Kansas Transfer-on-Death Deed

Kansas law gives property owners a specific tool for passing real estate outside of probate: the transfer-on-death, or TOD, deed. Under Kansas Statutes Annotated section 59-3501, an owner can title an interest in real estate in TOD form simply by recording a deed signed by the record owner that names one or more grantee beneficiaries. Ownership doesn't shift until the owner's death, no consideration is required to set it up, and the named beneficiary doesn't need to sign anything, consent, agree, or even be notified while the owner is alive (K.S.A. 59-3501).

Section 59-3502 lays out how to actually make one effective: the deed must be executed, acknowledged, and recorded with the register of deeds in the county where the property sits, and this all has to happen before the owner dies. The statute's own form language confirms three key features — the deed is revocable, it transfers no ownership interest until death, and recording a new one revokes any prior beneficiary designation for that same interest. Notably, a will cannot substitute for the statutory recording requirement that makes a TOD deed effective (K.S.A. 59-3502).