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Guides › Transfer-on-Death Deeds
Updated October 2, 2026. Quick answer: yes. Texas authorizes transfer on death deeds under Estates Code chapter 114, for deeds executed and acknowledged on or after September 1, 2015. Section 114.055 sets three requirements for the deed to be effective: it must contain the essential elements and formalities of a recordable deed, it must state that the transfer to the designated beneficiary is to occur at the transferor’s death, and it must be recorded before the transferor’s death in the deed records of the county where the property is located. Chapter 114 does not require any notice or warning language in the deed. Section 114.051 is the one-sentence authorization, and section 114.056 says the deed is effective without notice to, delivery to or acceptance by the beneficiary during the owner’s life.
Deeding a home to a family member while you are alive? What Texas requires, from its own documents: Texas quitclaim deed requirements.
The securities and vehicle version of the same decision is covered here: transfer-on-death registration in Texas.
Is there a statutory form? Not any more. The 2015 act printed optional forms in sections 114.151 and 114.152, and the Legislature repealed them effective September 1, 2019, saying the repeal does not affect the validity of any deed. Government Code section 22.020 now directs the Supreme Court of Texas to issue a form for the deed and a form for revoking it.
Correction, October 2, 2026: an earlier version of this page said a Texas deed is invalid without a statutory notice required by section 114.051. Chapter 114 contains no such requirement. The notice text appeared in an optional form in former section 114.151, which was repealed effective September 1, 2019.
Texas also recognizes the other deed, the enhanced life estate deed: the Texas Lady Bird deed.
The Texas specifics that matter
Record before death, in the county where the property sits — an unrecorded TOD deed does nothing. Revocable any time (sections 114.052 and 114.057): the deed is revocable regardless of any contrary provision, and a later transfer on death deed or a recorded instrument of revocation revokes it if it is acknowledged after the deed it revokes and recorded before the transferor’s death. A will cannot revoke it (section 114.057). And Texas runs two systems at once: the statutory TOD deed AND the common-law Lady Bird deed are both in active use here — they are different instruments, and which fits depends mostly on Medicaid-planning posture. The property passes subject to mortgages and liens either way.
What the deed saves: Texas executor commissions run on cash moved through the estate and probate costs on the estate that actually probates — a house passing by deed shrinks both. Every state’s answer: the verified 51-jurisdiction table.
Check Texas deed wording and recording requirements
Under Estates Code section 114.055, a transfer on death deed must meet recordable-deed formalities, say the beneficiary receives the property at the owner’s death, and be recorded before then in the county where the property is located. LawDepot builds one; check the completed deed against those requirements before recording it.
Create a transfer on death deed
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