Texas Transfer-on-Death Deed

Texas Transfer-on-Death Deed Package

Texas deed package last revised: July 1, 2026.

This Texas transfer-on-death deed package is a DOCX-only self-help package for Texas real property owners using the statutory transfer-at-death deed path. It includes a Texas transfer-on-death deed, a separate cancellation form, and separate instructions for each form. A Texas transfer-on-death deed is not an ordinary sale deed: it is designed to name a beneficiary to receive the owner's Texas real property interest at death, if the deed is completed, signed, acknowledged, and recorded as required before the owner's death.

What Is Included After Checkout?

The package includes four editable Microsoft Word DOCX files: Transfer-on-Death-Deed-TX.docx, Transfer-on-Death-Deed-TX-Instructions.docx, Cancellation-of-Transfer-on-Death-Deed-TX.docx, and Cancellation-of-Transfer-on-Death-Deed-TX-Instructions.docx. Final fulfillment for this product is DOCX-only; no PDF version is included in the product download.

When This Texas Form May Be Considered

A Texas transfer-on-death deed may be considered when a Texas real property owner wants to name one or more beneficiaries to receive the property interest at the owner's death without making a present transfer during life. The owner generally keeps lifetime ownership and control unless the owner makes a separate transfer or revokes the transfer-on-death deed. The included cancellation form is for cancelling a previously recorded Texas transfer-on-death deed when cancellation is the chosen path.

Important Texas Completion and Recording Notes

• Record before death: A Texas transfer-on-death deed must be recorded in the deed records in the County Clerk's office in the county where the real property is located before the transferor's death.
• Signing and acknowledgment: To be effective, a Texas transfer-on-death deed must be signed and acknowledged as required for a recordable deed before recording. A cancellation or revocation instrument must be acknowledged after the deed being cancelled and recorded before the transferor's death in the deed records where the deed being cancelled was recorded.
• Confidentiality notice: Texas instruments transferring real-property interests to or from an individual must include the Texas confidentiality-rights notice at the top of the first page in the required format.
• Legal description: Use the complete legal description from a reliable title source. A street address, tax-account number, or appraisal-district summary is not a substitute for the legal description.
• Not a warranty deed: A Texas transfer-on-death deed does not provide a title warranty and is not a substitute for a general warranty deed, special warranty deed, deed without warranty, quitclaim deed, sale closing, title-company review, or attorney review.

Texas Transfer-on-Death Deed Cautions

Texas transfer-on-death deed issues can be transaction-specific. Use Texas counsel, a title company, lender review, tax advice, probate advice, or benefits counsel when the property involves a mortgage or deed of trust, homestead or spouse issues, community property, co-owners, multiple beneficiaries, minors, disabled beneficiaries, trusts, entities, creditor claims, Medicaid estate recovery, divorce, probate, guardianship, powers of attorney, mineral interests, or uncertain title.