Transfer-on-Death Deed Requirements in Iowa
At a glance
| Governing law | No transfer-on-death or beneficiary deed for REAL property. Iowa has not enacted the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act, and its courts have held such deeds void. Real property passes at death by will (through probate) or by intestate succession under Iowa Code ch. 633; the real-property probate-avoidance tool Iowa provides is joint tenancy with right of survivorship (Iowa Code § 557.15) |
|---|---|
| TOD deed available? | Not available. No Iowa statute allows a revocable transfer-on-death or beneficiary deed for real estate. The Legislature has considered the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act several times since 2016 without passing it — most recently HF 125 and HF 816 in the 2025–2026 (91st) General Assembly, both of which died in committee. The Iowa Court of Appeals confirmed in 2021 that an attempted TOD deed of real estate is void for lack of statutory authority. Owners avoid probate on a home through joint tenancy with survivorship or a living trust |
| How to sign it | N/A There is no real-property TOD deed to execute. To avoid probate a person instead records a survivorship deed (Iowa Code § 557.15) or deeds the home into a revocable living trust, each signed and acknowledged under Iowa's ordinary deed rules, not a TOD-deed statute |
| Recording requirement | N/A No TOD deed. Ordinary deeds (a survivorship deed or a deed into a trust) are recorded with the county recorder; a will is not recorded during life and takes effect only through probate after death |
| Revoking it | N/A A living trust is revocable by its own terms and a will is revocable until death, but there is no recorded real-property TOD instrument to revoke; a survivorship deed, once delivered, gives the co-owner a present interest that cannot be undone unilaterally |
| Eligible property & owner | N/A for real property. Iowa has no TOD/beneficiary deed for any real property or owner. Payable-on-death accounts and transfer-on-death securities registration are separate mechanisms outside this survey |
| Beneficiary survival & effect | N/A No TOD deed. A home passes by will (through probate), by intestate succession under ch. 633, under a trust's terms, or to a surviving joint tenant; there is no TOD-deed survival, lapse, or anti-lapse rule for real estate |
| Creditor & Medicaid reach | N/A for a TOD deed. Real property in the probate estate remains subject to the decedent's creditors and to any Iowa Medicaid estate-recovery claim against the estate; a survivorship deed or living trust carries its own creditor and Medicaid treatment outside this survey |
Iowa does not allow a transfer-on-death deed — sometimes called a "beneficiary deed" — for real estate. No Iowa statute lets you record a deed that names who inherits your house at your death while you keep full control during life, and the courts have made the point bluntly: in 2021 the Iowa Court of Appeals held that a deed attempting exactly that was void, because "there is no authority in Iowa" for a transfer-on-death deed. If you want your home to skip probate, you have to use a different tool.
Iowa is one of the states that has not adopted the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act. Lawmakers have taken it up several times since 2016 and it has never passed; the most recent bills, HF 125 and HF 816 in the 2025–2026 session, both died in committee. Until one becomes law, a "transfer-on-death deed" recorded in Iowa today does nothing.
How Iowa owners keep a home out of probate instead
Because there is no TOD deed, the practical options are:
- Joint tenancy with right of survivorship. Under Iowa Code § 557.15, a deed to two or more people described as "joint tenants" or "or their survivor" creates "a presumption of joint tenancy with rights of survivorship," and the survivor automatically owns the whole property when the other dies — no probate. The trade-off is that the co-owner gets a present ownership interest now, and you generally cannot undo it without their cooperation.
- A revocable living trust. You create the trust and deed your home into it during life. You keep control as trustee, and at your death your successor trustee transfers the property to your beneficiaries without probate. This is the closest functional substitute for a TOD deed, because you keep the power to revoke or change it.
If you do neither, the home passes by your will or, with no will, by intestate succession under Iowa's probate code (chapter 633) — either of which runs through probate court.
What trips people up
- A "Iowa transfer-on-death deed" form is legally empty today. These forms are sold nationwide, but Iowa has not enacted the TOD deed Act, and Iowa courts have held such deeds void. Recording one does not pass your house at death.
- A life estate is not the same as a TOD deed, and has real downsides. Reserving a life estate and deeding the remainder to your children gives them a present interest, can trigger a mortgage's due-on-sale clause, and gives up your ability to sell or borrow against the home freely. It is a very different tool with different consequences.
- "TOD" on your brokerage account is not a deed. Iowa lets you register securities in transfer-on-death form and add payable-on-death beneficiaries to bank accounts; those are separate mechanisms and do not extend to real estate.
Common questions
I found an "Iowa transfer-on-death deed" form online. Will it work? No. Iowa has no statute that makes a real-property TOD deed effective, and a court has held one void. Recording it will not pass your house at death; the property will still go through probate or under your will.
Iowa lets me name a beneficiary on my bank account — why not my house? Because Iowa's nonprobate-transfer tools cover accounts and securities (payable-on-death and TOD registration), not a recordable real-estate deed. Bills to extend the idea to land keep being filed but have not become law.
What is the simplest way to avoid probate on my home in Iowa? For most people it is either holding title in joint tenancy with right of survivorship (common for married couples) with the person who should inherit, or a revocable living trust with the home deeded into it. An attorney can tell you which fits your situation and your Medicaid and creditor concerns.
Statutes and sources
- Iowa Code § 557.15 (common forms of co-ownership; joint tenancy with rights of survivorship — the real-property probate-avoidance tool Iowa provides in place of a TOD deed) — https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/557.15.pdf (accessed 2026-07-11)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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