State Bar Form 9-2009 In Hennepin
Description
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FAQ
Until you file a TOD Deed, it won't be valid. To record it, you need to find your Land Records office in the county the property is in. This entity can be several names, including: County Recorder, Registrar of Deeds or Land Registry, to name a few.
Beneficiary Liability: A beneficiary named in a TOD deed becomes personally liable for the property owner's unsecured debts up to the value of the property received. This result may have been unintended by the owner and as an unpleasant surprise to the beneficiary.
Since a transfer on death account is not a trust, it is part of the decedent's estate. It does not avoid or minimize estate taxes.
Unless you have a complex situation or have specific concerns, you likely won't need a lawyer to create a TOD deed. But you will need to make sure that the TOD deed you make is valid in your state, since each state's rules are a little different.
You still own the property The beneficiary or TOD deed does not give the heirs any immediate rights to the property, so it avoids these problems.
Disadvantages of transfer on death deeds Creditors may come after the new owner(s) of the property. Beneficiaries may get equal shares of the asset. Not available in many states. Unintentional disinheritance. Raises the risk that estate planning documents don't match.
Unless you have a complex situation or have specific concerns, you likely won't need a lawyer to create a TOD deed. But you will need to make sure that the TOD deed you make is valid in your state, since each state's rules are a little different.
There are various components to the titling of assets: One is using a transfer on death (TOD) designation, generally used for investment accounts, or a payable on death (POD) designation, used for bank accounts, which act as beneficiary designations, stating to whom account assets are to pass when the owner dies.
In California, property transfer at death must be done through a deed. When the property owner dies, the deed must be recorded with the county recorder's office to transfer the property title to the beneficiary. The deed must include the names of the deceased and the beneficiary and a legal description of the property.
