Updated September 4, 2026. Quick answer: Mississippi’s Real Property Transfer-on-Death Act, Miss. Code Ann. sections 91-27-1 through 91-27-37, took effect July 1, 2020 under SB 2851 (2020 Miss. Laws ch. 406). A deed must be acknowledged like a deed, not a will, and recorded with the chancery clerk before the owner dies, and the beneficiary takes the property still subject to any existing mortgage or lien.
Execution and recording, not the formalities of a will
To be effective, a transfer-on-death deed must: contain the essential elements and formalities of a recordable deed; state that the transfer of an interest in real property to the designated beneficiary is to occur at the transferor’s death; be recorded before the transferor’s death in the deed records in the official records of the chancery clerk of the county where the real property is located.
Source: Miss. Code Ann. section 91-27-17
Mississippi separately confirms in section 91-27-11 that the deed is executed like an ordinary acknowledged deed, not like a will, and needs no witnesses beyond the standard deed acknowledgment.
A will cannot revoke it
A will does not revoke or supersede a transfer-on-death deed.
Source: Miss. Code Ann. section 91-27-21(b)
The only way to undo a recorded Mississippi TOD deed is a later, properly acknowledged and recorded deed or instrument of revocation; writing a new will naming someone else does nothing.
If the beneficiary dies first, the gift lapses
The interest of a designated beneficiary that fails to survive the transferor lapses.
Source: Miss. Code Ann. section 91-27-27
There is no automatic substitute beneficiary; an owner who wants a backup plan has to name a contingent beneficiary on the deed itself.
The property still carries its debt, and creditors are not blocked
a designated beneficiary takes the real property subject to all conveyances, encumbrances, assignments, contracts, mortgages, liens, and other interests to which the real property is subject at the transferor’s death.
Source: Miss. Code Ann. section 91-27-29
Recording a TOD deed also does not protect the property from the owner’s own creditors while the owner is alive; section 91-27-23 says the deed does not affect a creditor’s rights even if the creditor knows the deed exists.
Mississippi recognizes this deed
LawDepot builds a Mississippi transfer on death deed. Recording it before death, in the county where the property sits, is what makes it effective; the sections above name the state’s own requirements.
Create a transfer on death deed
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What a transfer on death deed does not do
- Moves one parcel, not an estate.
- Does not take effect until death; the owner keeps full control including the right to sell, mortgage, or revoke.
- Does not clear debts or block the owner’s own creditors during life.
- Does not pass to a deceased beneficiary’s own heirs; the gift simply lapses unless an alternate is named.
Honest gaps
Read sections 91-27-1 through 91-27-31 via FindLaw’s mirror after the official state site was unreachable; two of the quotes were cross-verified byte-for-byte against a Mississippi Attorney General opinion PDF read directly. We did not verify whether Mississippi exempts TOD deeds from any transfer tax, so that claim is omitted.
Source note. Read from https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2020/pdf/history/SB/SB2851.xml ; https://codes.findlaw.com/ms/title-91-trusts-and-estates/ms-code-sect-91-27-17/ ; https://codes.findlaw.com/ms/title-91-trusts-and-estates/ms-code-sect-91-27-21/ ; https://codes.findlaw.com/ms/title-91-trusts-and-estates/ms-code-sect-91-27-27/ ; https://codes.findlaw.com/ms/title-91-trusts-and-estates/ms-code-sect-91-27-29/ on 2026-09-04.
Related: transfer on death deeds by state · how it compares with a living trust · what it actually avoids.
General information drawn from state statutes and official state or court forms, not legal advice. These instruments are governed by the law of the state where the property sits, and formalities differ from state to state; execution, witnessing and recording requirements are the parts that void a document when they are missed. Your own state’s current statute governs. We are not a law firm and this is not legal advice.