Douglas County Transfer on Death Deed Form (South Dakota)

All Douglas County specific forms and documents listed below are included in your immediate download package:

Transfer on Death Deed Form

Douglas County Transfer on Death Deed Form

Fill in the blank form formatted to comply with all recording and content requirements.
Included Douglas County compliant document last validated/updated 5/14/2025

Transfer on Death Deed Guide

Douglas County Transfer on Death Deed Guide

Line by line guide explaining every blank on the form.
Included Douglas County compliant document last validated/updated 5/27/2025

Completed Example of the Transfer on Death Deed Document

Douglas County Completed Example of the Transfer on Death Deed Document

Example of a properly completed form for reference.
Included Douglas County compliant document last validated/updated 6/12/2025

The following South Dakota and Douglas County supplemental forms are included as a courtesy with your order:

When using these Transfer on Death Deed forms, the subject real estate must be physically located in Douglas County. The executed documents should then be recorded in the following office:

Douglas County Register of Deeds

706 Braddock St / PO Box 267, Armour, South Dakota 57313-0267

Hours: 8:30 to 4:30 M-F

Phone: (605) 724-2204

Local jurisdictions located in Douglas County include:

  • Armour
  • Corsica
  • Delmont
  • Harrison
  • New Holland

How long does it take to get my forms?

Forms are available immediately after submitting payment.

How do I get my forms, are they emailed?

Immediately after you submit payment, the Douglas County forms you order will be available for download directly from your account. You can then download the forms to your computer. If you do not already have an account, one will be created for you as part of the order process, and your login details will be provided to you. If you encounter any issues accessing your forms, please reach out to our support team for assistance. Forms are NOT emailed to you.

What does "validated/updated" mean?

This indicates the most recent date when at least one of the following occurred:

  • Updated: The document was updated or changed to remain compliant.
  • Validated: The document was examined by an attorney or staff, or it was successfully recorded in Douglas County using our eRecording service.
Are these forms guaranteed to be recordable in Douglas County?

Yes. Our form blanks are guaranteed to meet or exceed all formatting requirements set forth by Douglas County including margin requirements, content requirements, font and font size requirements.

Can the Transfer on Death Deed forms be re-used?

Yes. You can re-use the forms for your personal use. For example, if you have more than one property in Douglas County that you need to transfer you would only need to order our forms once for all of your properties in Douglas County.

What are supplemental forms?

Often when a deed is recorded, additional documents are required by South Dakota or Douglas County. These could be tax related, informational, or even as simple as a coversheet. Supplemental forms are provided for free with your order where available.

What type of files are the forms?

All of our Douglas County Transfer on Death Deed forms are PDFs. You will need to have or get Adobe Reader to use our forms. Adobe Reader is free software that most computers already have installed.

Do I need any special software to use these forms?

You will need to have Adobe Reader installed on your computer to use our forms. Adobe Reader is free software that most computers already have installed.

Do I have to enter all of my property information online?

No. The blank forms are downloaded to your computer and you fill them out there, at your convenience.

Can I save the completed form, email it to someone?

Yes, you can save your deed form at any point with your information in it. The forms can also be emailed, blank or complete, as attachments.

Are there any recurring fees involved?

No. Nothing to cancel, no memberships, no recurring fees.

As of July 1, 2014, owners of real estate in South Dakota have access to a new estate planning tool: the transfer on death deed (TODD). Find the full text of the South Dakota Real Property Transfer on Death Act at 29A-6-401 of the South Dakota Codified Laws.

The statute is based on the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act (URPTODA). In addition to South Dakota, a growing number of states are choosing to adopt the provisions of the URPTODA. The new law allows landowners to direct the distribution of what is often their most significant asset, their real estate, with a correctly executed and recorded transfer on death deed.

Standard conveyances such as warranty or quitclaim deeds, when executed, define permanent transfers of ownership. Deeds under URPTODA, however, are revocable (29A-6-405). Transferors under this law may sell, mortgage, rent, or otherwise use the property in any way they wish; TODDs only contain a potential future interest (29A-6-414(1)). They provide owners with the flexibility to accommodate changing circumstances by modifying or even cancelling the recorded transfer. This is possible because TODD beneficiaries have absolutely no rights to or interest in the property while the owner is alive (29A-6-414(5)). In addition, the beneficiary pays nothing to the owner for the potential future interest, and the owner is not obligated to inform the beneficiary about the transfer (29A-6-409).

Transfer on death deeds are nontestamentary, which means title to the property passes to the beneficiary without instructions in a will or the need for probate distribution (29A-6-406). Unnecessary conflicts are likely to add confusion and expense to what is often a difficult time, so landowners should take care to ensure that their wills and TODDs lead to the same outcomes.

South Dakota's version of the URPTODA sets out the specific requirements for lawful transfer on death deeds at 29A-6-408. TODDs must:

- contain the essential elements and formalities of a properly recordable "traditional" deed as required by the standards of title;

- state that the transfer to the designated beneficiary is to occur at the transferor's death; and

- be recorded before the transferor's death in the public records in the office of the register of deeds in the county where the property is located.

In general, the beneficiary must be alive at the time of the transferor's death or the interest returns to the estate (29A-6-415(2)). To prevent this from happening, the owner may identify one or more contingent beneficiaries. Beneficiaries take title subject to any obligations (contracts, easements, etc.) associated with the property when the transferor dies (29A-6-416).

With the new transfer on death deeds, real property owners in South Dakota have gained a convenient, flexible option for managing one aspect of a comprehensive estate plan. Even so, a TODD may not be appropriate for everyone. Since each situation is unique, contact an attorney with specific questions or for complex circumstances.

(South Dakota TODD Package includes form, guidelines, and completed example)

Our Promise

The documents you receive here will meet, or exceed, the Douglas County recording requirements for formatting. If there's an issue caused by our formatting, we'll make it right and refund your payment.

Save Time and Money

Get your Douglas County Transfer on Death Deed form done right the first time with Deeds.com Uniform Conveyancing Blanks. At Deeds.com, we understand that your time and money are valuable resources, and we don't want you to face a penalty fee or rejection imposed by a county recorder for submitting nonstandard documents. We constantly review and update our forms to meet rapidly changing state and county recording requirements for roughly 3,500 counties and local jurisdictions.

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June 30th, 2025

Great service! Recording was smooth and swiftly performed. Deeds.com is an excellent service.rn

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June 30th, 2025

Breeze.... It feels silly to hire an attorney to do this for just one beneficiary. Thanks.

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June 29th, 2025

Everything that was stated to be included in my order was complete. Very satisfied

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March 30th, 2021

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March 13th, 2025

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Dennis F.

December 20th, 2024

The release of mortgage form was OK, and accepted at the recorder's office, but there were some problems. Many of the fields to type in were too small to accept the data, and I could not find a way to change the field size or use a smaller font. Otherwise I was satisfied.

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June 5th, 2019

Really glad to find your site. Made filing so much easier.

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January 9th, 2021

Very easy to fill out the form especially with the detailed guide and the sample. I will use deeds.com again if needed.

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SueAnn V.

July 22nd, 2021

Thanks so much for the TOD Beneficiary Deed with the explanation, supplementary forms and great example!
I just filed it today for the state of Colorado, in my county and it was accepted by the Clerk/Recorder.
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Thanks again.

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Barbara Y.

December 14th, 2020

I found your instructions and sample for completing a quit-claim deed in Arizona to be simple and easy to follow with one exception. The website to use in order to determine the code for the reason for exemption of fees was incorrect, as a result of which I had to contact the County Recorder to obtain that information.

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April 15th, 2020

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June 5th, 2020

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January 4th, 2019

Very nice. Especially liked that I could re-use the form since I have a couple of properties.

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April 14th, 2019

Excellent find (Deeds.com) from a google search, first hit. This was exactly what we were looking for. It also got me to upgrade Adobe to be able to fill in the forms.
Will be back for follow up as needed, but I think I got everything we needed in the first downloads. Appreciate a well done site like yours. Thanks John

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January 23rd, 2019

Forms are as advertised and easy to access.

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