Tennessee Transfer-on-Death Deed

Quick answer: Yes. Tennessee has adopted the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act, so owners can use a transfer-on-death deed for real estate. The beneficiary still takes the property subject to claims that existed at the owner's death.

Tennessee enacted its own version of the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act, creating a transfer-on-death deed framework for real estate. The Act specifically labels this deed nontestamentary — meaning it transfers title directly rather than operating through a will.

Having this statute puts Tennessee in a different category from states that rely only on a retained life estate or a revocable trust for the same kind of probate planning. But nontestamentary status doesn't turn the deed into a settled Medicaid-planning solution — a beneficiary who receives property this way still takes it subject to whatever claims and interests existed at the owner's death.