South Dakota Transfer-on-Death Deed

South Dakota has adopted the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act, which lets a property owner pass real estate to one or more named beneficiaries automatically at death through a recorded deed. Under SDCL 29A-6-403 and SDCL 29A-6-405, that deed stays revocable during the owner's lifetime no matter what language appears in the deed or any other document.

The same statutory framework makes clear the deed can take effect without the beneficiary receiving notice, without delivery, without the beneficiary accepting it while the owner is alive, and without any consideration changing hands. Those are probate-law mechanics — SDCL 29A-6-409 doesn't answer the separate questions of Medicaid eligibility or what happens during estate recovery.