Question 1

What is a Maryland transfer-on-death deed and when did it become available?

Accepted Answer

It is a deed you record in the county land records while you are alive that transfers your Maryland real property to one or more beneficiaries effective at your death (Md. Code, Real Property 14-1003). The Maryland Transfer-on-Death Deed Act was signed on May 26, 2026 and took effect on October 1, 2026, which makes Maryland one of the most recent states to offer the instrument. The Act applies to a deed made before, on, or after the effective date by a transferor who dies on or after it.

Question 2

Does a Maryland transfer-on-death deed replace a will?

Accepted Answer

No. It handles one thing, the real property it describes, and passes that property outside probate to the beneficiary you named. A Maryland will still governs everything else, and you should expect to have both. The division of labor is firm in one direction: once the deed is recorded, a will cannot revoke it, even a will you sign afterwards (Real Property 14-1008). The Act also preserves every other method of transferring property that Maryland law already allowed (Real Property 14-1002).

Question 3

How is a Maryland transfer-on-death deed signed and recorded?

Accepted Answer

The deed must meet Maryland's general requirements for a deed and must state that the transfer to the designated beneficiary is to occur at your death (Real Property 14-1005). The notice to the owner in the statutory form requires the form to be notarized and recorded in each county, or Baltimore City, in which the property is located, before your death, or it will not be effective. The capacity required is the same capacity required to make a will (Real Property 14-1004). Because the Act is weeks old, confirm the signing formalities with a Maryland attorney before you sign.

Question 4

In which Maryland county do I record a transfer-on-death deed?

Accepted Answer

In the land records of the county where the property is located, and it must be recorded before you die for the deed to be effective (Real Property 14-1006). If the property sits in more than one county, or in Baltimore City, the statutory form notice tells you to record it in each of them. The Act also relieves a transfer-on-death deed and a revocation of one from certain of the recording intake requirements that apply to deeds generally (Real Property 3-104), which smooths the filing itself.

Question 5

Is a Maryland transfer-on-death deed subject to recordation or transfer tax?

Accepted Answer

Not if the property is a primary or secondary residence of the transferor. On that condition the deed is not subject to recordation tax (Tax-Property 12-108), and an instrument exempt from recordation tax on that ground is also not subject to the state transfer tax (Tax-Property 13-207) or the county transfer tax (Tax-Property 13-414). The residence condition matters, so investment or rental property is not covered by the exemption. Confirm the treatment of your particular property before you record.

Question 6

What does it take to undo a Maryland transfer-on-death deed?

Accepted Answer

A recorded instrument, and nothing less (Real Property 14-1008). You may record a later transfer-on-death deed that revokes the earlier one expressly or by inconsistency, an instrument of revocation that expressly revokes it, or an inter vivos deed that expressly revokes it, each executed and acknowledged and recorded before your death. Crossing out or destroying the recorded deed does not revoke it, and neither does a will. Maryland supplies a revocation form at Real Property 14-1012, whose notice says the revocation must be recorded in each county, or Baltimore City, where the property is located before you die.

Question 7

Does my beneficiary have to file anything in Maryland after I die?

Accepted Answer

No, and this is one of the cleaner parts of the Maryland Act. A beneficiary may record notice of the death of the transferor in the land records of the county where the property is located, but the statute says plainly that the notice is not required to effectuate the transfer of the property, which is deemed to have occurred at your death (Real Property 14-1013). There is no deadline. The Act provides an optional notification of death form, and the clerk forwards the notification to the State Department of Assessments and Taxation in the same manner as a deed.

Question 8

What happens to a Maryland transfer-on-death deed if my beneficiary dies first?

Accepted Answer

The beneficiary's interest is contingent on surviving you, so it lapses if the beneficiary dies first (Real Property 14-1009). If you named an alternate designated beneficiary who survives you, the property goes to that alternate, and the deed may provide for successive alternates, so you can stack backups. Where you name two or more beneficiaries to take concurrent interests, they take as joint tenants with a right of survivorship. Any beneficiary may also disclaim all or part of the interest under the Maryland Uniform Disclaimer of Property Interests Act (Real Property 14-1010).

Maryland Transfer on Death Deed

Find out where you stand in Maryland

Introduction

Key Things to Know

Key decisions before you file

Customize your Transfer on Death Deed Template with DocDraft

Maryland Requirements for Transfer on Death Deed

Confirm the New Act Covers You

Use the Statutory Form and Its Notice

Legal Description With Liber and Folio

Name a Beneficiary and Alternates

State That the Transfer Occurs at Death

Notarize the Deed

Record in the County Land Records Before Death

Check the Residence Condition for Tax Exemption

Does your Transfer on Death Deed need to be notarized in Maryland?

Frequently Asked Questions