Benton County Transfer on Death Revocation Form

An Indiana transfer on death deed stays revocable for the owner's whole life, but taking it back is a recording event, not a change of mind. This form prepares the affidavit Indiana Code 32-17-14-16(j)(2) names for the purpose: an acknowledged affidavit that revokes the beneficiary designation made in a recorded transfer on death deed, void unless recorded before the owner's death in the county where the property is situated. It holds one or two owners of record.

A revocation that has to reach the record

Section 16 of the Transfer on Death Property Act recognizes two recorded instruments that revoke a designation made in a transfer on death deed, also called a TOD deed or beneficiary deed: a subsequent deed of conveyance that revokes, omits, or changes the designation, and an affidavit that revokes or changes it. This package is the affidavit, limited to a revocation in its entirety. The chapter is equally clear about what does not work: under subsections (g) and (l) a will or trust does not revoke or modify a transfer on death deed, under subsection (k) writing on the recorded deed or tearing it up has no effect, and under subsection (j) an affidavit left unrecorded at the owner's death revokes nothing. The form restates that recording condition in capitals above the signature lines.

What the affidavit recites

The affidavit identifies the owners revoking, the deed being revoked by its date, recording date, instrument number, and recording county, and the real property by county, legal description, and street address. The operative paragraph revokes the designation as to the signing owners' interest, affirms under the penalties for perjury that the statements are true, and asks the recorder to cross-reference the affidavit to the deed. Because of that request the deed's instrument number sits on the first page, where IC 32-21-2-16 puts the number of a cross-referenced instrument, so a title examiner finds the revocation from the deed itself.

Who joins in the revocation

Indiana ties the signers to the form of ownership. For property held by spouses as tenants by the entirety, IC 32-17-14-16(b) requires the agreement of both tenants while both are alive, and after one spouse dies it lets the surviving spouse revoke or change the designation alone. For property held by joint owners with a right of survivorship, subsection (d) requires the agreement of each living owner. A tenant in common revokes the designation of that owner's own interest.

One or two owners on one affidavit

The owner block is free-form and preprints nothing about marital status or the form of ownership; the names are written as the recorded deed shows them, and the completed example shows two spouses who hold as tenants by the entirety signing together. The form carries two signature blocks and a separate acknowledgment certificate for each signer as a matter of design, so two owners may acknowledge on different days or before different officers, and a sole owner or surviving spouse leaves the second block blank; Indiana's certificate statute does not require separate certificates. The form is not set up for an entity, a trustee, an attorney in fact, a legal representative, or three or more owners, and it does not change or substitute a beneficiary; a new designation is made by a new transfer on death deed, prepared and recorded separately and not included in this package.

Two county offices, in order

Since July 1, 2024, IC 36-2-11-14 has allowed the recorder to record an instrument made under the Transfer on Death Property Act only after the county auditor endorses it, and bars the auditor from refusing on that ground. The affidavit goes to the auditor first and the recorder second. The form is laid out to Indiana's recording format statute, with two inch top and bottom margins on the first and last pages and black 12 point text over the 10 point minimum, and it carries the certificate content IC 33-42-9-12 requires, including the notary's county of commission, and the prepared-by statement and Social Security redaction affirmation IC 36-2-11-15 places at the conclusion of a recorded instrument. The recorder's statewide fee for a non-mortgage instrument is $25.

The package includes the fillable affidavit, a completed example filled in for a realistic Hamilton County fact pattern, and the guide that walks through every section, the joinder rules, and the auditor and recorder steps. This description and the guide describe the form and the governing Indiana statutes in general terms; they are not legal advice.