How to Fill Out and Record the Wisconsin Transfer on Death Deed

A Wisconsin transfer on death deed lets you name someone to receive your real estate automatically when you die, keeping the property out of probate. The deed is authorized by Wisconsin Statute 705.15, and it only works if you sign it, have it notarized, and record it with the Register of Deeds in the county where the property sits — all before your death.¹ During your lifetime nothing changes. You still own the property, you can sell it or refinance it, and you can tear up the beneficiary designation whenever you want.

Does Your Property Qualify

Statute 705.15 recognizes five ownership situations that can carry a TOD designation: sole ownership, a tenant-in-common share, marital property held in one spouse’s name, survivorship marital property, and joint tenancy.¹

How co-ownership is structured determines who has to sign and when the beneficiary takes. A tenant in common controls only their own fractional share and can designate a beneficiary for that share independently. Joint tenants, by contrast, must all sign the same TOD deed, and the beneficiary inherits only after the last joint tenant dies. Survivorship marital property works the same way: the beneficiary waits until both spouses are gone.

The marital-property rule catches a lot of people. If the real estate is marital property under Chapter 766, both spouses must sign the deed even if only one spouse is named on the title. A deed signed by one spouse alone will not produce a valid beneficiary designation. When in doubt about whether property is marital, get both signatures.

What the Deed Must Contain

The Legal Description

Every document recorded in Wisconsin must include the full legal description of the property — the metes-and-bounds language, lot-and-block reference, or condominium unit designation on your current deed.²³ A street address is not enough. Copy the description exactly from the existing deed. Small errors can cloud the title or cause the Register of Deeds to reject the filing. If you cannot find your deed, the county Register of Deeds can pull a copy.

Beneficiary Language

Use each beneficiary’s full legal name. The designation itself can read “transfer on death,” “pay on death,” “TOD,” or “POD,” placed after the owner’s name and before the beneficiary’s name.¹ If you name more than one primary beneficiary, state whether they take as joint tenants or as tenants in common. Silence defaults to tenancy in common.

Name a contingent beneficiary too. If your primary beneficiary dies before you and no contingent is on the deed, the property falls back into your probate estate, which defeats the purpose of the deed in the first place.

Naming a Minor

A child under 18 cannot legally manage real estate. The cleanest fix is to name an adult custodian using Wisconsin’s Uniform Transfers to Minors Act, with language along the lines of “[Custodian], as custodian for [minor] under the Wisconsin Uniform Transfers to Minors Act until age [termination age].” Naming a trust as beneficiary or designating a property guardian in your will are alternatives.

Formatting, Signing, and Recording

Formatting the Document

Wisconsin Statute 59.43(2m) sets physical standards that the Register of Deeds will check before accepting the filing:⁴

Top margin of at least one-half inch on every page.
Side and bottom margins of at least one-quarter inch.
A blank 3-by-3-inch space in the upper right corner for recording information.
White paper, at least 20-pound weight, either letter or legal size.
Black, blue, or red ink.
The name of the drafter shown on the instrument.

The document should also leave room for the parcel identification number and a return address. Many counties offer pre-printed TOD forms that already meet these specifications, which is the easiest way to avoid a rejection.

Signing and Notarization

The grantor, plus the grantor’s spouse if the property is marital, must sign in front of someone authorized to authenticate signatures under Statute 706.06.⁵ A notary public is the usual choice. Wisconsin caps the notary fee for an acknowledgment at $5 per signature.

Recording With the Register of Deeds

Take or mail the notarized deed to the Register of Deeds in the county where the property is located. The recording fee is $30 per document regardless of length.⁶ The initial TOD designation is exempt from the real estate transfer fee under Statute 77.25(10m).⁷

The deadline is absolute. A TOD deed that reaches the Register of Deeds even one day after the owner’s death is void.¹ Once accepted, the office assigns a document number and typically returns the original by mail within a few weeks.

Changing or Revoking the Deed

A TOD deed does not lock you in. You can revoke it while you are alive by recording a formal Revocation of Transfer on Death Deed with the same Register of Deeds. The revocation must be signed and notarized the same way as the original and carries the same $30 recording fee.⁶ For property held in joint tenancy or survivorship marital property, all living co-owners must join in the revocation.¹

You can also simply record a new TOD deed. The most recently recorded designation controls. Any replacement or revocation must be on file before your death to have any effect.

Divorce Revokes Automatically

If you named your spouse and later divorce, Wisconsin Statute 854.15 automatically revokes the transfer to that former spouse and to relatives of the former spouse who are no longer related to you.⁸ The statute treats them as having disclaimed. This applies unless a court order or written agreement says otherwise. Recording a formal revocation or a fresh deed after a divorce is still cleaner, because it removes any ambiguity in the county records.

What the Beneficiary Does After You Die

The 120-Hour Rule

The beneficiary must survive you by at least 120 hours to inherit through the deed. A beneficiary who dies within that five-day window is treated as having predeceased you.⁹ The property then passes to a contingent beneficiary if you named one, to the predeceased beneficiary’s issue under the anti-lapse rules, or otherwise back into your probate estate.

Form HT-110 and the eRETR

Once the survival period passes, the beneficiary files Form HT-110, the Termination of Decedent’s Interest form, with the Register of Deeds in the county where the property sits. Since 2017 this single form has replaced the separate HT-110 and TOD-110.¹⁰ The beneficiary submits:

The completed HT-110.
A certified copy of the owner’s death certificate.
A copy of the recorded TOD deed showing the designation.
The $30 recording fee.

Wisconsin also requires an electronic Real Estate Transfer Return through the Department of Revenue’s eRETR system for the conveyance.¹⁰ The nonprobate transfer itself is exempt from the transfer fee under Statute 77.25(11m), but the return still has to be filed.⁷ Print the eRETR receipt and bring it to the Register of Deeds with the HT-110 paperwork.

Mortgages, Liens, and Medicaid Recovery

Recording the TOD deed does not trigger a due-on-sale clause because nothing transfers during your lifetime. After your death, the federal Garn-St. Germain Act blocks a lender from calling the loan due on “a transfer to a relative resulting from the death of a borrower” for residential property with fewer than five units.¹¹ If the beneficiary is not a relative, that protection may not apply, and the lender could potentially accelerate the balance.

The property passes subject to every existing lien and encumbrance — mortgages, tax liens, judgment liens, anything recorded against it at the time of your death.¹ The beneficiary is not personally liable for a mortgage shortfall unless they assume the loan, but they can lose the property to foreclosure if payments stop.

Wisconsin’s expanded Medicaid estate recovery program reaches TOD property. Assets that pass this way are not shielded from a claim by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services for benefits the owner received during life, particularly long-term care benefits. Beneficiaries in that situation should expect a possible claim.

Tax Treatment

Property received through a TOD deed gets a stepped-up basis, the same as any other inherited property. The basis resets to fair market value on the date of the owner’s death rather than the price the owner originally paid.¹² A house bought for $120,000 and worth $350,000 at death gives the beneficiary a $350,000 basis, so a sale soon after inheritance produces little or no capital gains tax.

The recording of the TOD deed is exempt from Wisconsin’s real estate transfer fee under Statute 77.25(10m), and the post-death transfer is exempt under 77.25(11m).⁷ The beneficiary picks up property taxes from the date of ownership, and the assessed value can be adjusted at the next reassessment.

1
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 705.15 – Nonprobate Transfer of Real Property on Death
2
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 706.02 – Formal Requisites
3
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 706.01 – Definitions
4
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 59.43 2m – Recording Requirements
5
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 706.06 – Authentication
6
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 59.43 – Register of Deeds Fees
7
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 77.25 – Exemptions From Fee
8
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 854.15 – Revocation of Provisions in Favor of Former Spouse or Former Domestic Partner
9
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 854.03 – Requirement of Survival by 120 Hours
10
Wisconsin State Legislature. Real Estate Transfer Return Public Notice
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 12 USC 1701j-3 – Preemption of Due-on-Sale Prohibitions
12
Internal Revenue Service. Gifts and Inheritances