Record Of Deeds’ Office Swats Down Misinformation On Death Deeds

The Bucks County Recorder of Deeds has put out facts to clear up misinformation circulating on social media.

In response to questions stemming from widely circulated social media posts about the transfer of property via death deeds, Bucks County Recorder of Deeds Dan McPhillips’ office said Pennsylvania does not accept transfer on death deeds.

Below is the full statement from the Record of Deeds’ office:

The post circulating states, that to avoid probate on real estate, the heirs of an estate just need to bring an ID and death certificate into the Recorder of Deeds office. By doing this, the deed will then be signed over without probate.

While there are some states in which this is valid, Pennsylvania is not one of those states.

If you have questions about real estate transfers after the death of a loved one, our office suggests contacting a lawyer.

A quick Facebook search of “transfer on death deed” on Monday returned several results of Bucks Countians recently sharing posts with the information that doesn’t apply to the Keystone State.

“As of September 2019, the District of Columbia and the following states allow some form of TOD deed (transfer on death deed): Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Ohio has replaced the TOD deed with a TOD affidavit, but the effect is the same. With a trend toward permitting TOD deeds, more states may be added in the future. A few states, such as Michigan, have a similar but technically different document, commonly called a Lady Bird deed,” according to LegalZoom.com.

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