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Transfer-on-Death Deeds · Idaho

Idaho Transfer-on-Death Deed

Can you pass a Idaho home to your heirs outside probate with a transfer-on-death deed? No — Idaho does not offer a transfer-on-death deed for real property. This page explains why, and the verified alternatives Idaho families use instead.

Written by TTA Editorial

Published July 26, 2026 · Last verified July 26, 2026 · Update policy: reviewed at least annually and on change in law; statutory tables re-verified each legislative session

At a glance

TOD / beneficiary deedNot available
InstrumentNone — not available for real property
Governing lawNot available (Idaho Code tit. 15, ch. 6) Idaho Code tit. 15, ch. 6 (Nonprobate Transfers) — no real-property TOD deed · code as of 2026
Community-property stateYes

Why Idaho has no TOD deed

Idaho does not offer a transfer-on-death (beneficiary) deed for real property. The nonprobate-transfer chapter of the Idaho Code (Title 15, Chapter 6) provides for multiple-party bank accounts, TOD registration of securities, and community-property survivorship — but it contains no part authorizing a transfer-on-death deed for land.

A deed that purports to pass Idaho real property at death outside these authorized mechanisms cannot be relied on. To keep an Idaho home out of probate, owners use one of the alternatives below.

What to use instead

Because Idaho offers no transfer-on-death deed, families keep a home out of probate with other tools. Common alternatives include:

  • Community property with right of survivorship — for married couples, a direct probate-avoidance path for a home (Idaho Code tit. 15, ch. 6, part 4).
  • Joint tenancy with right of survivorship, for co-owners generally.
  • A revocable living trust, which holds the home and passes it to trust beneficiaries without probate.

Mortgages, Medicaid & community property

Existing mortgages and liens

Idaho's alternatives all pass property subject to existing mortgages and liens; retitling a home into a trust or joint tenancy does not clear the debt against it, and lenders may hold a due-on-sale clause (usually not triggered by transfers to a living trust of a primary residence under federal law).

Medicaid estate recovery

Because Idaho has no transfer-on-death deed, the estate-recovery question turns on the alternative used — property in a revocable living trust, held in joint tenancy, or held as community property with right of survivorship each interacts differently with Medicaid estate recovery. Confirm the current rules with Idaho's Medicaid agency.

Community property

Idaho is a community-property state. Idaho IS a community-property state, and its code authorizes community property with right of survivorship (Idaho Code tit. 15, ch. 6, part 4). For a married couple, holding the home as community property with right of survivorship lets it pass to the surviving spouse outside probate — one of the closest substitutes for a TOD deed here.

State-specific quirks

The 2026 bill did not become law — verify before relying on any 'now available' claim

A 2026 Idaho bill (Senate Bill 1399) proposed adopting the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act with a July 1, 2026 effective date. It was introduced and referred to committee but did not pass, and the Idaho Code still contains no real-property transfer-on-death deed. Several form-vendor and AI-generated pages assert Idaho TOD deeds 'became available July 1, 2026' — the state code does not support that. If a future session adopts the Act, this page will be updated to the enacted statute; until then, treat Idaho as a no-TOD-deed state and confirm with the county recorder.

Community property with survivorship is the near-substitute for couples

Idaho married couples can get much of what a TOD deed offers by holding the home as community property with right of survivorship: the survivor takes automatically outside probate, and community property receives a full basis step-up on the first death. It only helps between spouses, though — for a parent leaving a home to a child, a living trust is usually the tool.

Sources & methodology

Methodology & sources

Whether Idaho offers a transfer-on-death deed — and how it is executed, recorded, and revoked — is checked against Idaho’s own code or legislature — an official source where available, or a third-party codified mirror of that code otherwise — for the cited fields; a figure or point that could not be confirmed from a primary source is flagged rather than guessed, and a flagged cell is not a cited one. Deed-form vendors and aggregator round-ups are not cited. State property and probate law changes every legislative session; this page carries the date it was last re-verified. See our editorial standards.

This page is educational and is not legal advice. Whether a transfer-on-death deed is right for you — and whether it survives Medicaid estate recovery, a mortgage’s due-on-sale clause, or a co-owner’s survivorship right — turns on facts a general page cannot resolve. Confirm your own situation with an attorney licensed in Idaho.

Last verified July 26, 2026.