Oregon Transfer-on-Death Deed

At a glance

How the deed works

Oregon has adopted the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act, codified at ORS 93.948 to 93.985 and enacted in 2011. A property owner may execute a transfer-on-death deed naming one or more beneficiaries who take title automatically at the owner's death, outside probate, while the owner keeps full control and the power to sell or mortgage during life.

The deed must contain the essential elements and formalities of a recordable inter vivos deed, state that the transfer to the designated beneficiary occurs at the transferor's death, and be recorded before the transferor's death in the county where the property is located (see ORS 93.961). A TOD deed is effective without notice to, delivery to, acceptance by, or consideration from the beneficiary during the owner's life (ORS 93.963).

Because the act follows the uniform model, capacity to make or revoke a TOD deed is the same as the capacity to make a will. The deed is nontestamentary and revocable even if it or another instrument states otherwise.

Recording & execution requirements

A transfer-on-death deed only works if it is executed and recorded correctly. In Oregon:

• Recording before death: Must be recorded before the owner's death.
• Governing statute: Or. Rev. Stat. §§ 93.948–93.985 Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act (ORS 93.948–93.985) · enacted 2011 (Or. Laws 2011, ch. 212).

Changing or revoking the deed

Under ORS 93.965, a recorded TOD deed is revoked only by a later instrument — a new TOD deed, an express instrument of revocation, or an inter vivos deed that expressly revokes it — that is acknowledged after the deed being revoked and recorded before the transferor's death. ORS 93.977 supplies a statutory revocation form.

Oregon also follows the uniform rule that divorce or annulment affects the deed: ORS 93.981 addresses the effect of divorce or annulment on a transfer-on-death deed to a former spouse.

Mortgages, Medicaid & community property

Existing mortgages and liens

A TOD deed transfers the property subject to any existing mortgages, deeds of trust, judgment liens, and tax liens. Under the uniform act as adopted in Oregon, the beneficiary takes the interest as it stood at the owner's death, encumbrances included; the transfer does not extinguish secured debt.

Medicaid estate recovery

A TOD deed does not by itself protect the home from Oregon's Medicaid Estate Recovery Program, which is administered by the Oregon Department of Human Services and is notably broad — Oregon pursues recovery against assets in which the deceased recipient had any legal interest at death, which can include property passing by nonprobate transfer. Anyone using a TOD deed for Medicaid planning should confirm current recovery rules with the Oregon DHS Estate Administration Unit and an attorney licensed in Oregon.

Community property

Oregon is a common-law (separate-property) state. Oregon is a common-law (separate-property) state, not a community-property state. A married owner's TOD deed passes only that owner's own interest; it does not override a surviving joint tenant's survivorship right or a spouse's independently held interest. Spouses who want both interests to pass typically each execute a TOD deed or hold title with survivorship.

State-specific quirks

Where to read next

• Oregon estate & inheritance tax — whether Oregon taxes what you leave behind, and the small-estate probate ceiling, each figure cited to the statute.
• The Executor & Heir’s Guide — the probate deadlines for Oregon, cited to the controlling statute.
• Funding a revocable trust — a common way to keep many kinds of property out of probate.
• ← Back to the transfer-on-death deed comparison

Sources & methodology