Notice: Californians Have a New 2016 Law to Keep Homes Out of Probate and You Can Use the Law to Help Your Family Law Clients

• Jurisdiction: California,United States
• Citation: Vol. 38 No. 1
• Publication year: 2016
• topic: Trust Law,Real Estate

NOTICE: Californians Have a New 2016 Law to Keep Homes out of Probate And You Can Use The Law to Help Your Family Law Clients

In California, there are a variety of ways to hold title to your home that will dictate who will become the new owner of your home when you die.

Starting January 1, 2016, California homeowners can add a new way of holding title to their homes called the "Revocable Transfer on Death Deed" (TOD deed). TOD deed is a non-probate deed whereby the homeowner may deed his/her home to a named beneficiary and the transfer becomes operative on the homeowner's death, but will remain revocable until he/she dies. California Assembly Bill 139 2015-2016 Reg. Sess. created the "Revocable Transfer on Death Deed" (TOD deed) as an alternative "poor man's" estate planning instrument to avoid probate without having a trust. It was approved on September 21, 2015 and will take effect on January 1, 2016 and expires on January 1, 2021.

The TOD deed covers only one to four residential dwelling units, a condominium, or agricultural land of forty acres or less with a single-family residence. To be valid, a form called "Simple Revocable Transfer on Death (TOD) Deed" must be recorded within sixty days of execution in the county where the property is located, must be signed, dated, notarized, must contain a legal description of the property, and name the beneficiaries getting your property and their relationships to the creator of the TOD (one cannot make a class gift such as "to my children or grandchildren.") The beneficiary of a...