Transfer-on-Death (TOD) / Beneficiary Deed — Virginia & West Virginia

A **Transfer-on-Death (TOD) deed** — also called a **beneficiary deed** — is a recorded deed that names a beneficiary to receive the property automatically on the owner's death. During the owner's lifetime, the deed has no legal effect: the owner retains full title, can sell or mortgage freely, and can revoke the TOD deed at any time by recording a revocation. At death, the named beneficiary takes title by simply recording a certified death certificate with the land records — no probate required.

**Virginia** adopted the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act (URPTODA) effective **July 1, 2013** (Va. Code §§ 64.2-621 through 64.2-638). Virginia § 64.2-635 even provides an optional statutory form. The deed must be recorded in the land records of the county or city where the property is located before the owner's death.

**West Virginia** adopted URPTODA effective 2023 via HB 3499 (W. Va. Code §§ 36-12-1 through 36-12-12). This is significant because **most West Virginia homeowners don't know they have this tool** — it was only available for two years as of 2025. For middle-class WV homeowners who want to avoid probate but don't want the complexity of a revocable living trust, the TOD deed is now the simplest path.

**Key features**:

• **No effect during life** — owner retains full title, can sell or mortgage.

• **Revocable until death** — record a revocation or a new TOD deed naming a different beneficiary.

• **Automatically revoked on divorce** in Virginia if the beneficiary is the ex-spouse (Va. Code § 20-111.1 — same statute that revokes insurance beneficiary designations on divorce).

• **Steps up in basis at death** under IRC § 1014 — heirs get fair-market-value basis, eliminating pre-death appreciation for income-tax purposes.

• **No gift** — no IRC § 2501 gift tax implication because the transfer only takes effect at death (included in gross estate under IRC § 2033 / 2038).

**What a TOD deed does NOT do**:

• **Does not shield against Medicaid estate recovery in Virginia**. Virginia uses "expanded estate recovery" which includes TOD-deeded property — the state can still recover LTC Medicaid benefits from the property after death. West Virginia historically uses probate-only recovery, so TOD is more protective in WV.

• **Does not protect during life** — creditors of the owner can still attach the property during life because the owner retains full title.

• **Does not replace a revocable living trust** for owners with out-of-state real estate, complex family situations, or incapacity-planning needs. A TOD deed only handles the death-transfer of one property.

Tagged 🟢 — recording a TOD deed is genuinely DIY in both states. Download the form, fill it in, notarize, record with the circuit court clerk (VA) or county clerk (WV) in the jurisdiction where the property sits.