An Act To Amend Title 12, Title 18, Title 25, And Title 30 Of The Delaware Code Relating To The Uniform Real Property Transfer On Death Act.
HB147 adopts Delaware’s Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act and makes related conforming changes across the Delaware Code. The bill authorizes an individual to transfer real property at death through a recorded transfer-on-death deed, while keeping the deed revocable during life and non-testamentary in nature. It sets out the required formality rules, including notarization, two witnesses, a death-transfer statement, and recording before death in the county where the property is located. The bill also provides optional statutory forms for creating and revoking such deeds, and it establishes rules for survivorship, beneficiary disclaimers, and how the deed interacts with wills, joint ownership, and creditor claims.
The bill amends Title 25 to create a new chapter governing transfer-on-death deeds and then updates Titles 12, 18, and 30 to integrate that new property-transfer mechanism into probate, insurance, disclaimer, and tax procedures. It requires probate-related inventory and assessment records to account for property transferred by TOD deed, gives beneficiaries access to a transferor’s death certificate for filing purposes, and authorizes Chancery Court jurisdiction over disputes involving validity or revocation. It also provides that a TOD deed does not require transfer-tax affidavits or certain local tax forms to be effective, and it creates a temporary property-insurance rule allowing beneficiaries to succeed to the transferor’s coverage for a limited period after death. The act takes effect 90 days after enactment.
The bill appears to have been broadly supported and noncontroversial in the legislature. It passed the House on third reading 40-0 and the Senate on third reading 20-0, indicating unanimous approval in both chambers. The absence of committee transcript material suggests there was little recorded public debate or visible opposition in the available materials.
The main policy issues addressed by the bill are procedural rather than ideological: how much formality should be required for a TOD deed, how revocation should work, and how the new deed should interact with probate, creditor rights, and existing title/insurance rules. The bill protects transferors by making the deed revocable and ineffective until death, while also protecting estates and creditors by preserving claims for unpaid estate obligations and statutory allowances. Potential points of concern for affected parties include the need to record the deed properly, the interaction with wills and joint ownership, and the new administrative duties placed on Registers of Wills, recorder of deeds offices, and insurers, but no specific opposition is reflected in the available record.