Updated October 8, 2026. Quick answer: Yes, for securities and vehicles. Nebraska’s transfer on death security registration sections, Neb. Rev. Stat. sections 30-2734 to 30-2745, let an owner register a security in beneficiary form, and the owner may cancel or change it “without the consent of the beneficiary”. Section 30-2715.01 separately lets a vehicle owner use a transfer on death certificate of title.
How Nebraska handles transfer-on-death registration
| Item | What the state documents say |
|---|---|
| Brokerage and securities accounts | Nebraska’s transfer on death security registration provisions are in Article 27 of Chapter 30 of the Revised Statutes of Nebraska, sections 30-2734 to 30-2745. They define beneficiary form as a registration of a security that shows the present owner and who becomes owner when the owner dies, and a security account includes a securities account with a broker. Registration may be shown by the words transfer on death or the abbreviation TOD, or by pay on death or POD, after the owner’s name, and only sole owners or owners with right of survivorship may use it. |
| Effect on the will and probate | A transfer on death from a registration in beneficiary form takes effect through the contract between the owner and the registering entity and the statute, not through a will. On the death of the last owner, ownership passes to the beneficiaries who survive all owners. If no beneficiary survives, the statute says the security belongs to the estate of the last owner. |
| Changing the beneficiary | The 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 say while the owner is alive. |
| Vehicle titles | Nebraska law lets a person who owns a vehicle or motorboat with a certificate of title provide for transfer at death by naming a beneficiary on the title, shown by the words transfer on death to or the abbreviation TOD followed by the beneficiary’s name. The source says: “may use a transfer-on-death certificate of title”. A trust may be the beneficiary, and the transfer is subject to the rights of all lienholders. |
| Changing a vehicle beneficiary | The beneficiary has no interest in the vehicle until the owner dies, and the owner may change the designation at any time by filing an application for a subsequent certificate of title. Ownership vests in the designated beneficiary on the owner’s death if no later application has been filed. The source says: “without the consent of any beneficiary”. |
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 Nebraska transfer on death deed. For what probate costs in Nebraska, see Nebraska probate cost, and for Nebraska’s own estate or inheritance tax, see Nebraska estate and inheritance tax. Which of these your account or vehicle falls under depends on how it is titled.
Related: Nebraska probate cost, how Nebraska taxes retirement income, Nebraska estate and inheritance tax, Nebraska transfer on death deed, and car titles after a death, by state.
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Answer againSources
- Nebraska Revised Statutes, Chapter 30, sections 30-2734 to 30-2746, transfer on death security registration: https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=30-2734
- Nebraska Revised Statutes, section 30-2715.01, Vehicle or motorboat, transfer on death, certificate of title: https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=30-2715.01
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.