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The Texas Transfer on Death Deed

Can A Will Revoke A Transfer On Death Deed?

by Rania Combs

The Texas Transfer on Death Deed allows owners of real estate to transfer property to their beneficiaries outside the probate process.

The deed works like a beneficiary designation on a retirement plan or an insurance policy. It allows you to name a primary and contingent beneficiary who will inherit your real property after you die.

This is good news for many Texans with modest estates whose only probate asset is their home.

But suppose some time after you create the deed, you change your mind about who you want the beneficiary to be. Is it possible for you state in a Last Will and Testament that the property that was the subject of the transfer on death deed should pass to someone else?

No.

The statute specifically states that a Will may not revoke or supersede a transfer on death deed. If you wish to revoke the deed, it will be necessary for you to:

  1. Sign a new Transfer on Death Deed that expressly revokes the prior one or specifies that the property should pass to someone else;
  2. Sign a separate document that expressly revokes the prior Transfer on Death Deed.

The revocation must be signed and notarized by the Grantor and recorded before the Grantor’s death in the deed records of the county clerk’s office of the county were the deed being revoked is recorded.

About Rania

Rania graduated magna cum laude from South Texas College of Law Houston and is the founder of Rania Combs Law, PLLC. She has been licensed to practice law since 1994 and enjoys helping clients in Texas and North Carolina create estate plans that give them peace of mind.

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Comments

  1. Courtney

    June 13, 2017 at 3:58pm

    If Grantor wants to Revoke her TODD, can her attorney in fact under her POA sign the revocation on her behalf? Or is a POA not acceptable to revoke a TODD?

    1. Rania Combs

      June 16, 2017 at 6:19pm

      The statute specifies that the the revocation or subsequent transfer on death deed that revokes the preceding transfer on death deed must be acknowledged by the transferor. A transferor is defined as an individual who makes a transfer on death deed. The statute specifies that a transfer on death deed may not be created by use of a power of attorney.