Houston County Transfer on Death Deed Form (Minnesota)
All Houston County specific forms and documents listed below are included in your immediate download package:
Transfer on Death Deed Form
Fill in the blank form formatted to comply with all recording and content requirements.
Included Houston County compliant document last validated/updated 10/29/2024
Transfer on Death Deed Guide
Line by line guide explaining every blank on the form.
Included Houston County compliant document last validated/updated 7/26/2024
Completed Example of the Transfer on Death Deed Document
Example of a properly completed form for reference.
Included Houston County compliant document last validated/updated 9/26/2024
The following Minnesota and Houston 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 Houston County. The executed documents should then be recorded in the following office:
Houston County Recorder
304 South Marshall St / PO Box 29, Caledonia , Minnesota 55921-0029
Hours: 8:00am to 4:30pm Monday through Friday
Phone: (507) 725-5813
Local jurisdictions located in Houston County include:
- Brownsville
- Caledonia
- Eitzen
- Hokah
- Houston
- La Crescent
- Spring Grove
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 Houston 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 Houston County using our eRecording service.
Are these forms guaranteed to be recordable in Houston County?
Yes. Our form blanks are guaranteed to meet or exceed all formatting requirements set forth by Houston 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 Houston County that you need to transfer you would only need to order our forms once for all of your properties in Houston County.
What are supplemental forms?
Often when a deed is recorded, additional documents are required by Minnesota or Houston 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 Houston 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.
Minnesota's transfer on death deeds are governed by Minn. Stat. 507.071.
Transfer on death deeds are useful estate planning tools for owners of Minnesota real estate. In most cases, when a land owner dies, his/her real property enters the probate system along with the rest of the estate. Some people avoid probate by owning property as joint tenants. The nature of joint tenancy includes the right of survivorship, which, by function of law, automatically distributes a deceased joint tenant's title rights to the surviving tenants. Joint tenants, however, share a current interest in the real property, and all owners must execute any changes or reconveyances. By executing and recording a transfer on death deed instead, owners still avoid the need for probate distribution of that portion of their assets. Transfer on death deeds do NOT pass a current or future interest in the property, so the owner's interests are fully protected while he/she remains alive.
Unlike most other real estate deeds, transfer on death deeds do not convey any rights or interests to the beneficiaries until the grantor owner's death. But, under Minn. Stat. 524.2-702, named beneficiaries must outlive the grantor owners by at least 120 hours to become eligible for the property. The owner retains absolute title to and control over the real property until death. He/she may rent, use, sell or reconvey the land at will, and with no obligation to the beneficiary (Minn. Stat. 507.071, subd. 10). As a result, the beneficiary has no guarantee of any present or future interest in the property. In addition, a "transfer on death deed that is executed, acknowledged, and recorded in accordance with this section is not revoked by the provisions of a will" (subd. 19).
Transfer on death deeds allow flexibility -- in addition to individuals, the grantor owner may "transfer an interest in real property to the trustee of an inter vivos trust even if the trust is revocable, to the trustee of a testamentary trust or to any other entity legally qualified to hold title to real property under the laws of this state" (subd. 9).
Under Minn. Stat. 507.071, transfer on death deeds must:
- convey or assign an interest in real property (subd. 2)
- name one or more grantee beneficiaries (subds. 2 and 4)
- explicitly state that it takes effect at the death of the named grantor owner(s)
- comply with other Minnesota deed requirements including joinder of spouse in conveying homestead (507.02, subd. 2)
- standard recording requirements regarding legibility, recordability, notarization, and original signature (507.24)
- Notice recording statutes (507.34, 508.48, 508A.48)
Ultimately, transfer on death deeds offer a useful alternative for Minnesota land owners who wish to pass property to specific beneficiaries without probate intervention.
NOTE: All actions related to executing, revoking, or otherwise changing a Minnesota transfer on death deed must be submitted for recording in the county where at least part of the land is located, while the grantor owner is alive. (507.071, subd. 8).
Important terms:
Grantor owner: "means an owner named as a grantor in a transfer on death deed upon whose death the conveyance or transfer of the described real property is conditioned" (subd. 1c).
Owner: "means a person having an ownership or other interest in all or part of the real property to be conveyed or transferred by a transfer on death deed" (subd. 1d).
Beneficiary or grantee beneficiary: "means a person or entity named as a grantee beneficiary in a transfer on death deed, including a successor grantee beneficiary" (subd. 1a).
(Minnesota TOD Deed Package includes form, guidelines, and completed example)
Our Promise
The documents you receive here will meet, or exceed, the Houston 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 Houston 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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April 8th, 2020
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March 7th, 2019
This worked. Saved me a trip to get a copy of a deed. Cost less than the parking fee. Very convenient.
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LINDA S.
November 11th, 2020
One thing I would suggest that could be changed is the last page because we have a trust and I had to retype that page to include the trust and both trustee's signatures.
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October 26th, 2022
The download files should have the name of the form included. The present numeric soup is frustrating to navigate.
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April 30th, 2019
Easy to follow directions and instructions to properly and legally fill-in the Deed that I requested. It was also very easy and convenient. If I was going to employ an Attorney or Legal Documents Preparer, they would easily charge me between $150 to $225 a Deed! For the cost of $19.97, anyone would pursue this price! Thank you, Deeds.com for a wonderful and terrific experience! I'm going to need you again to change Titles for my other Investment Properties.
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