Maryland Transfer-on-Death Deed

Last updated: August 21, 2026 Jurisdiction: Maryland

Maryland enacted a statutory transfer-on-death deed

Maryland enacted the Maryland Transfer-on-Death Deed Act as Chapter 750 in 2026. The Act is effective October 1, 2026 and applies to a TOD deed made before, on, or after that date if the transferor dies on or after October 1, 2026. As of the current August 2026 date, this is an enacted tool with a future effective date, not yet a substitute for the forms and title practice that apply before October 1 (Maryland General Assembly, Chapter 750).

The Act allows an owner to transfer Maryland real property to one or more beneficiaries effective at death. A TOD deed is nontestamentary, but it must be executed, acknowledged, and recorded in the land records of the county where the property is located before the owner dies. Notice to, delivery to, acceptance by, or consideration from the beneficiary is not required during the owner’s life (Maryland General Assembly, Chapter 750).

What happens while the owner is alive

A Maryland TOD deed is revocable even if the deed or another instrument says otherwise. Before death, the owner can record a revoking TOD deed, revocation instrument, or inconsistent inter vivos deed. The Act further says that, during the owner’s life, the TOD deed does not create a legal or equitable beneficiary interest, affect the owner’s right to transfer or encumber the property, or subject the property to the beneficiary’s creditors (Maryland General Assembly, Chapter 750).

Most unusually for this subject, the enacted Act expressly says the TOD deed does not affect the transferor’s or designated beneficiary’s eligibility for any form of public assistance during the transferor’s life. That is a lifetime eligibility statement in the deed statute, not a blanket answer about later transfer penalties, estate claims, liens, taxes, title defects, or recovery after death (Maryland General Assembly, Chapter 750; COMAR 10.09.24.15).

Death-time title and recovery need a separate review

At death, a surviving beneficiary takes subject to conveyances, encumbrances, assignments, contracts, mortgages, liens, and other security agreements affecting the property. Maryland’s Medicaid recovery regulation separately defines estate by reference to Maryland probate law and provides recovery rules for correctly paid benefits, so a nonprobate label should not be presented as a guaranteed recovery shield (Maryland General Assembly, Chapter 750; COMAR 10.09.24.15).

Maryland TOD deed: enacted in 2026; effective October 1, 2026; revocable; must be recorded before death; creates no beneficiary interest and does not affect public-assistance eligibility while the owner is alive (Maryland General Assembly, Chapter 750).

For the broader home-planning framework, see The Home. Have a Maryland real-estate and elder-law attorney review title, timing, creditors, taxes, eligibility, and recovery before a TOD deed is signed or relied upon.

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Maryland enacted a statutory transfer-on-death deed

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