Arizona Transfer on Death Deed
An Arizona transfer on death deed, which state law calls a beneficiary deed, names a beneficiary to receive your real property without probate. It must be notarized and recorded with the county recorder before your death. No witnesses are required. Attorney review available.
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Introduction
A transfer on death deed in Arizona, which the statute calls a beneficiary deed, is a deed you sign and record while you are alive that names a beneficiary to receive your real property automatically when you die, without probate (Ariz. Rev. Stat. 33-405). During your life the deed has no effect on your ownership: you keep full control and can sell, mortgage, or revoke it, and the beneficiary has no interest and does not need to consent or be notified until you die (Ariz. Rev. Stat. 33-405(I)). To be valid in Arizona, the deed must be executed, acknowledged before a notary, and recorded. Arizona does not require witnesses. The beneficiary deed is valid only if it is recorded in the office of the county recorder of the county where the property is located before the death of the owner or the last surviving owner (Ariz. Rev. Stat. 33-405(E)). There is no fixed deadline after signing, but recording must happen while you are alive, so recording promptly is the safe course. Arizona provides a statutory beneficiary deed form the deed may follow (Ariz. Rev. Stat. 33-405(K)). The deed is revocable during your life by recording a revocation before you die (Ariz. Rev. Stat. 33-405(F)); if you record more than one beneficiary deed for the same property, the last one recorded before your death controls (Ariz. Rev. Stat. 33-405(G)), and a will cannot revoke a beneficiary deed (Ariz. Rev. Stat. 33-405(J)). The beneficiary takes the property subject to every mortgage, lien, and other encumbrance that applied during your lifetime (Ariz. Rev. Stat. 33-405(A)). DocDraft builds your Arizona beneficiary deed from your facts, with attorney review available before you sign.
Key Things to Know
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In Arizona a transfer on death deed is called a beneficiary deed. It is a deed you record while alive that names a beneficiary to receive your real property automatically at your death, without probate (Ariz. Rev. Stat. 33-405).
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During your life the deed has no effect on your ownership. You keep full control and can sell, mortgage, or revoke it, and the beneficiary need not consent or be notified until you die (Ariz. Rev. Stat. 33-405(I)).
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To be valid the deed must be executed, acknowledged before a notary, and recorded. Arizona does not require any witnesses for a beneficiary deed.
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The deed is valid only if it is recorded with the county recorder of the county where the property is located before the death of the owner or the last surviving owner (Ariz. Rev. Stat. 33-405(E)). There is no fixed deadline after signing, but you must record it before you die.
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Arizona provides a statutory beneficiary deed form the deed may follow (Ariz. Rev. Stat. 33-405(K)), and a matching revocation form (Ariz. Rev. Stat. 33-405(L)).
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The deed is revocable during your life by recording a revocation before you die (Ariz. Rev. Stat. 33-405(F)). If you record more than one beneficiary deed for the same property, the last one recorded before your death controls (Ariz. Rev. Stat. 33-405(G)), and a will cannot revoke it (Ariz. Rev. Stat. 33-405(J)).
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The beneficiary takes the property subject to every mortgage, lien, and other encumbrance that applied during your lifetime (Ariz. Rev. Stat. 33-405(A)). The deed does not by itself clear debts secured by the property.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Transfer on Death Deed in Arizona, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Transfer on Death Deed guide walks through them.
Open the Transfer on Death Deed guideCustomize your Transfer on Death Deed Template with DocDraft
Once your Transfer on Death Deed is ready, you can check whether it needs to be notarized in Arizona in about a minute, and notarize it online through DocDraft if it does.
Arizona Requirements for Transfer on Death Deed
Arizona calls this instrument a beneficiary deed and provides a statutory form the deed may follow (Ariz. Rev. Stat. 33-405(K)). The deed must expressly state that it is effective on the death of the owner.
The full legal description of the property from the current recorded deed, plus the street address and the assessor parcel number. A street address alone is not enough to record the deed with the county recorder.
The full legal name of the grantee beneficiary who will receive the property at the owner death, and a successor grantee beneficiary with the condition on which that interest vests. Naming a successor keeps the property out of probate if the first beneficiary does not survive.
The owner must sign the deed and have the signature acknowledged before a notary. Without a valid acknowledgment the deed cannot be recorded and is not effective.
Arizona does not require witnesses for a beneficiary deed. Acknowledgment before a notary is the execution formality, unlike some states that require two witnesses.
The beneficiary deed is valid only if it is recorded in the office of the county recorder of the county where the property is located before the death of the owner or the last surviving owner (Ariz. Rev. Stat. 33-405(E)). There is no fixed deadline after signing, so record it promptly.
A revocation must be executed and recorded with the county recorder before death to be effective (Ariz. Rev. Stat. 33-405(F)). If more than one beneficiary deed is recorded for the property, the last recorded before death controls (Ariz. Rev. Stat. 33-405(G)). A will cannot revoke it (Ariz. Rev. Stat. 33-405(J)).
The beneficiary takes the property subject to all mortgages, deeds of trust, liens, and other encumbrances that applied during the owner lifetime (Ariz. Rev. Stat. 33-405(A)). The deed changes who receives the property, not what is owed on it.
Does your Transfer on Death Deed need to be notarized in Arizona?
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Check my Transfer on Death DeedFrequently Asked Questions
In Arizona it is called a beneficiary deed. It is a deed you sign and record while you are alive that names a beneficiary to receive your real property automatically when you die, without probate (Ariz. Rev. Stat. 33-405). During your lifetime it has no effect on your ownership: you keep full control and can sell or revoke it, and the beneficiary has no interest until you die. It passes only the property described in the deed.
An Arizona will directs who inherits your property, but the property still passes through probate, the court process that can take months. An Arizona beneficiary deed passes the specific real property it names directly to the beneficiary at your death, outside probate. The will covers your whole estate; the beneficiary deed covers only the real property it describes. Many Arizonans use both, so the deed handles the property and the will handles everything else.
To be valid in Arizona the beneficiary deed must be executed, acknowledged before a notary, and recorded in the office of the county recorder of the county where the property is located before the death of the owner or the last surviving owner (Ariz. Rev. Stat. 33-405(E)). Arizona does not require witnesses. The deed may follow the statutory form in Ariz. Rev. Stat. 33-405(K). Recording it while you are alive is what makes it effective.
No witnesses are required in Arizona; the deed must be acknowledged before a notary, not witnessed. There is also no fixed number of days to record after signing. The rule is that the beneficiary deed is valid only if it is recorded with the county recorder before the death of the owner or the last surviving owner (Ariz. Rev. Stat. 33-405(E)), so recording promptly is the safe practice.
You record an Arizona beneficiary deed in the office of the county recorder of the county where the real property is located, and you must do so before the death of the owner or the last surviving owner (Ariz. Rev. Stat. 33-405(E)). If the property sits in more than one county, record it in each county where part of the property is located. The recorder charges a recording fee that varies by county.
Yes. An Arizona beneficiary deed is revocable at any time while you are alive. To be effective, a revocation must be executed and recorded in the office of the county recorder before your death (Ariz. Rev. Stat. 33-405(F)). If you record more than one beneficiary deed for the same property, the last one recorded before your death is the effective deed (Ariz. Rev. Stat. 33-405(G)). A will cannot revoke an Arizona beneficiary deed (Ariz. Rev. Stat. 33-405(J)).
No. Under Ariz. Rev. Stat. 33-405(A), the beneficiary takes the property subject to all mortgages, deeds of trust, liens, and other encumbrances that applied to the property during your lifetime. The beneficiary deed changes who receives the property, not what is owed on it. The beneficiary would take the property along with any debt secured by it, so plan for how those obligations will be handled.
An Arizona beneficiary deed can convey an interest in real property, including a debt secured by a lien on real property, and it can even transfer to the trustee of a trust (Ariz. Rev. Stat. 33-405(A) and (E)). Unlike some states, Arizona does not limit the deed to a set number of residential units. For complex holdings or larger estates, a living trust or another tool may fit better, and attorney review is available.