Transfer on Death Deed in Georgia: The New 2024 Law and How to File

A transfer-on-death deed is one of the newer tools in estate planning in Georgia. Before 2024, Georgia had no way to pass real estate directly to a beneficiary at death without probate or a trust. This article explains what the deed does, who can sign one, how to prepare and record it, how to change or revoke it, and what a beneficiary does after the owner dies.

What a Georgia transfer-on-death deed does

A transfer-on-death deed (often shortened to TOD deed) names a “grantee beneficiary” who will receive an interest in real estate when the owner dies. Georgia created this option in a new Chapter 17 of Title 44 of the state code, enacted by Senate Bill 420 and effective July 1, 2024. The legislature then reworked several provisions in House Bill 413, effective April 22, 2026.

The defining feature is that the deed transfers nothing during the owner’s lifetime. The owner keeps full ownership and can sell, mortgage, or refinance the property, or change the beneficiary, at any time. The beneficiary has no legal interest, no right of consent, and no right to notice while the owner is alive, under O.C.G.A. § 44-17-2. The transfer happens only at death, and only after the beneficiary completes an acceptance step described below.

Because the property passes outside the will, a properly recorded and accepted TOD deed lets that parcel avoid probate. It does not, on its own, address the rest of an estate, and it applies only to the real estate described in the deed.

Who can create a transfer-on-death deed

Only the record owner of the real estate can sign a TOD deed, and the owner must have the legal capacity to enter into a contract, under O.C.G.A. § 44-17-2. This is a higher standard than the capacity needed to sign a will. An agent acting under a power of attorney cannot sign a transfer-on-death deed for the owner; the 2026 amendment made that restriction explicit.

The owner can name more than one beneficiary and can name alternate beneficiaries who take only if a primary beneficiary dies first. A beneficiary can be an individual, a trustee of an existing trust, or another legal entity. The deed does not need to be supported by any payment or consideration.

How to file a transfer-on-death deed in Georgia

A TOD deed must follow the statutory form and be recorded before the owner dies. O.C.G.A. § 44-17-3 sets out the required form, which titles the interest “in a transfer-on-death form by executing, attesting, and recording in the office of the clerk of superior court of the county where the real estate is located, prior to the death of the record owner.” The form itself states, in capital letters, that the deed is revocable and transfers no ownership until the grantor’s death.

1. Confirm ownership and capacity

   The person signing must be the record owner of the interest being transferred and must have the capacity to enter into a contract. Confirm how the property is currently titled, because a TOD deed transfers only the interest the owner actually holds.

2. Prepare the deed in the statutory form

   Use the transfer-on-death form in O.C.G.A. § 44-17-3. It identifies the grantor and the grantee beneficiary, includes the legal description of the property, and carries the required language stating the deed is revocable and transfers ownership only at death.

3. Sign before a witness and a notary

   The grantor signs and seals the deed in the presence of an unofficial witness and a notary public, matching the attestation shown in the statutory form.

4. Record it with the superior court clerk before death

   Record the signed deed with the clerk of superior court in the county where the property is located, while the owner is still living. A real estate transfer tax declaration form is not filed with the transfer-on-death deed at this stage, because the owner is not conveying a present interest.

Recording matters. A TOD deed that is signed but never recorded before the owner’s death does not transfer the property.

Changing or revoking the deed

The owner controls the deed for life and can undo it in several ways under O.C.G.A. § 44-17-4. The owner can record a separate instrument of revocation that refers to the original deed, signed by the owner and attested by a notary and one other witness. The 2026 amendment reduced this from two witnesses to one. The owner can also record a new transfer-on-death deed naming a different beneficiary; a later TOD designation revokes all earlier ones for that property. Beneficiary consent or notice is never required to revoke or change the designation.

Some actions revoke the deed automatically. If the owner sells or conveys the property before death, transfers it into the owner’s own trust, or if a sole named beneficiary dies before accepting, the transfer-on-death deed is treated as revoked. A TOD deed also cannot be revoked through the owner’s will; a will provision purporting to cancel it has no effect on the recorded deed.

How the beneficiary claims the property

The transfer is not automatic at death. Under O.C.G.A. § 44-17-2, ownership passes to a beneficiary only after that beneficiary executes and records an affidavit. The affidavit verifies the owner’s death, states whether the owner and beneficiary were married at the time of death, gives the deed book and page number of the recorded TOD deed, and includes a legal description of the property. The beneficiary attaches a certified copy of the owner’s death certificate. For deaths on or after July 1, 2026, the beneficiary records the affidavit, a real estate transfer tax declaration, and related documents with the superior court clerk in the county where the property is located.

If a named beneficiary dies before the owner, or after the owner but before accepting, that share does not revert to the estate. Under O.C.G.A. § 44-17-5, the lapsed share is split evenly among the surviving named beneficiaries. Where the deed names beneficiaries as joint tenants with right of survivorship, the death of one does not defeat the survivorship for the others.

Limits of a transfer-on-death deed

A beneficiary takes the property subject to what the owner did during life. O.C.G.A. § 44-17-5 provides that the interest passes subject to recorded mortgages, security deeds, liens, leases, and similar encumbrances the owner created or was subject to. A TOD deed does not erase a mortgage, and the beneficiary inherits the debt attached to the property.

The deed reaches only the real estate it describes. It does not distribute bank accounts, vehicles, or personal property, and it does not name a guardian or handle other matters a will or trust can address. Because the deed requires contract-level capacity and follows a specific statutory form, an error in the form, the witnessing, or the recording can leave the property to pass through probate instead.