A Utah transfer on death deed lets you name someone to inherit your real estate automatically when you die, keeping the property out of probate while leaving you in full control during your lifetime. The rules are set by the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act at Utah Code 75-6-401 through 75-6-415, and the deed only works if you sign it, have it notarized, and record it with the county recorder before your death.
Who Can Create One
Any individual who owns real estate in Utah can create a TOD deed. The property has to be inside the state, and each beneficiary must be named individually. Utah does not allow class gifts in a TOD deed, so wording like “to my grandchildren” as a group is not valid.1Utah Legislature. Utah Code 75-6-405 – Transfer on Death Deed Authorized
The mental capacity required is the same as the capacity to make a will.2Utah Legislature. Utah Code 75-6-408 – Capacity of Transferor That means you must be at least 18 and able to understand your family, your property, and how you want to distribute it.3Utah Legislature. Utah Code 75-2-501 – Who May Make Will, Testamentary Capacity
Residential, commercial, and agricultural properties all qualify. A TOD deed cannot transfer personal property such as vehicles, bank accounts, or household belongings. Those need separate arrangements.
What the Deed Must Include
A valid TOD deed contains the same essentials as any recordable Utah deed, plus clear language that the transfer takes effect only at your death.4Utah Legislature. Utah Code 75-6-409 – Requirements Include:
- The full legal description of the property as it appears in county records, not just the street address.
- The full legal names of the owner and every beneficiary.
- An explicit statement that the property passes to the named beneficiaries at the owner’s death.
- If you name more than one beneficiary, how they will hold title (equal shares, specific percentages, and so on).
No payment or exchange of value is required for the deed to be valid. The beneficiary does not need to sign it, accept it, or even know it exists during your lifetime.5Utah Legislature. Utah Code 75-6-410 – Notice, Delivery, Acceptance, Consideration Not Required Utah also does not require witnesses. Beyond your own signature, the only signature involved is the notary’s.
Signing and Recording
You sign the deed and have it notarized. A notarial certificate of acknowledgment is required for any document affecting real property in Utah to be recordable, and a bad notarization can make the deed unrecordable.6Utah Legislature. Utah Code 57-3-101 – Certificate of Acknowledgment, Proof of Execution, Jurat, or Other Certificate Required
Recording is not optional. The deed has no legal effect unless it is recorded with the county recorder in the county where the property sits, and it must be recorded before you die.4Utah Legislature. Utah Code 75-6-409 – Requirements A signed, notarized TOD deed sitting in a drawer at the time of death does nothing. This is where people trip up. Recording fees are set by state statute; in Box Elder County, for example, the fee is $40 per document, with a small surcharge if the legal description covers more than ten parcels.7Box Elder County. 2026 Fee Schedule for Recorders Office and GIS Office
What the Deed Does and Doesn’t Do While You’re Alive
A recorded TOD deed transfers nothing during your lifetime. Utah law is explicit: while you are alive, the deed does not create any legal or equitable interest in the beneficiary, does not limit your right to sell or refinance the property, and does not expose the property to the beneficiary’s creditors.8Utah Legislature. Utah Code 75-6-412 – Effect of Transfer on Death Deed During Transferors Life
The beneficiary has no ownership stake, no right to occupy the property, and no say in what you do with it. Sell the property outright and the TOD deed becomes meaningless, because there is nothing left to transfer at your death.
The statute also states that a TOD deed does not affect your or the beneficiary’s eligibility for public assistance during your lifetime.8Utah Legislature. Utah Code 75-6-412 – Effect of Transfer on Death Deed During Transferors Life After death, Medicaid estate recovery operates under separate rules, so anyone using a TOD deed in that context should talk to an elder law attorney before relying on it.
A TOD deed is always revocable. Language in the deed saying otherwise has no effect.9Utah Legislature. Utah Code 75-6-406 – Transfer on Death Deed Revocable
How It Interacts With Your Will
A TOD deed is treated as a nontestamentary instrument, so it operates entirely outside probate.10Utah Legislature. Utah Code 75-6-407 – Transfer on Death Deed Nontestamentary If your will leaves the house to your sister but a recorded TOD deed names your nephew, the TOD deed controls that property. The will still governs everything else in your estate. To avoid family confusion, make sure the two documents say the same thing.
Joint Ownership Changes the Picture
How a TOD deed behaves when the property has more than one owner depends on the type of co-ownership, and a 2024 change to Utah law makes this trickier than before.
Joint Tenancy With Rights of Survivorship
Since May 1, 2024, any ownership interest granted to two or more people is presumed to be a joint tenancy with rights of survivorship unless the deed explicitly says otherwise.11Utah Legislature. Utah Code 57-1-5 – Creation of Joint Tenancy Presumed, Tenancy in Common, Severance of Joint Tenancy Before that date, the presumption only applied to spouses. As a result, more owners are now in joint tenancies, sometimes without knowing it.
In a joint tenancy, when one owner dies the surviving owner automatically takes the deceased owner’s share. A TOD deed signed by one joint tenant only takes effect if that person is the last surviving owner. Until then, survivorship rights beat the TOD deed.
Tenancy in Common
Tenants in common each hold a separate, transferable share. A co-owner can create a TOD deed for their share alone, and the named beneficiary inherits only that portion. The other owners’ shares are untouched.
If a Beneficiary Dies Before You
If a named beneficiary dies before you do, that beneficiary’s interest lapses. Utah’s TOD statute specifically overrides the state’s general anti-lapse rule, so the deceased beneficiary’s heirs do not step into their place.12Utah Legislature. Utah Code 75-6-413 – Effect of Transfer on Death Deed at Transferors Death
When you have named multiple beneficiaries to take concurrent interests and one dies first, that share is divided among the survivors in proportion to their interests.12Utah Legislature. Utah Code 75-6-413 – Effect of Transfer on Death Deed at Transferors Death If the only named beneficiary dies before you and you never update the deed, the property drops back into your probate estate, defeating the whole reason for the deed. Reviewing your TOD deed every few years is worth the time.
How to Revoke or Change It
A TOD deed stays revocable throughout your lifetime. There are three ways to revoke one:
- Record a later TOD deed that expressly revokes the earlier one or conflicts with it.
- Record a standalone revocation document.
- Convey the property by an ordinary deed (such as a warranty deed) that expressly revokes the TOD deed or is inconsistent with it.
Whichever method you use, the revocation must be notarized and recorded in the same county as the original TOD deed, and it must be recorded before you die.13Utah Legislature. Utah Code 75-6-411 – Revocation by Instrument Authorized, Revocation by Act Not Permitted Tearing up the paper you signed does nothing. The document on file at the recorder’s office is what counts.
Creditor Claims After Your Death
Avoiding probate does not shield the property from your debts. The beneficiary takes the property subject to all mortgages, liens, and other encumbrances in place at your death.14Utah Legislature. Utah Code 75-6-413 – Effect of Transfer on Death Deed at Transferors Death
Beyond existing liens, if your probate estate cannot cover allowed creditor claims or the statutory allowances due to a surviving spouse or child, the estate can reach back and enforce those claims against property transferred by TOD deed. When more than one property was transferred by TOD deeds, the liability is split among them in proportion to their net values at your death. The estate has 12 months from your death to start that process.15Utah Legislature. Utah Code 75-6-415 – Liability for Creditor Claims and Statutory Allowances
So a TOD deed is not asset protection. If you die with significant debts and a thin estate, the beneficiary could lose part or all of the property’s value to creditor claims in that first year.
What the Beneficiary Does After Your Death
Title transfers automatically by operation of law, but the beneficiary still has paperwork to file. Utah requires the beneficiary to record an affidavit in the county where the property sits. The affidavit must include the legal description of the property, reference the entry number and book and page of the original TOD deed, and attach a copy of the owner’s death certificate.14Utah Legislature. Utah Code 75-6-413 – Effect of Transfer on Death Deed at Transferors Death Until that affidavit is on file, the county records will not show the beneficiary as the new owner, which creates problems for selling, refinancing, or insuring the property.
A beneficiary who does not want the property can disclaim it. The disclaimer must be in writing, describe the property, declare the refusal, and be signed by the beneficiary. It has to be delivered or filed within nine months of the owner’s death.16Utah Legislature. Utah Code 75-2-801 – Disclaimer of Property Interests Disclaiming can make sense when the property carries more debt than value, or when accepting it would trigger tax or public-benefit problems.
Tax Basis for the Beneficiary
Property received through a TOD deed gets a stepped-up basis under federal law. Instead of inheriting the owner’s original purchase price as the cost basis, the beneficiary’s basis is the property’s fair market value on the date of the owner’s death.17Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 1014 – Basis of Property Acquired From a Decedent A parent who bought a home for $120,000 that was worth $450,000 at death leaves the beneficiary with a $450,000 basis. Selling shortly after for close to that amount would produce little or no capital gains tax.
Recording the TOD deed itself triggers no transfer tax, because nothing transfers until you die. Utah does not impose a state estate tax or inheritance tax, so for most families the federal stepped-up basis is the only tax issue to track.