Real Property – Transfer–on–Death Deed – Establishment
SB651 establishes a new Maryland Transfer-on-Death Deed Act for real property and makes related changes to estates, land records, and property tax law. The bill allows an owner of real property to name one or more beneficiaries to receive the property automatically at the owner’s death through a recorded transfer-on-death deed, without probate. It sets out the requirements for creating, acknowledging, recording, revoking, and using the deed, including model statutory forms for both the deed and a revocation instrument. It also provides rules for multiple owners, alternate beneficiaries, survivorship, disclaimer rights, and the effect of the deed on creditors, liens, spousal rights, and other estate-related protections.
The bill also amends recording procedures in the Real Property Article so clerks and assessment offices can process transfer-on-death deeds and related revocations, and it exempts these deeds from certain intake-sheet and tax-endorsement requirements that apply to ordinary deeds. In the Tax-Property Article, it exempts qualifying transfer-on-death deeds for a primary or secondary residence from recordation tax and county transfer tax. The Act applies retroactively to transfer-on-death deeds executed before the effective date if the transferor dies on or after that date, and it is scheduled to take effect October 1, 2026.
SB651 creates a new nontestamentary transfer mechanism in Maryland law by adding a dedicated Transfer-on-Death Deed subtitle to the Real Property Article and conforming amendments to the Estates and Trusts and Tax-Property Articles. It changes how certain real property interests can pass at death, bypassing probate while preserving existing rights of creditors, surviving joint owners, elective-share claimants, and other protected parties. It also changes land-records administration by directing clerks and assessment offices how to record, index, and process these deeds and revocations, and it exempts qualifying TOD deeds from recordation and county transfer taxes when the property is a primary or secondary residence.
The bill appears to have broad support. It passed the Senate 43-0 and the House 129-0, indicating unanimous approval in both chambers. The absence of recorded committee testimony in the provided materials suggests no major public controversy is reflected in the available context, and the bill advanced with amendments rather than opposition.
The main policy issues embedded in the bill concern how to balance a simple probate-avoidance tool with protections for heirs, spouses, creditors, and joint owners. The bill expressly preserves statutory share and elective-share rights, limits the deed’s effect during the transferor’s life, and requires recording to make the deed effective. Another point of potential concern is administrative complexity for clerks and land records offices, since the bill creates special recording rules, forms, and revocation procedures. The tax exemption for primary and secondary residences may also be notable, but no opposition is shown in the voting record provided.