Affidavit of Surviving Joint Tenant Title-Clearance Requirements in Massachusetts

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Covered title and the two land systems

Massachusetts distinguishes ordinary recorded land from Land Court registered land. General Laws chapter 183, § 5A is broad: it applies when a statement of a person's death date “relates or purports to relate” to land title. The section is not limited to one named ownership form.

For registered land, the Land Court's memorandum effective June 3, 2026 expressly addresses surviving joint tenants and tenants by the entirety. It says title passes by operation of law through the survivorship right, but evidence of death must be noted on the outstanding certificate's encumbrance sheet.

The creating instrument still matters. Chapter 184, § 7 generally produces a tenancy in common unless the instrument uses joint-tenancy or survivorship words or otherwise manifests that intent. The death filing does not repair an instrument that failed to create survivorship.

Recorded-land statement and affidavit routes

For ordinary recorded land, § 5A supplies the direct death route. A statement of the date of death may be filed and recorded if it bears on land title and is sworn before an officer authorized to administer oaths. The section does not require the affiant to be the surviving owner, prescribe a legal description or deed-reference field, or require an attached death certificate.

Section 5B provides a broader affidavit route for other title facts. The person making that affidavit must claim personal knowledge, and an attorney must add a certificate stating that the facts are relevant to title and will help clarify the chain of title. A personal-knowledge affidavit without that attorney certificate is not the complete § 5B instrument.

Both routes go to the registry of deeds for the county where the land, or any part of it, lies. Neither section states a post-death deadline.

Registered-land death evidence

The current Land Court method is document-based, not a general survivor affidavit. Register a certified copy of the deceased owner's Certificate of Death with the appropriate Registry District. If the deceased owner was a tenant by the entirety, also register an Affidavit of No Divorce.

The memorandum supplies example no-divorce affidavits sworn under oath, executed under the penalties of perjury, and notarized. Registry District requirements govern the filing. For joint tenancy, the listed Method 1 document is the certified death certificate; no separate survivor affidavit is named.

Evidentiary and record effect

A recorded § 5A statement, or a certified copy of its record, is admissible in a Massachusetts title proceeding to the extent its facts bear on title. Separately, chapter 190B, § 1-107(2) makes a certified or authenticated death certificate prima-facie evidence of the fact, place, date, and time of death and the decedent's identity.

For registered land, the documents note death on the existing certificate. Once they are registered, the Land Court says the surviving owner may deal with the property without Land Court approval. Method 1 does not issue a new certificate in the survivor's name; that requires the memorandum's separate Method 2.

What trips people up

Recorded land and registered land do not use the same package. Section 5A allows a sworn death-date statement for ordinary recorded land. The Land Court's registered-land method instead requires the certified death certificate and, for tenancy by the entirety, the no-divorce affidavit.

A § 5B affidavit needs an attorney certificate. Personal knowledge alone is not enough. The statute requires an attorney to certify both title relevance and the affidavit's benefit in clarifying the chain of title.

Method 1 does not create a new registered-land certificate. It notes the death and lets the survivor deal with the property. A survivor who wants a new certificate solely in the survivor's name must use the Land Court's different court-complaint route.

Common questions

Does ordinary recorded land always require a certified death certificate? Not under § 5A. That provision requires a sworn death-date statement but does not name a death-certificate attachment. A certified or authenticated certificate does carry prima-facie evidentiary status under § 1-107.

Must the surviving owner personally sign the § 5A statement? The statute does not impose a survivor-only signer rule. It requires a title-related death statement sworn before an officer authorized to administer oaths.

What extra document applies to registered tenancy by the entirety? An Affidavit of No Divorce accompanies the certified Certificate of Death under the current Land Court method.

Statutes and sources

• Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 183, §§ 5A-5B — recorded death statements, broader title affidavits, affiant rules, attorney certificate, registry, and evidence. https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartII/TitleI/Chapter183/Section5A and https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartII/TitleI/Chapter183/Section5B (accessed 2026-08-16).
• Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 184, § 7 — express joint-tenancy and survivorship language. https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartII/TitleI/Chapter184/Section7 (accessed 2026-08-16).
• Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 190B, § 1-107 — evidentiary status of certified or authenticated death certificates and alternate death proof. https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartII/TitleII/Chapter190B/Section1-107 (accessed 2026-08-16).
• Massachusetts Land Court Memorandum, Guideline 14, Method 1 — current registered-land survivorship documents and effect, effective June 3, 2026. https://www.mass.gov/memorandum/memo-land-court-guideline-14-death-the-effect-of-death-upon-registered-land-titles (accessed 2026-08-16).