Iowa Home Transfer Planning

Families looking for a transfer-on-death option for real estate in Iowa need to understand what the current Code actually covers versus what's just been proposed. Iowa Code chapter 633D is organized entirely around transfer-on-death registration for securities — think brokerage or beneficiary-form registrations — and it includes provisions for claims against a beneficiary of that kind of registration. It does not create any general transfer-on-death mechanism for real property.

That real-property gap is what House File 816 is trying to fill. The bill would establish a new chapter 633G, adopting the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act, which would let an owner record a revocable deed that only becomes effective at death. But the bill's own official heading identifies it as 'House File 816 - Introduced' — meaning it hasn't been enacted, and its mechanics aren't something a family can rely on as current Iowa law for planning purposes today.