Alaska Transfer-on-Death Deed

Alaska has adopted the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act, allowing an individual to transfer real property to one or more named beneficiaries effective only at the transferor's death. Under the Act and Alaska Statutes Title 13 chapter 48, the deed is revocable and nontestamentary — a state-recognized property tool rather than an informal beneficiary designation someone might use elsewhere.

To be valid, the deed must include the essential elements and formalities of a standard recordable deed made during the owner's life, must state plainly that the transfer takes effect only at death, must identify the beneficiary, and must be recorded — per AS 13.48.050 — before the transferor dies, in the recording district where the property sits. A deed that isn't recorded before death simply doesn't meet the statutory bar.