At a glance
| TOD / beneficiary deed | Not available |
|---|---|
| Instrument | None — not available for real property |
| Governing law | No real-property TOD deed — PA TOD is limited to securities (20 Pa.C.S. ch. 64) 20 Pa.C.S. ch. 64 — Transfer on Death Security Registration (securities only, not real property) · securities TOD only; no real-property TOD deed enacted as of July 2026 |
| Community-property state | No |
Why Pennsylvania has no TOD deed
Pennsylvania does not authorize a transfer-on-death deed (or beneficiary deed) for real estate. Title 20 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes (Decedents, Estates and Fiduciaries) provides transfer-on-death registration only for securities and security accounts under Chapter 64 (the Transfer on Death Security Registration provisions, 20 Pa.C.S. §§ 6401–6413); there is no counterpart statute for land.
A 2025–2026 bill to adopt the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act (amending Title 20) was introduced but has not been enacted, so no real-property TOD deed exists in the current code. A deed purporting to transfer Pennsylvania real estate only at the owner's death would not be given TOD effect and would risk being treated as an ineffective testamentary transfer.
To pass Pennsylvania real property outside probate, owners must use another recognized tool rather than a TOD/beneficiary deed.
What to use instead
Because Pennsylvania offers no transfer-on-death deed, families keep a home out of probate with other tools. Common alternatives include:
- Revocable living trust holding the real property
- Tenancy by the entirety or joint tenancy with right of survivorship
- Life estate deed (reserving a life estate, remainder to heirs)
Mortgages, Medicaid & community property
Existing mortgages and liens
Not applicable to a TOD deed here. Under any alternative Pennsylvania uses, real property generally passes subject to existing mortgages, judgment liens, and tax liens; survivorship or trust arrangements do not extinguish secured debt.
Medicaid estate recovery
Because Pennsylvania offers no real-property TOD deed, this planning route is unavailable; owners considering alternatives should be aware that Pennsylvania's Medicaid estate recovery program pursues assets in the probate estate of deceased long-term-care recipients, and the interaction of any chosen tool (trust, life estate, joint ownership) with recovery should be confirmed with the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services and an attorney licensed in Pennsylvania.
Community property
Pennsylvania is a common-law (separate-property) state. Pennsylvania is a common-law (separate-property) state, not a community-property state. Spouses commonly hold real property as tenants by the entirety, which carries an automatic right of survivorship and is itself a probate-avoidance mechanism — often used in place of the TOD deed that Pennsylvania does not offer.
State-specific quirks
TOD works for securities, not land
Pennsylvania's transfer-on-death registration (20 Pa.C.S. ch. 64) covers stocks, bonds, and brokerage accounts — not real estate. It is easy to assume the same 'TOD' label extends to a house; it does not, and no beneficiary-deed statute exists for real property.
Pending bill is not law
A Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act bill was introduced in the 2025–2026 session but had not been enacted as of July 2026. A proposed effective date in a bill is not codified law; do not rely on a TOD deed for Pennsylvania real estate unless and until the statute is actually adopted.
Where to read next
- Pennsylvania estate & inheritance tax — whether Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania, 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
Methodology & sources
Whether Pennsylvania offers a transfer-on-death deed — and how it is executed, recorded, and revoked — is checked against Pennsylvania’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 Pennsylvania.
Last verified July 26, 2026.