Georgia: Transfer-on-Death Deed Requirements

Georgia is one of the newer states to allow a transfer-on-death deed. The Legislature
created the deed in 2024 and then substantially rewrote the rules in April 2026, so this
is a young and still-settling area of Georgia law. The basic promise is the familiar one:
record a deed now naming who gets your house, keep full control of the property for the
rest of your life, and the home passes to that person at your death without a probate
case. What sets Georgia apart is a step that happens after you die — the person you
named has to come forward and formally accept the property within nine months, or the
gift unwinds.

How to sign it

You are the "record owner." Under § 44-17-2, the deed is created "by recording a
deed, signed by the record owner," and you must have "the same legal capacity required to
enter into a contract" — ordinary deed-signing capacity, not the higher standard used for
a will. You cannot sign one through an agent: "An attorney in fact shall not be authorized
to execute a transfer-on-death deed on behalf of a record owner."

The signing formalities are the same as for any Georgia deed. The statutory form in
§ 44-17-3 ends with the standard Georgia execution block — the grantor signs "in the
presence of" an "Unofficial Witness" and a "Notary Public." In practice that means one
lay witness plus a notary: Georgia deeds are attested by one unofficial witness and one
official witness (the notary). The beneficiary — called the "designated grantee
beneficiary" — never signs and does not have to know the deed exists; § 44-17-2 says their
"signature, consent, or agreement" is not required during your life.

Recording it, and the nine-month acceptance affidavit

Two recording steps matter, one before death and one after.

Before death: § 44-17-3 says the deed only works if it is "executing, attesting, and
recording in the office of the clerk of superior court of the county where the real estate
is located, prior to the death of the record owner." A TOD deed that is signed and
notarized but never recorded — or recorded only after you die — transfers nothing. Unlike
California or Nebraska, Georgia sets no outer deadline measured from signing; you just
have to get it on record while you are alive.

After death — the nine-month clock: this is Georgia's signature twist. Ownership does
not fully pass just because you died. Under § 44-17-2(e) the beneficiary must record an
acceptance affidavit (verifying your death, stating whether you and the beneficiary
were married at your death, citing the deed book and page, and describing the property)
together with a certified copy of your death certificate. The statute gives a hard
deadline: the beneficiary "shall record such affidavit ... within nine months of the
record owner's death or the interest in the property shall revert to the deceased record
owner's estate." Miss the nine months and the house drops back into your estate and goes
through probate — exactly the outcome the deed was meant to avoid.

Revoking it

The deed is fully revocable while you live. Under § 44-17-4, you revoke "at any time
prior to the death of such record owner, by executing, acknowledging, and recording ... an
instrument revoking such designation," attested "by an officer as provided in Code Section
44-2-15 and attested by one other witness" — the same notary-plus-one-witness formality as
the deed itself. (The April 2026 amendment cut this from two witnesses to one.) You can
also revoke simply by recording a later TOD deed for the same property; the statutory
form states that a new deed "REVOKES ALL PRIOR BENEFICIARY DESIGNATIONS."

Georgia also revokes the deed automatically in two situations spelled out in the 2026
amendment: if you "sell or convey" the property (or transfer it into your own trust)
before death, or if "the death of a sole designated grantee beneficiary occurs before
acceptance," the deed "is rendered revoked."

Eligible property and owner

A Georgia TOD deed can cover "any estate or interest in, over or under land" — § 44-17-1
defines "interest in real estate" broadly (surface, minerals, structures, fixtures, and
easements). There is no California-style limit to one-to-four-unit homes.

Co-ownership is the trap. Under § 44-17-6, a joint owner (a joint tenant with right of
survivorship) may sign a TOD deed, "provided, however, that title to the interest shall
vest in the designated grantee beneficiary ... only if the record joint owner is the last
to die of all of the record joint owners." And a TOD deed "shall not sever a joint
tenancy." So if you own with a spouse in joint tenancy and you die first, your TOD
beneficiary gets nothing — survivorship sends your share to your co-owner, and the TOD
deed only ever pays off if you are the last joint owner standing.

Beneficiary survival and what passes

Under § 44-17-5, if a named beneficiary dies before you, that "lapsed interest shall be
split evenly among the remaining designated grantee beneficiaries who are living at the
time of the death of the record owner and shall not revert to the estate." So naming two
or more beneficiaries builds in a backup: the survivors absorb a predeceasing
beneficiary's share automatically. You may also name your own "alternate grantee
beneficiaries" in the deed (§ 44-17-2), and if you designate the beneficiaries as joint
tenants with right of survivorship, that survivorship among them is preserved.

Whoever takes the property takes it subject to what is already recorded against it —
"all recorded conveyances, assignments, contracts, mortgages, liens, and security
pledges." A TOD deed does not wipe out the loan; your beneficiary inherits the house and
the security deed on it. One protection the statute does give: the deed passes the
property "free and clear of any claims" of anyone "who became the spouse of the record
owner subsequent to the execution of the transfer-on-death deed."

Creditor and Medicaid reach

During your life, § 44-17-7 makes you "the legal and equitable owner until the death
of such record owner," and "an absolute owner with regard to creditors and purchasers."
The recorded deed changes nothing about your ownership — you can sell, mortgage, or lose
the property to your own creditors, and it counts as your asset for benefit-eligibility
purposes.

After death, Georgia is more protective of the beneficiary than many states on
unsecured debt: § 44-17-5 says the TOD deed "takes precedence and priority over all
unsecured debts of the record owner's estate." Secured debts are different — the
beneficiary still takes subject to every recorded mortgage, lien, and security deed.

On Medicaid estate recovery, do not assume the deed shields the home. Georgia's
recovery statute, § 49-4-147.1, lets the state "make claim against the estate of a
Medicaid recipient" (waiving the first $25,000), and Georgia's estate-recovery regulation
defines "estate" broadly to include real property "passing by reason of ... survivorship,
... or any other arrangement." That definition is wide enough to reach a TOD transfer, so
a family counting on the deed to defeat a Medicaid claim should get specific legal advice.

What trips people up

• The nine-month acceptance affidavit is the deadline that catches people. The deed
  being recorded is not the finish line. Your beneficiary must record an affidavit plus a
  certified death certificate within nine months of your death, or the property reverts
  and goes through probate (§ 44-17-2). Tell your beneficiary the deed exists and where it
  is recorded — the 2026 amendment even added a duty for the estate's personal
  representative to notify the beneficiary, precisely because people were missing the
  window without knowing a deed existed.
• A joint-tenancy home can make the deed pointless. If your house is held jointly with
  right of survivorship, § 44-17-6 lets your TOD gift take effect only if you are the last
  co-owner to die. Adding a child to your deed as a joint tenant and signing a TOD deed
  often produces a TOD deed that never operates.
• This statute is new and just changed. The Legislature amended the rules effective
  April 22, 2026. The amendment shifted the nine-month acceptance rule's trigger date and
  left transition language that practitioners have flagged as unsettled. Treat the safe
  course as recording the acceptance affidavit within nine months regardless, and confirm
  the current text before relying on any fine point.

Common questions

Does my beneficiary have to sign or agree to the deed? No. You sign and record it
alone; the beneficiary's consent is not required and they need not even know (§ 44-17-2).
Their job comes after your death, when they file the acceptance affidavit.

Does a Georgia TOD deed beat my will? Yes for that property. The deed is
nontestamentary — it passes the home outside your will. Writing a different gift of the
same house into your will does not override a validly recorded, timely accepted TOD deed;
to change the beneficiary you record a new TOD deed or a revocation.

Can I name more than one person? Yes. Multiple beneficiaries can be named, and you can
add alternates. If one of several beneficiaries dies before you, § 44-17-5 splits that
share among the survivors rather than sending it to your estate.

Is a TOD deed better than a living trust? They do different jobs. A TOD deed is cheap
and simple for one property, but Georgia's nine-month acceptance step, the joint-tenancy
limits, and the fact that the statute is brand new and recently amended lead many families
with more than one asset to use a trust. Which fits depends on your situation.

Statutes and sources

• O.C.G.A. § 44-17-1 (definitions) — https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/title-44/chapter-17/section-44-17-1/ (accessed 2026-07-11)
• O.C.G.A. § 44-17-2 (requirements; acceptance affidavit; nine-month reversion; as amended by 2026 HB 413) — https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70254 (accessed 2026-07-11)
• O.C.G.A. § 44-17-3 (statutory form; execute, attest, record before death) — https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/title-44/chapter-17/section-44-17-3/ (accessed 2026-07-11)
• O.C.G.A. § 44-17-4 (revocation or amendment; as amended by 2026 HB 413) — https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70254 (accessed 2026-07-11)
• O.C.G.A. § 44-17-5 (beneficiary rights; lapse; priority over unsecured debts; as amended by 2026 HB 413) — https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70254 (accessed 2026-07-11)
• O.C.G.A. § 44-17-6 (record joint owner) — https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/title-44/chapter-17/section-44-17-6/ (accessed 2026-07-11)
• O.C.G.A. § 44-17-7 (limitations; absolute owner as to creditors in life) — https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/title-44/chapter-17/section-44-17-7/ (accessed 2026-07-11)
• O.C.G.A. § 49-4-147.1 (Medicaid estate-recovery claim; $25,000 waiver) — https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/title-49/chapter-4/article-7/section-49-4-147-1/ (accessed 2026-07-11)
• Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-3-8-.02(7) (estate-recovery definition of "estate") — https://rules.sos.ga.gov/gac/111-3-8 (accessed 2026-07-11)