Updated October 8, 2026. Quick answer: Yes, for securities and vehicles. Kansas’s Uniform TOD Security Registration Act, Kansas Statutes Annotated section 17-49a01 and following, lets an eligible owner register a security in beneficiary form, and the owner may cancel or change it “without the consent of the beneficiary”. Kansas statute section 59-3508 separately lets a motor vehicle be titled in transfer-on-death form.
How Kansas handles transfer-on-death registration
| Item | What the state documents say |
|---|---|
| Brokerage and securities accounts | Kansas calls its law the uniform TOD security registration act, found at Kansas Statutes Annotated section 17-49a01 and following. It defines beneficiary form as a registration of a security that identifies the present owner and the owner’s intention about who becomes owner at the owner’s death. The definition of registering entity includes a broker maintaining security accounts for customers. The definition of security account reaches a securities account with a broker and a cash balance in a brokerage account. |
| Effect on the will and probate | A transfer on death from a registration in beneficiary form is effective by reason of the contract between the owner and the registering entity and the Act, rather than by a will. The same section says the Act does not limit the rights of creditors of security owners against beneficiaries and other transferees. |
| Changing the beneficiary | A TOD or POD designation has no effect on ownership until the owner’s death, and the sole owner or all surviving owners may cancel or change the registration at any time. The beneficiary has no veto while the owner is alive. |
| Vehicle titles | Kansas statute section 59-3508 provides that a motor vehicle may be titled in transfer-on-death form by including in the certificate of title a designation of a beneficiary or beneficiaries to whom the vehicle is transferred on the owner’s death. The source says: “may be titled in transfer-on-death, TOD, form”. The transfer is subject to the rights of all lien holders. |
A $250,000 brokerage account split
An owner holds a brokerage account worth $250,000 and registers it in beneficiary form to two named beneficiaries, with each to receive half. Each share is computed as $250,000 x 50% = $125,000. The 50/50 split is the owner’s illustration, not a rule of the state: the owner names the beneficiaries and, where the form allows it, the shares.
Real estate, probate and estate tax
A transfer on death deed is a different instrument for real property: see Kansas transfer on death deed. For what probate costs in Kansas, see Kansas probate cost, and for Kansas’s own estate or inheritance tax, see Kansas estate and inheritance tax. Which of these your account or vehicle falls under depends on how it is titled.
Related: Kansas probate cost, how Kansas taxes retirement income, Kansas estate and inheritance tax, Kansas transfer on death deed, and car titles after a death, by state.
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Answer againSources
- Kansas Statutes Annotated 17-49a01, Definitions (uniform TOD security registration act): https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch17/017_049a_0001.html
- Kansas Statutes Annotated 17-49a06, Registration in beneficiary form; effect: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch17/017_049a_0006.html
- Kansas Statutes Annotated 17-49a09, Nontestamentary transfer on death: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch17/017_049a_0009.html
- Kansas Statutes Annotated 59-3508, Motor vehicles; transfer-on-death: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_035_0008.html
Sources: the primary documents linked above, read on October 8, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the plan administrator or the agency itself is the right place to confirm anything consequential.