Benton County Transfer on Death Deed (Married Joint Owners, Last Survivor) Form

Two spouses who hold their Minnesota home as joint tenants can name, in one transfer on death deed, who takes the property after both of them have died. Drawn under section 507.071 of the Minnesota Statutes, this form recites exactly two grantor owners, married to each other and holding as joint tenants, and fixes the transfer on the death of the last of the two to die.

Survivorship first, the deed second

While both spouses live, nothing moves. At the first death the surviving spouse holds the whole property by the survivorship the joint tenancy already carries, and section 507.071, subdivision 6, provides that a transfer on death deed executed by all of the joint tenant owners transfers the interest effective only after the death of the last surviving grantor owner. The same subdivision states that a later TOD deed neither severs nor affects the joint tenancy unless the deed specifically says so, and this deed says no such thing. The grantee beneficiaries take at the survivor's death, without probate.

Two owners who are also each other's spouse

Section 507.02 provides that no conveyance of a married owner's homestead is valid without both spouses' signatures, and a transfer on death deed is subject to that section. On this deed the two signatures section 507.02 calls for are the two grantor owners' own: each spouse signs as an owner, and the form draws no separate joining-spouse block. Section 1 states the configuration as fixed deed text, that the grantor owners named below are married to each other and hold the property as joint tenants, and the two blanks beneath it take only names and mailing addresses.

Certificates that describe each spouse as the spouse of the other

The form carries one acknowledgment certificate for each spouse, in the short form of section 358.66. Under section 358.14, spouses who join in an instrument are described in the certificate in a manner that indicates they are married to each other, and where they acknowledge separately, each is described as the spouse of the other. The completed example shows the entries written that way.

What the configuration recites

The deed recites two natural persons as grantor owners, married to each other and holding as joint tenants, each signing in an individual capacity, conveying and quitclaiming to one or more grantee beneficiaries of any class section 507.071 permits: individuals, the trustee of a revocable or testamentary trust, or a qualified entity. Spouses who took title together by a deed naming them as joint tenants present the pattern this deed recites. The form is not set up for two spouses who hold as tenants in common, for co-owners who are not married to each other, for a married owner who holds the property alone, or for a trustee, entity, or attorney-in-fact signer; the guide describes why tenancy in common sits uneasily with a last-to-die trigger under subdivision 14.

If the marriage ends first

Section 500.19, subdivision 5, severs a joint tenancy between spouses on a decree of dissolution unless the decree says otherwise, and subdivision 10 of the TOD deed statute makes the deed a governing instrument under section 524.2-804, which revokes revocable dispositions in favor of a former spouse. Any one grantor owner may also revoke the deed in its entirety by a recorded revocation.

The one box and the recording condition

Section 5 prints the operative sentence in the statutory form's own words for more than one grantor owner, followed by the form's single optional after-acquired property statement with its one box, which answers subdivision 21 either way: marked, the deed reaches an interest acquired after signing; unmarked, it does not. The section 507.072 insurance warnings follow. The deed is valid only if recorded before the death of the grantor owner on whose death it operates, in a county where at least part of the land lies; no auditor certification, certificate of real estate value, or deed tax accompanies it. After the second death, an affidavit of identity and survivorship and a county agency clearance certificate are recorded separately and are not included in this package.

Included are the fillable transfer on death deed, a completed example prepared on a Dakota County fact pattern for two spouses naming their two adult children, and the guide, which covers every numbered section, both certificates, and recording. Nothing in this description or the guide is legal advice; both describe the form and the statutes behind it in general terms.