Utah Transfer on Death Deed
A Utah transfer on death deed names a beneficiary to receive your real property without probate. It must be notarized and recorded with the county recorder before you die. Attorney review available.
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Introduction
Utah authorizes a transfer on death deed under its Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act, a deed you sign and record with the county recorder while you are alive that names a beneficiary to receive your real property automatically at your death, without probate. Utah authorizes it under the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act, Utah Code 75-6-401 and following, and 75-6-405 lets an individual transfer property to one or more beneficiaries effective at death. 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 until you die (Utah Code 75-6-412). To be valid, the deed must contain the essential elements and formalities of a properly recordable inter vivos deed, which means you must sign it and have your signature acknowledged before a notary; Utah does not require witnesses (Utah Code 75-6-409). Utah does not set a fixed number of days to record, but the deed is not effective unless it is recorded in the county recorder office of the county where the property is located before your death (Utah Code 75-6-409(3)). Utah provides an optional statutory form (Utah Code 75-6-416). The deed is revocable during your life by recording a revocation, a later transfer on death deed, or a transfer of the property, and a will cannot revoke it (Utah Code 75-6-411). The beneficiary takes the property subject to any mortgages, liens, and claims that exist at your death. DocDraft builds your Utah transfer on death deed from your facts, with attorney review available before you sign.
Key Things to Know
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A Utah transfer on death deed lets you name who inherits a piece of real property, then hands that property to the named person the moment you die, with no probate case in between. Utah's Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act supplies the rules at Utah Code 75-6-401 and following, and 75-6-405 is the section that authorizes the deed.
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While you are living, the deed sits dormant against your title. Ownership stays entirely yours, so you may sell the property, borrow against it, or cancel the deed outright, and the person you named holds no stake until the day you die (Utah Code 75-6-412).
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Utah treats the document like any deed that goes on record, so it needs the same elements and formalities: you sign it, and a notary acknowledges your signature. No witnesses are called for (Utah Code 75-6-409).
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Utah attaches no day-count deadline, yet the deed accomplishes nothing unless it reaches the county recorder for the county where the land sits before you die (Utah Code 75-6-409(3)). Getting it on record during your lifetime is what makes it operate.
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The wording has to say the beneficiary receives the property at your death (Utah Code 75-6-409). Utah even publishes a fill-in statutory form you may copy, at Utah Code 75-6-416.
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To undo the deed while you are alive, you record one of three things: a revocation instrument, a fresh transfer on death deed, or an ordinary deed that moves the property. A will does none of this (Utah Code 75-6-411).
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Whatever mortgages, liens, and claims sit on the property when you die travel with it to the beneficiary, so the deed on its own wipes out none of the debt tied to the land.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Transfer on Death Deed in Utah, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Transfer on Death Deed guide walks through them.
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Once your Transfer on Death Deed is ready, you can check whether it needs to be notarized in Utah in about a minute, and notarize it online through DocDraft if it does.
Utah Requirements for Transfer on Death Deed
A Utah transfer on death deed must contain the essential elements and formalities of a properly recordable inter vivos deed and must state that the transfer to the beneficiary occurs at the owner death (Utah Code 75-6-409). Utah provides an optional statutory form in Utah Code 75-6-416.
The full legal description of the property from the current recorded deed, plus the street address and the parcel or serial number. A street address alone is not enough to record the deed with the county recorder.
The full legal name of the beneficiary who will receive the property at the owner death, and an alternate beneficiary if the first does not survive the owner. Utah Code 75-6-405 allows one or more beneficiaries, so naming a backup keeps the property out of probate if the first beneficiary dies first.
The owner must sign the deed and have the signature acknowledged before a notary, because the deed needs the formalities of a properly recordable deed (Utah Code 75-6-409). Utah does not require witnesses.
The deed is not effective unless it is recorded in the county recorder office where the property is located before the owner dies (Utah Code 75-6-409(3)). Utah sets no fixed number of days, so record promptly after signing.
The deed is revocable during the owner life by recording an instrument of revocation, a later transfer on death deed, or an inter vivos deed that transfers the property (Utah Code 75-6-411). A will cannot revoke a Utah transfer on death deed.
During the owner life the deed has no effect on ownership and does not affect the rights of the owner creditors (Utah Code 75-6-412). The owner keeps full control and the beneficiary has no interest until the owner dies.
The beneficiary takes the property subject to any mortgages, liens, and claims that exist at the owner death. The deed passes only the property it describes and does not clear debts secured by the property.
Does your Transfer on Death Deed need to be notarized in Utah?
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Check my Transfer on Death DeedFrequently Asked Questions
A Utah transfer on death deed is a deed you sign and put on record during your lifetime that routes a named piece of real property to a chosen beneficiary the instant you die, skipping probate. The authority is Utah's Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act, Utah Code 75-6-401 and following, with 75-6-405 permitting the death-effective transfer. It changes nothing about your ownership while you live: you keep full command and may sell it or cancel it, and the beneficiary gains no interest until your death. Only the property the deed spells out passes this way.
A Utah will names who should inherit, but the property it covers still travels through probate, a court process that often runs many months. A transfer on death deed skips that step for the one parcel it describes, sending it straight to the beneficiary at your death. Think of the will as covering your entire estate and the deed as covering just that real property, which is why many Utahns keep both: the deed for the house, the will for everything else.
Validity in Utah turns on treating the document as a recordable deed. You sign it and have a notary acknowledge your signature; no witnesses are needed (Utah Code 75-6-409). The text must declare that the beneficiary takes at your death, and you have to record the deed with the county recorder for the county where the property sits before you die. If you want a ready-made layout, Utah Code 75-6-416 offers an optional statutory form.
No day-count applies in Utah. What matters is that the deed reaches the public records at the county recorder office for the county where the property is located before you die (Utah Code 75-6-409(3)). Since a deed recorded only after death does nothing, the sensible move is to record it right after signing and notarization rather than setting it aside.
Yes. You may pull back a Utah transfer on death deed any time you are living. The mechanics are to record a revocation instrument, record a newer transfer on death deed for the same parcel, or record an ordinary deed that conveys the property, each acknowledged after and recorded before your death (Utah Code 75-6-411). A will has no power to revoke it, and after recording you cannot cancel it by marking up or destroying the paper itself.
For the parcel the deed names, yes. Once it is properly signed, notarized, and recorded before you die, that property lands with the named beneficiary at your death and never enters probate (Utah Code 75-6-405, 75-6-413). Your remaining assets are untouched by it, and the beneficiary receives the land carrying whatever mortgages, liens, and claims exist at your death, so it settles none of the debt secured by the property.
Yes. Utah Code 75-6-405 permits a transfer to one or more beneficiaries at your death, so co-beneficiaries are allowed, and you may add an alternate who steps in if your first pick dies before you. That backup is what keeps the parcel out of probate should the primary beneficiary predecease you. Spell out each co-beneficiary share plainly so there is no doubt about your intent when the deed operates.
No. Across your lifetime a Utah transfer on death deed leaves your ownership alone and does not touch your creditors rights (Utah Code 75-6-412). You keep full command to sell, mortgage, lease, or cancel the deed without asking the beneficiary, who holds no legal interest until you die. The transfer fires only at your death, and only on the parcel the deed describes.