Transfer-on-Death Deed Requirements in Massachusetts

At a glance

Massachusetts is one of the states that does not have a transfer-on-death deed for real estate. It never adopted the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act, so there is no statute that lets you record a deed now naming who inherits your house automatically at your death. A document titled "transfer on death deed" or "beneficiary deed" recorded on Massachusetts land does not do what it says — and, unlike Florida or Michigan, Massachusetts does not recognize a "Lady Bird" (enhanced life estate) deed as a workaround either.

The idea has come up on Beacon Hill more than once. A bill called "An Act relative to beneficiary deeds" has been filed in several sessions (for example, House Bill 1764 in 2021-2022) but none has passed. Until one does, the tools below are what Massachusetts owners use to keep a home out of probate.

What Massachusetts offers instead

A revocable living trust. You move the home into a trust you control and can change or revoke at any time; a successor trustee distributes it at your death without probate. A trust costs more to set up than a single deed, but it is the most flexible tool — it can hold many assets, name backup beneficiaries, plan for incapacity, and (for a blended family) give a surviving spouse the right to live in the home while guaranteeing children ultimately inherit.

Survivorship co-ownership. Property held with a right of survivorship passes to the surviving co-owner outside probate. Massachusetts recognizes two forms that carry survivorship:

• Joint tenancy with right of survivorship, available to any co-owners.
• Tenancy by the entirety, a stronger form available only to a married couple, which passes the home to the surviving spouse automatically and also shields it from a creditor of just one spouse during their joint lives.

The catch with survivorship is that adding a co-owner is a present gift of an interest that exposes the property to that person's creditors and generally cannot be undone without their cooperation — so it is a blunter tool than a beneficiary deed would be.

Massachusetts clearly knows how to create a transfer-on-death mechanism — it just has not extended it to real estate. Under the Massachusetts Uniform Probate Code, G.L. c. 190B, §§ 6-301 to 6-311 (the Uniform TOD Security Registration Act), you can register stocks and brokerage accounts in beneficiary form so they pass at death without probate. But that statute is written entirely around a "security" and a "security account" (§ 6-301); it does not reach your home.

What trips people up

• Out-of-state TOD-deed forms do not work in Massachusetts. Templates that recite a "Massachusetts Transfer-on-Death Deed Act" or "beneficiary deed" are describing a law that does not exist here. Recording one can cloud your title without transferring anything at death.
• "Massachusetts has a TOD registration" usually means securities, not your house. Massachusetts offers transfer-on-death registration for stocks and brokerage accounts. People hear that and assume it covers real estate — it does not.
• Tenancy by the entirety is only for spouses. Unmarried co-owners cannot use it; they are limited to joint tenancy, which lacks the entirety form's creditor protection. And if you are the sole owner, survivorship is not an option at all — a trust is usually the answer.
• A life estate deed is not the same as a TOD deed. Some Massachusetts owners deed the home to their children while keeping a life estate. That does avoid probate, but a traditional life estate deed is generally irrevocable — you give up the power to sell or mortgage freely without the remainder owners' cooperation. That is the opposite of a TOD deed's key feature.

Common questions

I recorded a "beneficiary deed" for my Massachusetts house. Is it good? Not as a beneficiary deed — Massachusetts has no statute giving such a deed effect for real estate. Have a Massachusetts attorney review it and replace it with a trust or an appropriate survivorship deed.

Can I use a Lady Bird deed like people do in Florida or Michigan? No. The enhanced life estate ("Lady Bird") deed is recognized in only a handful of states, and Massachusetts is not one of them. Use a living trust instead.

If I put my spouse on the deed, does the house avoid probate? If you hold title as tenants by the entirety or joint tenants with right of survivorship, the home passes to the surviving co-owner without probate. But it only helps for the first death; after that, the survivor is a sole owner again and needs a trust or other plan.

Will a trust protect my home from MassHealth estate recovery? Not automatically — a revocable trust does not shield assets from MassHealth (Massachusetts's Medicaid program) estate recovery, and the rules for irrevocable trusts are technical. If long-term-care planning is your goal, see an elder-law attorney before choosing a tool.

Statutes and sources

• G.L. c. 190B, § 6-301 (definitions — Massachusetts's transfer-on-death registration is limited to a "security" and "security account") — https://www.mass.gov/info-details/mass-general-laws-c190b-ss-6-301 (accessed 2026-07-11)
• G.L. c. 190B, § 6-311 (even registered securities remain reachable by the estate's creditors and statutory allowances) — https://www.mass.gov/info-details/mass-general-laws-c190b-ss-6-311 (accessed 2026-07-11)
• Mass. H. 1764 (192nd Gen. Court, 2021-2022) ("An Act relative to beneficiary deeds" — a bill to create the mechanism, which died in study; proves no such deed currently exists) — https://malegislature.gov/Bills/192/H1764 (accessed 2026-07-11)