Transfer-on-Death Deed Requirements in Wisconsin

At a glance

Wisconsin lets you leave real estate to someone without probate by naming a TOD beneficiary — Wisconsin's version of a transfer-on-death deed — under Wis. Stat. § 705.15. You add a "transfer on death" designation to a deed for your property, naming who should receive it when you die. Nothing happens while you are alive: you keep full ownership and control, and the beneficiary gets no interest at all. When you die (or, if you own with others, when the last owner dies), the property passes automatically to the person you named.

The rule that matters most: the designation "is not effective unless" the document is recorded with the county register of deeds before you die (§ 705.15(2)(c)). A TOD designation that is signed but never recorded, or recorded only after death, does nothing.

Requirements one by one

Signing and notarizing it

You sign the deed carrying the TOD designation and acknowledge it before a notary. Section 705.15 does not spell out "notary" in its list of contents, but it presupposes that the owner "acknowledged" the recorded document (§ 705.15(3)(a)2.), and a deed must be acknowledged to be recorded in Wisconsin — so notarization is required in practice. Wisconsin does not require witnesses for the real-property TOD. (Wisconsin's separate transfer-on-death statute for farm implements does require two witnesses, one of them disinterested — § 705.18(3)(c) — but that rule applies to farm equipment, not to your house.) One Wisconsin-specific trap: if the home is your marital property, "the signatures of both spouses who have an interest in the marital property" are required (§ 705.15(2)(a)4.). Capacity to make or revoke the designation is the same as the capacity to make a will (§ 705.15(7)).

Recording before death — the make-or-break step

The designation is effective only if the document and recording fees "are submitted for recording to the register of deeds office of the county in which the real property is located before the death" of the owner or last owner (§ 705.15(2)(c)). There is no deadline measured from signing, but it must be on record before you die. You can put the TOD designation on the deed that first passed the property to you, or add it later with a separately recorded document (§ 705.15(2)(b)).

Naming beneficiaries and what happens if one dies first

You may name one or more primary beneficiaries and one or more contingent beneficiaries (§ 705.15(2)(b)). On your death the property passes to the beneficiaries who survive you — and, to a covered predeceased beneficiary's issue under Wisconsin's anti-lapse rule (§§ 705.15(4), 854.06(2)-(4)). The substitute gift applies when the beneficiary is your grandparent or a descendant of your grandparent, but the recorded instrument can instead say that the gift lapses, name contingent beneficiaries who take first, or show a contrary intent. If no beneficiary and no qualifying issue survives, the property goes to your estate and passes through probate.

Revoking it

The designation does not affect ownership until death "regardless of whether the document provides otherwise" (§ 705.15(3)(a)), and you can revoke it any time before death. Each method is a document acknowledged after you acknowledged the earlier one and recorded before you die: a new compliant TOD document, an instrument of revocation, or an inter vivos deed that expressly revokes (§ 705.15(3)(a)1.–2.). Simply conveying the property away during life also defeats the designation (§ 705.15(3)(c)).

Co-owners and survivorship

Wisconsin's statute expressly covers co-owned property — tenants in common, joint tenants, and spouses holding marital or survivorship marital property (§ 705.15(1m)). But the transfer always happens on the death of the last owner to die, so a co-owner's right of survivorship comes first; your TOD beneficiary takes only what is still yours when the last owner dies. For joint tenants or survivorship-marital-property spouses, a revocation is effective only if all living co-owners join in it (§ 705.15(3)(b)2.).

Creditors, your estate, and Medicaid

The beneficiary takes "subject to any lien or encumbrance against the real property" at your death (§ 705.15(4)), so mortgages and recorded liens ride along. Wisconsin's public-assistance recovery law defines a decedent's property to include real property transferred through survivorship and "any other arrangement," and it authorizes recovery of qualifying Medical Assistance from that property when its statutory conditions are met (§ 49.849(1)(d), (2)(a), (4)). Survivor protections and other limits can delay or restrict recovery. Note also the 120-day window: a claimant seeking to recover the transferred property must file a complaint and a lis pendens within 120 days of death or the claim is barred (§ 705.15(8)).

What trips people up

• A TOD designation that is never recorded — or recorded after death — does nothing. Recording with the county register of deeds before you die is what makes it effective (§ 705.15(2)(c)).
• If the home is marital property, both spouses must sign. A TOD designation on marital property signed by only one spouse does not satisfy § 705.15(2)(a)4.
• Survivorship comes first. If you co-own with a right of survivorship, the surviving co-owner takes the property; your TOD beneficiary reaches it only if you are the last owner to die (§ 705.15(1m), (4)).
• Don't confuse the house rule with the farm-equipment rule. The two-witness requirement people sometimes hear about is in § 705.18 for farm implements, not in § 705.15 for real property.

Common questions

Is a "TOD beneficiary" designation the same as a transfer-on-death deed? Yes, in substance. Wisconsin uses the "TOD beneficiary" label and a recorded designation instead of a standalone "beneficiary deed," but it does the same job: real property passes at death outside probate.

Do I need witnesses? No — not for a real-property TOD (§ 705.15). You do need to sign and have the deed notarized so it can be recorded.

Does my beneficiary get any rights while I'm alive? No. The designation "does not affect ownership of the property until the death" (§ 705.15(3)(a)); you can sell, mortgage, or revoke it without the beneficiary's consent.

What if my named beneficiary dies before me? A covered beneficiary's surviving issue may receive the share per stirpes under the anti-lapse rule. But a stated lapse, a contingent-beneficiary designation, or contrary intent controls instead (§ 854.06(2)-(4)).

Statutes and sources

• Wis. Stat. § 705.15(1m) (interests that can be transferred; on death of sole/last owner) — https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/705.15 (accessed 2026-08-13)
• Wis. Stat. § 705.15(2) (required contents; TOD/POD wording; both spouses sign marital property; record before death) — https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/705.15 (accessed 2026-08-13)
• Wis. Stat. § 705.15(3) (no effect until death; revocation methods and acknowledgment; joint-owner rule) — https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/705.15 (accessed 2026-08-13)
• Wis. Stat. § 705.15(4) (passes subject to liens; anti-lapse cross-reference; to estate if none survive) — https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/705.15 (accessed 2026-08-13)
• Wis. Stat. § 705.15(7) (capacity = capacity to make or revoke a will) — https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/705.15 (accessed 2026-08-13)
• Wis. Stat. § 705.15(8) (120-day claim bar with complaint and lis pendens) — https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/705.15 (accessed 2026-08-13)
• Wis. Stat. § 854.06(2)-(4) (covered relatives; substitute gift to issue; lapse, contingent-beneficiary, and contrary-intent exceptions) — https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/854.06 (accessed 2026-08-13)
• Wis. Stat. § 49.849(1)(d), (2)(a), (4) (public-assistance recovery from a decedent's property, including qualifying Medical Assistance and real-property liens) — https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/49.849 (accessed 2026-08-13)
• Wis. Stat. § 705.18(3)(c) (farm-implement TOD requires two witnesses, one disinterested — contrast; not applicable to real property) — https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/705.18 (accessed 2026-08-13)