Massachusetts: Transfer-on-Death Deed Requirements

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)