How to Fill Out and Record a Nebraska Transfer on Death Deed

A Nebraska transfer on death deed lets you name someone to receive your real property automatically at your death, without probate. You sign and record the deed now, but nothing transfers until you die — you keep full ownership, control, and the right to sell or mortgage the property for the rest of your life. To be valid, the deed has to be signed before two disinterested witnesses and a notary, then recorded with the Register of Deeds in the county where the property sits within thirty days after signing and before you die.¹ Recording costs $10 for the first page and $6 for each additional page, and no documentary stamp tax applies.²

What the Deed Does While You Are Alive

A recorded TOD deed creates no legal or equitable interest for the beneficiary during your lifetime and does not expose the property to the beneficiary’s creditors.³ You can sell, refinance, or leave the property to sit. The beneficiary does not need to sign anything, receive notice, or even know the deed exists.⁴

The deed operates outside your will and outside probate, and your will cannot override it. If your will leaves the house to your daughter but the TOD deed on file names your son, your son takes the property.

Joint tenancy takes priority. If you own the property jointly with someone else, the survivors keep the property when you die, and the TOD deed only springs into effect when the last surviving joint owner who signed it passes away.⁵

What to Gather Before You Draft

Pull these together first:

The property’s full legal description from your current deed or the county assessor — the survey description, not the street address. Copy it exactly. A single wrong digit or misspelled subdivision can get the deed rejected or trigger a title dispute later.
Your full legal name and mailing address as the transferor, and the same information for every beneficiary. Use the names shown on government-issued ID.
Your beneficiary designations. If you name more than one beneficiary, they take equal, undivided shares with no right of survivorship unless the deed says otherwise.⁶
Two disinterested witnesses (people with no stake in the transfer) who can be present at signing.

Many county Register of Deeds offices publish template forms, and Lancaster County is one example.⁷ Whatever template you use, verify that it includes the oath and witness language from § 76-3409, an explicit transfer-at-death statement, and all four warning paragraphs required for deeds created after September 3, 2025. An outdated template is worse than none.

Required Content and Warning Statements

The deed must contain every element of a properly recordable inter vivos deed, plus a clear statement that the transfer happens at your death.¹ Something along the lines of “I transfer my interest in the above-described property to [beneficiary name] to take effect at my death” does the work.

Nebraska law also requires specific warnings printed on the deed. A defect in the exact wording will not invalidate an otherwise valid deed, but a deed missing the warnings entirely may face recording problems. The warnings cover:

Inheritance tax. The property remains subject to Nebraska inheritance tax as if you still owned it at death.
Medicaid reimbursement and estate claims. The beneficiary is personally liable, up to the property’s value, for Medicaid reimbursement and for estate claims if other estate assets fall short.
Medicaid qualification. The Department of Health and Human Services may require revocation of the deed for you or your spouse to qualify for or keep Medicaid.

For deeds created after September 3, 2025, a fourth warning is required: property insurance on the transferred property may expire within thirty days after your death unless the beneficiary has been added to the policy or gets their own coverage.¹ Most pre-September 2025 templates won’t include it.

Unless your deed says otherwise, a beneficiary must survive you by at least 120 hours (five days) to take the property. A beneficiary who dies inside that window is treated as having predeceased you, and if you named multiple beneficiaries, that share goes proportionally to the survivors rather than dropping into your probate estate.⁶

Signing the Deed the Right Way

This is where people slip. A Nebraska TOD deed has stricter execution requirements than an ordinary deed. You sign (or direct someone to sign for you) in the presence of two disinterested witnesses, and all three signatures are made before an officer authorized to administer oaths, usually a notary.⁸ You and both witnesses swear that you are signing willingly, that you are at least eighteen, and that you are of sound mind and free from undue influence.

The sworn statements follow a specific format set out in the statute, and the officer’s certificate with an official seal has to accompany the signatures. Notarizing the deed by itself, without the two witnesses, is not enough. The witnessing and notarization happen together in a single ceremony. If your form does not already include the full oath language, attach a separate acknowledgment page that does.

Recording the Deed

After signing, take (or mail) the deed to the Register of Deeds office in the county where the property is located. Two deadlines apply, and both are hard: the deed must be recorded within thirty days after execution and before your death, whichever comes first.¹ Miss either one and the deed is void. The property goes through probate as though you never signed anything. Don’t put this off.

Recording fees are $10 for the first page and $6 per additional page.² TOD deeds are exempt from Nebraska documentary stamp tax.⁹

The document also has to meet formatting standards or the office may reject it or charge for an extra page:¹⁰

A blank space at the top of page one at least three inches tall by eight and one-half inches wide for the recorder’s use.
One-inch margins on both sides and the bottom.
White paper between 8.5 by 11 and 8.5 by 14 inches, at least twenty-pound weight.
Black ink on white background, at least eight-point font, computer-generated or typewritten, with signatures in black or dark blue ink.

The county returns the original after recording. Keep it somewhere you can find it if you later want to revoke or amend.

Changing Your Mind: How to Revoke

You can revoke a TOD deed any time while you are alive, but the methods are narrow. You cannot revoke by destroying the paper, and you cannot revoke by will.¹¹ Tearing up your copy or crossing out names accomplishes nothing. The recorded version in the county records controls.

Four instruments can revoke a TOD deed:

A new TOD deed that expressly revokes the earlier one or names a different beneficiary for the same property.
A written revocation instrument signed with the same formalities as the original — two witnesses plus notarization.
An inter vivos deed transferring the property to someone else, either expressly or by inconsistency.
A sale to a bona fide purchaser for value in good faith.

The revocation has to be acknowledged after the deed it revokes and recorded in the same county before your death. If joint owners signed the original together, revoking it requires all living joint owner-transferors; one acting alone only revokes their own interest.¹¹ Revocation instruments are also exempt from documentary stamp tax.⁹

What the Beneficiary Does After You Die

Title transfers automatically at your death, but the public records still show your name. To clear title and be able to sell, refinance, or insure the property, the beneficiary records two documents with the same county Register of Deeds: a certified copy of the death certificate and a completed Nebraska Form 521 (Real Estate Transfer Statement), signed by the beneficiary or an authorized representative.¹² On Form 521, check the “Death Certificate – Transfer on Death” box under Item 8 and complete Items 1 through 27. The Register of Deeds will not record the death certificate without a signed, fully completed Form 521.⁷ Some counties want a cover sheet on top; check with the local office first.

A beneficiary who does not want the property can disclaim all or part of the interest under Nebraska’s general disclaimer statute.¹³ That can make sense when the property carries more debt than value or when accepting it would disrupt the beneficiary’s own Medicaid picture.

What the Beneficiary Inherits Along With the Property

A TOD deed does not shield the property from the deceased owner’s obligations. The beneficiary takes it subject to every mortgage, lien, and encumbrance in place at your death.¹⁴ Two additional exposures matter.

First, estate claims. If your probate estate does not have enough to cover debts, spousal and child allowances, and administration expenses, the beneficiary is personally liable — up to the value of the property received — for the shortfall.¹⁵ When someone uses a TOD deed to move their main asset out of probate but leaves credit card debt and medical bills behind, the beneficiary inherits those problems along with the house.

Second, Medicaid. The beneficiary is personally liable, again up to the value of the property, to reimburse Medicaid for long-term care costs the state paid on your behalf. That liability applies whether the benefits were received before, during, or after the deed was signed and recorded.¹⁶ Nebraska has expanded its definition of “estate” for Medicaid recovery beyond the probate estate, so a TOD deed by itself will not defeat Medicaid recovery.

Third, inheritance tax. The property remains subject to Nebraska inheritance tax as if you still owned it at death, and a later purchaser or lender does not take free of the inheritance tax lien.¹⁷ That lien can hold up a sale or refinance until it is paid, so the beneficiary should deal with it promptly.

Federal Tax and Mortgage Protections for the Beneficiary

Property received through a TOD deed qualifies for a stepped-up basis under federal tax law. The beneficiary’s basis becomes the fair market value at the date of the transferor’s death, not what the transferor originally paid.¹⁸ Inherit a home a parent bought for $80,000 that was worth $250,000 at their death, and your basis is $250,000. Selling near that price means little or no capital gains tax.

If the property still has a mortgage, the lender cannot call the loan due. Federal law bars enforcement of due-on-sale clauses when residential property transfers to a relative on the borrower’s death.¹⁹ The beneficiary can keep paying on the existing terms. Even so, contacting the lender promptly to update the account and confirm insurance is smart, especially given Nebraska’s new warning about property insurance potentially lapsing within thirty days of the owner’s death.

1
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 76-3410 – Transfer on Death Deed; Essential Elements and Formalities; Warnings; Limitation on Action to Set Aside Transfer
2
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 33-109 – Register of Deeds; County Clerk; Fees
3
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Revised Statutes Chapter 76 Real Property 76-3414
4
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 76-3411 – Transfer on Death Deed Effective Without Notice, Delivery, or Consideration
5
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 76-3401 to 76-3423 – Nebraska Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act
6
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 76-3415 – Transfer on Death Deed; Effect at Transferor’s Death
7
Lancaster County, NE. Register of Deeds Forms
8
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 76-3409 – Transfer on Death Deed; Execution Requirements
9
Nebraska Department of Revenue. Documentary Stamp Tax Exemptions
10
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 23-1503.01 – Instrument Submitted for Recording; Requirements
11
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 76-3413 – Revocation by Instrument Authorized; Revocation by Act Not Permitted
12
Nebraska Department of Revenue. Real Estate Transfer Statement – Form 521
13
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 76-3416 – Disclaimer
14
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 76-3415 – Transfer on Death Deed; Effect at Transferor’s Death
15
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 76-3417 – Liability of Beneficiary for Estate Claims
16
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 76-3418 – Medicaid Reimbursement Liability
17
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 76-3420 – Inheritance Tax Lien
18
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 1014 – Basis of Property Acquired From a Decedent
19
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 12 U.S. Code 1701j-3 – Preemption of Due-on-Sale Prohibitions