Ketchikan Gateway Borough Affidavit of Death of Transferor Form

When the owner of Alaska real property dies with a recorded transfer on death deed in place, the property has already changed hands. Under AS 13.48.090 the beneficiary's interest passes at the moment of death, by operation of the recorded deed, with no court order and no new conveyance. What the public record does not yet show is that the death happened. This Alaska Affidavit of Death of Transferor is the sworn instrument a beneficiary records, with a certified copy of the death certificate attached, so that the recording district index that holds the TOD deed also holds the proof that the deed has done its work.

A transfer that happened at death, and a record that catches up

Alaska's Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act, AS 13.48.010 through 13.48.195, treats the recorded deed as the whole mechanism. The deed had to be recorded before the transferor's death in the recording district where the property lies, and at death the beneficiary takes whatever interest the transferor owned, subject to every mortgage, lien, and other interest then affecting the property. The chapter prescribes no affidavit; this one is title practice, and it gives a later title examiner, lender, or purchaser a recorded, sworn account of the death, the beneficiary's survival, and the absence of any recorded revocation, in the same index as the deed. A revocation instrument, where one exists, is a separate recording under AS 13.48.070 and is not part of this package.

What the affiant swears to

The affidavit identifies the deceased transferor and the date of death, the recorded deed by its DNR serial number and recording date, the property by recording district and legal description, and every beneficiary who takes under the deed. Its sworn statements track the facts AS 13.48.090 makes decisive: the affiant is a beneficiary designated in the deed; the deed was recorded before the death; the affiant survived the transferor by at least 120 hours, the survival rule AS 13.12.702 supplies for nonprobate transfers; no other joint owner survived the transferor, since a deed made by a tenant by the entirety or an owner of survivorship community property operates only at the last joint owner's death under AS 13.48.090(c); and no instrument revoking the deed appears of record.

A jurat, not an acknowledgment

Because the affidavit is sworn, its notarial certificate is the jurat of AS 09.63.030 rather than the acknowledgment that appears on a deed. The form carries the statute's own sentence, Subscribed and sworn to or affirmed before me at a stated place on a stated date, with the officer's signature, printed name, state, and commission expiration beneath it, which is what AS 09.63.030(c) directs an Alaska notary to add. The affiant signs in the officer's presence and takes the oath or affirmation there. The venue lines record where the affiant appeared, and an officer outside Alaska recognized under AS 09.63.050 may complete them or attach that jurisdiction's own jurat.

Recording in Alaska's district system

Alaska has no county recorders. The Department of Natural Resources records real property documents through 34 recording districts, and the affidavit names the district where the property lies. The form is laid out to 11 AAC 06.040: the top two inches of the first page are left blank for the recorder's stamp, every margin meets the one inch minimum, the body prints at 12 point, and the return block carries the name and complete mailing address AS 40.17.030 requires.

What this affidavit is set up as

The form recites one affiant, a natural person who is a designated beneficiary under the deed and who survived the transferor, and it carries one signature block and one jurat. A surviving child recording the deed left by a widowed parent, and a friend named as sole beneficiary, present the single-affiant pattern this form recites. The form is not set up as an affidavit by a trustee or an entity acting through an officer, by a personal representative, or by a third person without an interest under the deed, and it does not describe a death after which another joint owner still holds the property.

The package includes the fillable affidavit, a completed example filled in for a realistic Anchorage fact pattern, and the guide that walks through every numbered section, the jurat, and the recording process. This description and the guide describe the form and the governing Alaska statutes in general terms; they are not legal advice.