Affidavit of Surviving Joint Tenant Title-Clearance Requirements in Delaware

At a glance

Requirements one by one

The affidavit, filer, office, and clock

Delaware's route is mandatory. Under 12 Del. C. § 1905(e), when real property passes because it was held in joint ownership with right of survivorship or in tenancy by the entireties with the decedent, either the personal representative or the surviving joint tenant must complete and file the affidavit.

The deadline is three months after the decedent's death. The filing office is the Register of Wills for the county where the real property is located. That is a probate-office filing, not a direction to record the packet with the county Recorder of Deeds.

Required contents and death evidence

The statutory contents are short: a general description of the real estate and the surviving owner's name. Section 1905(e) does not require a complete metes- and-bounds legal description, tax parcel number, vesting-deed book and page, date or place of death, statement that survivorship was never severed, or request that a land-record office clear title.

The subsection also states no death-certificate attachment or court-order requirement. It expressly says the filer need not produce a certified or exemplified copy from the decedent's former jurisdiction or certify the decedent's probate status there to remove the decedent from survivorship or entireties title.

Docket and tax notation

Section 1912 requires the Register of Wills to record and index a § 1905 filing in the Inheritance and Succession Docket. If the described real estate or interest is subject to Delaware estate tax, the Register notes that status in the docket. The Register later notes discharge after notice from the Division of Revenue that the tax was paid.

That administrative notation does not turn the affidavit into a deed or state that every recital is conclusive. The statutes give the filing its specific title-removal and docket-record functions without promising marketable or insured title.

What trips people up

The Register of Wills is the statutory office. A general deed-recording statute does not replace § 1905(e)'s specific county probate-office command.

“General description” is not “full legal description.” The statute does not require a metes-and-bounds exhibit, parcel ID, or prior deed reference.

The three-month clock runs from death. It is not measured from appointment of the personal representative or discovery of the property.

Common questions

Can the personal representative file instead of the survivor? Yes. Section 1905(e) names either the personal representative or the surviving joint tenant.

Must a certified death certificate accompany the affidavit? Section 1905(e) does not require one.

Where does the filing appear? The Register of Wills records and indexes it in the Inheritance and Succession Docket under § 1912.

Statutes and sources

• 12 Del. C. § 1905(e) — covered title, eligible filers, three-month deadline, office, contents, and unnecessary foreign probate material. https://delcode.delaware.gov/title12/c019/index.html (accessed 2026-08-03).
• 12 Del. C. § 1912 — recording, indexing, and estate-tax notation in the Inheritance and Succession Docket. https://delcode.delaware.gov/title12/c019/index.html (accessed 2026-08-03).