falling within that exception — but practices vary. Call your Register of Deeds office before your visit and ask whether they want a tax certificate for a TOD deed.
The document also has to meet Michigan’s general formatting rules under MCL 565.201: original signatures, names legibly printed or typed beneath them, the notary’s printed name on the same page as their signature, and enough margin space for the county’s recording stamp. Deeds that fail these formatting rules get rejected at the counter.
Once the county records the deed, it stamps the document with a recording number and date and returns the original to you. Keep it somewhere your beneficiary can find, and tell them it exists. The deed is part of the public record from that point on.
Changing Your Mind Later
MCL 565.1713 gives you three ways to undo a TOD deed before you die:
- Record a new TOD deed for the same property. The later deed replaces the earlier one, so changing beneficiaries is a matter of executing and recording a new form.
- Record a separate revocation instrument that identifies the original deed by its recording date, instrument number, and county.
- Transfer the property during your lifetime by ordinary deed. Once you no longer own the property, the TOD deed has nothing to transfer.
Whichever route you take, the revocation or replacement has to be recorded before you die. An unrecorded revocation is worthless, and the original deed will control.
Divorce triggers an automatic revocation. If you named your spouse as beneficiary and later divorce, MCL 700.2807 revokes the designation by operation of law, along with any designation to the former spouse’s relatives. You do not have to file anything, though recording a revocation avoids confusion in the public record. Remarrying the same person automatically revives the designation.
Joint Owners and the Survivorship Rule
The deed only works if the beneficiary outlives you. Michigan applies a 120-hour survivorship rule to most transfers at death: a beneficiary who does not survive the owner by five days is treated as having died first. If that happens and there is no alternate named, the property falls back into your estate and into probate — the outcome the deed was meant to avoid. Naming an alternate beneficiary is the cheap insurance against this.
Joint ownership complicates things. If you own the property with someone else as joint tenants with right of survivorship, the surviving joint tenant’s rights come first. A TOD deed you sign alone only controls whatever share is left after all the other joint tenants have died. If both owners want to use a TOD deed, they should sign the same deed naming the same beneficiary. One joint tenant’s TOD deed cannot override another joint tenant’s survivorship rights.
Tax Consequences to Weigh Before You Name a Beneficiary
Two tax questions matter: whether the property’s taxable value gets “uncapped” after the transfer, and what cost basis the beneficiary gets for capital gains if they sell.
Property Tax Uncapping
A Michigan property’s taxable value normally rises only by the lesser of 5% or the inflation rate each year. A transfer of ownership uncaps the property, resetting the taxable value to 50% of true cash value. In markets where prices have climbed, uncapping can mean a large property tax jump.
Transfers at death have important exemptions. A transfer to the deceased owner’s spouse is not treated as a transfer of ownership, so the cap stays on. For residential property, a transfer to certain close family members — the decedent’s or their spouse’s parent, sibling, child, adopted child, or grandchild — is also exempt, as long as the property is not put to commercial use after the transfer. The beneficiary may need to give the assessor proof of the relationship (a birth or marriage certificate) within 30 days of a request, or face a $200 fine.
If the beneficiary is not a spouse or a qualifying family member, the property will be uncapped in the calendar year after the transfer, and the tax bill can rise sharply. Naming a friend or a distant relative as your beneficiary can hand them a property with a much higher tax burden than you were paying. Worth knowing before you decide.
Federal Capital Gains
Property received through a TOD deed qualifies for a stepped-up basis under federal tax law, the same treatment as property inherited through a will or trust. The beneficiary’s cost basis resets to the property’s fair market value on the date of your death. A sale shortly after inheriting produces little or no capital gain. This is a real advantage over a lifetime gift, where the recipient takes your original cost basis and owes tax on all the appreciation when they sell.
What the Beneficiary Does After You Die
The property transfers automatically at the moment of your death, assuming the beneficiary survives the required 120 hours. But the beneficiary still has paperwork to handle to make the transfer visible in the public record and to the tax assessor.
First, they should record a certified copy of the death certificate with the Register of Deeds in the county where the property sits. Some counties also accept or ask for an affidavit of survivorship confirming the beneficiary survived by the required period.
Second, Michigan law requires the new owner to file a Property Transfer Affidavit (Form 2766) with the local city or township assessor within 45 days of the transfer. For a TOD deed, the transfer date is the date of the owner’s death. Missing the deadline on residential property triggers a fine of $5 per day up to $200, plus any back taxes and interest that would have applied had the transfer been reported on time.
A TOD deed handles one thing well: it moves a single parcel of Michigan real estate to a named person without probate. For everything else in your estate, you still need the rest of a plan.