District of Columbia Transfer-on-Death Deed

Last updated: August 21, 2026 Jurisdiction: District of Columbia

DC authorizes a transfer-on-death deed

The District has enacted the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act. Under the D.C. Code, an individual may transfer a qualifying interest in District real property to one or more beneficiaries effective at the transferor’s death by a transfer-on-death deed. The statute defines the covered property as an interest in District real property transferable at the owner’s death, so the tool is not a general way to retitle every kind of asset (D.C. Code, Uniform Real Property Transfers on Death).

The deed is revocable. It must contain the essential elements and formalities of a recordable inter vivos deed, state that the transfer occurs at death, and be recorded in the Office of the Recorder of Deeds before the transferor dies. The statute also says notice, delivery, acceptance, and consideration are not required during life. These details make recording and formality central; an unsigned plan or an unrecorded draft is not the statutory deed (D.C. Code, Uniform Real Property Transfers on Death).

What it does during life

During the owner’s life, the statute says a transfer-on-death deed does not affect the owner’s right to transfer or encumber property, does not create a legal or equitable interest in the beneficiary, and does not affect the transferor’s or beneficiary’s eligibility for public assistance. It also does not affect the owner’s creditors. These are valuable statutory points, but they do not answer every Medicaid eligibility question about a related transaction, other assets, or a later application (D.C. Code, Uniform Real Property Transfers on Death).

At death, the beneficiary takes subject to conveyances, encumbrances, assignments, contracts, mortgages, liens, and other interests affecting the property. A transfer-on-death deed also does not override survivorship: if a joint owner survives, the property belongs to that surviving owner; the deed works only if the transferor is the last surviving joint owner. Title review is therefore essential before treating a deed as a simple estate plan (D.C. Code, Uniform Real Property Transfers on Death).

Medicaid recovery is not a promised result

DHCF’s estate-recovery fact sheet defines an estate as real and personal property, including a home, owned by the beneficiary that does not pass to another person at death. That definition suggests why a death-transfer deed can matter in a probate discussion. But the public materials located here do not state that a transfer-on-death deed is a Medicaid-recovery shield, do not resolve all lien issues, and do not replace the transfer-of-assets analysis. The prudent conclusion is uncertainty, not a promise of protection (DHCF Estate Recovery Fact Sheet; D.C. Code, Uniform Real Property Transfers on Death).

A District real-estate and elder-law attorney should review title, mortgages, tax consequences, probate consequences, prospective long-term-care eligibility, and possible recovery before a deed is signed or changed.

Tool available: a revocable, recorded transfer-on-death deed for qualifying District real property. Medicaid caveat: the retrieved law does not make it a proven eligibility or estate-recovery solution (D.C. Code, Uniform Real Property Transfers on Death).

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District of Columbia Transfer-on-Death Deed

DC authorizes a transfer-on-death deed

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