Transfer on Death Deed or TOD - Beneficiary Deed for Individual to Individual
New Mexico Statutes
CHAPTER 45 Uniform Probate Code
ARTICLE 6 Nonprobate Transfers
PART 4 REAL PROPERTY
45-6-401. Real property; transfer on death deed.
A. An interest in real property may be titled in transfer on
death form by recording a deed signed and acknowledged by
the record owner of the interest and designating a grantee
beneficiary or beneficiaries of the interest. The deed
transfers ownership of that interest upon the death of the
owner. A transfer on death deed need not be supported by
consideration.
B. The signature, consent or agreement of or notice to a
grantee beneficiary of a transfer on death deed is not
required for any purpose during the lifetime of the record
owner.
C. An interest in real property is titled in transfer on
death form by executing, acknowledging and recording in the
office of the county clerk in the county where the real
property is located, prior to the death of the owner, a deed
in substantially the following form:
"TRANSFER ON DEATH DEED
__________ (Name of owner) __________ as owner transfers on
death to _____ (name of beneficiary) _____, as grantee
beneficiary, the following described interest in real
property. THIS TRANSFER ON DEATH DEED IS REVOCABLE. IT DOES
NOT TRANSFER ANY OWNERSHIP UNTIL THE DEATH OF THE OWNER. IT
REVOKES ALL PRIOR BENEFICIARY DESIGNATIONS BY THIS OWNER FOR
THIS INTEREST IN REAL PROPERTY.
(description)
Witness ______________________ hand ______________________ and
seal ___________________________________ this ____________ day
of 20__
_____________________ (Seal)
(Here add acknowledgment(s))".
D. A designation of the grantee beneficiary may be revoked
by the record owner at any time prior to the death of the
record owner, by the record owner executing, acknowledging
and recording in the office of the county clerk in the
county where the real property is located an instrument
describing the interest and revoking the designation. The
signature, consent or agreement of or notice to the grantee
beneficiary or beneficiaries is not required.
E. A designation of the grantee beneficiary may be changed
by the record owner at any time prior to the death of the
record owner, by the record owner executing, acknowledging
and recording a subsequent transfer on death deed. The
signature, consent or agreement of or notice to the grantee
beneficiary or beneficiaries is not required. A subsequent
transfer on death beneficiary designation revokes a prior
designation to the extent there is a conflict between the
two designations.
F. A transfer on death deed executed, acknowledged and
recorded in accordance with this section is not revoked by
the provisions of a will.
G. A joint tenancy in real property is not effected by a
transfer on death deed, and the rights of a surviving joint
tenant shall prevail over a grantee beneficiary named in a
transfer on death deed. If a joint tenant has executed a
transfer on death deed, and if that joint tenant is the last
surviving joint tenant, then the transfer on death deed is
effective on that joint tenant's death.
H. Title to the interest in real estate recorded in transfer
on death form shall vest in the designated grantee
beneficiary or beneficiaries on the death of the record
owner.
I. Grantee beneficiaries of a transfer on death deed take
the record owner's interest in the real estate at death
subject to all conveyances, assignments, contracts,
mortgages, liens and security pledges made by the record
owner or to which the record owner was subject during the
record owner's lifetime and to any interest conveyed by the
record owner that is less than all of the record owner's
interest in the property.
J. If the assets of the estate are insufficient, a transfer
resulting from a transfer on death deed is not effective
against the estate of a deceased party to the extent needed
to pay any claims against the estate and the statutory
allowances to the surviving spouse and children.
K. If a grantee beneficiary dies prior to the death of the
record owner and an alternative grantee beneficiary has not
been designated on the deed, the transfer shall lapse.
History: Laws 2001, ch. 236, § 1.
