Arkansas Transfer on Death Deed
An Arkansas 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 Arkansas, 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 (Ark. Code Ann. 18-12-608). During your life the deed has no effect on your ownership: no legal or equitable interest vests in the beneficiary until you die (Ark. Code Ann. 18-12-608(a)(1)(B)(ii)), so you keep full control and can sell, mortgage, or revoke it. To be valid in Arkansas, the deed must be acknowledged before a notary. Arkansas 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 (Ark. Code Ann. 18-12-608(c)(1)); in Arkansas the circuit clerk serves as the ex officio county recorder. There is no fixed deadline after signing, but recording must happen while you are alive. The deed is revocable during your life by a revocation executed and recorded before you die (Ark. Code Ann. 18-12-608(d)); if you execute more than one beneficiary deed for the same property, the recorded deed last signed before your death controls (Ark. Code Ann. 18-12-608(e)), and a will cannot revoke, alter, or amend it (Ark. Code Ann. 18-12-608(d)(4)). The beneficiary takes the property subject to every mortgage, lien, and other encumbrance that applied at your death (Ark. Code Ann. 18-12-608(a)(1)(B)(i)). DocDraft builds your Arkansas beneficiary deed from your facts, with attorney review available before you sign.
Key Things to Know
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In Arkansas 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 (Ark. Code Ann. 18-12-608).
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During your life the deed has no effect on your ownership. No interest vests in the beneficiary until you die (Ark. Code Ann. 18-12-608(a)(1)(B)(ii)), so you keep full control and can sell, mortgage, or revoke it.
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To be valid the deed must be acknowledged before a notary. Arkansas 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 (Ark. Code Ann. 18-12-608(c)(1)). In Arkansas the circuit clerk is the ex officio county recorder.
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There is no fixed deadline to record after signing, but recording must happen while you are alive, so recording promptly is the safe course.
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The deed is revocable during your life by a revocation executed and recorded before you die (Ark. Code Ann. 18-12-608(d)). If you execute more than one beneficiary deed for the same property, the recorded deed last signed before your death controls (Ark. Code Ann. 18-12-608(e)), and a will cannot revoke it (Ark. Code Ann. 18-12-608(d)(4)).
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The beneficiary takes the property subject to every mortgage, lien, and other encumbrance that applied at your death (Ark. Code Ann. 18-12-608(a)(1)(B)(i)). 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 Arkansas, 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 Arkansas in about a minute, and notarize it online through DocDraft if it does.
Arkansas Requirements for Transfer on Death Deed
Arkansas calls this instrument a beneficiary deed and provides a statutory form the deed may follow (Ark. Code Ann. 18-12-608(g)). The deed must expressly state that it does not take effect until the death of the owner.
The full legal description of the property from the current recorded deed, plus the street address and the parcel identifier. A street address alone is not enough to record the deed with the county recorder.
The full legal name of the grantee who will receive the property at the owner death, and a successor grantee with the condition on which that interest vests. Naming a successor keeps the property out of probate if the first grantee 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.
Arkansas 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 (Ark. Code Ann. 18-12-608(c)(1)). The circuit clerk is the ex officio county recorder. There is no fixed deadline after signing.
A revocation must be executed and recorded with the county recorder before death to be effective (Ark. Code Ann. 18-12-608(d)). If more than one beneficiary deed exists for the property, the recorded deed last signed before death controls (Ark. Code Ann. 18-12-608(e)). A will cannot revoke it (Ark. Code Ann. 18-12-608(d)(4)).
The grantee takes the property subject to all mortgages, deeds of trust, liens, leases, and other encumbrances to which the property was subject at the owner death (Ark. Code Ann. 18-12-608(a)(1)(B)(i)). The deed changes who receives the property, not what is owed on it.
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Check my Transfer on Death DeedFrequently Asked Questions
In Arkansas 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 (Ark. Code Ann. 18-12-608). During your lifetime it has no effect on your ownership: no interest vests in the beneficiary until you die, so you keep full control and can sell or revoke it. It passes only the property described in the deed.
An Arkansas will directs who inherits your property, but the property still passes through probate, the court process that can take months. An Arkansas 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 Arkansans use both, so the deed handles the property and the will handles everything else.
To be valid in Arkansas the beneficiary deed must be 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 (Ark. Code Ann. 18-12-608(c)(1)). Arkansas does not require witnesses. The deed may follow the statutory form in Ark. Code Ann. 18-12-608(g). Recording it while you are alive is what makes it effective.
No witnesses are required in Arkansas; 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 (Ark. Code Ann. 18-12-608(c)(1)), so recording promptly is the safe practice.
You record an Arkansas 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 (Ark. Code Ann. 18-12-608(c)(1)). In Arkansas the circuit clerk serves as the ex officio county recorder. 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.
Yes. An Arkansas beneficiary deed is revocable while you are alive. To be effective, a revocation must be executed before your death and recorded in the office of the county recorder before your death (Ark. Code Ann. 18-12-608(d)). If you execute more than one beneficiary deed for the same property, the recorded deed last signed before your death is the effective one (Ark. Code Ann. 18-12-608(e)). A will cannot revoke, alter, or amend an Arkansas beneficiary deed (Ark. Code Ann. 18-12-608(d)(4)).
No. Under Ark. Code Ann. 18-12-608(a)(1)(B)(i), the beneficiary takes the property subject to all conveyances, leases, mortgages, deeds of trust, liens, and other encumbrances to which the property was subject at your death. 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 Arkansas beneficiary deed conveys an ownership interest in real property, other than a leasehold or lien interest, to a designated grantee (Ark. Code Ann. 18-12-608(a)(1)(A)), and it may transfer to the trustee of a trust. Unlike some states, Arkansas does not limit the deed to a set number of residential units. For larger or more complex estates, a living trust or another tool may fit better, and attorney review is available.