Transfer on Death Deeds; Death Bed Transfers If a person is terminally ill and desires to sign some legal document which will have the effect of transferring an interest in real property to one me beneficiaries - either befe death, after death - such person may choose one me of the following options: 1. Do nothing, and allow the real property title to descend to the decedent s descendents heirs under Minnesota law in the absence of a duly executed Will. 2. Execute a Will, and identify one me beneficiaries who are to receive title to the real property upon the death of the testat. 3. Execute and recd a Minnesota Transfer on Death Deed in the county real estate recds befe death, conditionally conveying real estate title to one me beneficiaries upon the death of the Grant Owner. 4. Execute and deliver a deed of conveyance to one me beneficiaries trustees f recding in the county real estate recds, pri to death, perhaps after death - which deed of conveyance could be a warranty deed, a limited warranty deed, a quit claim deed - with the intent of immediately conveying complete title to the real property to one me beneficiaries trustees. 5. Execute and deliver to one me beneficiaries f recding in the county real estate recds either pri to death, perhaps after death, a deed of conveyance, conveying a remainder interest in the real property to one me beneficiaries, while reserving to the grant a life estate - which will allow the grant to exercise occupancy and certain other title rights during the remainder of the grant s life. Depending on: the number of intended beneficiaries, the state of health of the person desiring to convey real property title to such beneficiary beneficiaries, and the likelihood of actually being able to file recd a Minnesota Transfer on Death Deed in the County real estate recds pri to the death of the Grant Owner, one of the above identified options may be preferable to the others. Each of the above identified options will have certain estate, gift, and income tax consequences - some of which may vary between the options. However, one thing is certain. 1
If a Minnesota Transfer on Death Deed is not filed recded in the proper County real estate office pri to the death of the Grant Owner, it will not be effective f the intended purpose, and only the options identified above which involve a Minnesota probate court proceeding will be available to confirm real property title ownership in the beneficiary beneficiaries. Do-it-Yourself Minnesota Transfer on Death Deeds While fill in the blank Minnesota Transfer on Death Deed fms can either be downloaded, otherwise obtained, from many sources - including perhaps LegalDoom.com :) - the preparation of such documents is best left to licensed attneys, who can not only fill in the blanks properly, but also provide appropriate counsel regarding the legal effect, and perhaps the tax consequences, of the execution, delivery, and recding of the Transfer on Death Deed. There is much that can go wrong when a Minnesota Transfer on Death Deed: is either improperly prepared, fails to get filed recded in the proper county real estate office befe death. It s a Simple Fm - What Could Go Wrong? While Minnesota Transfer on Death Deed fms may appear to be simple and self explanaty, preparing one is not a job f the do-it-yourselfer. (i) Selection of the Fm There are actually different fms f different situations, depending on the number of Grant Owners, their marital status, and the manner in which they currently hold title to the real property. Selection of an improper fm could result in the Transfer on Death Deed either: being completely ineffective, leaving unresolved title issues to be addressed after death. (ii) Legal Description If a Minnesota Transfer on Death Deed makes use of either an improper an incomplete legal description, the document may not be accepted f recding by the County real estate office. Real property legal descriptions can be lengthy, complicated, and easy to mess up. 2
In addition, the complete legal description does not always appear on the real property tax recds generally available to the public. Therefe, do-it-yourselfers may be inclined to use an incomplete improper legal description taken from the real property tax recds without realizing their err. However, such a mistake could be fatal to obtaining the probate avoidance benefits offered by a properly executed and recded Transfer on Death Deed. (iii) Transfer on Death Deed Not Recdable If a Minnesota Transfer on Death Deed is: not properly acknowledged, fails to include a draftsman s statement, it will not be recdable in the county real estate recds. If the Grant Owner dies after executing a Transfer on Death Deed which contains such flaws, it may not be effective f any purpose. Such a mistake could be fatal to obtaining the probate avoidance benefits offered by a properly executed and recded Transfer on Death Deed. (iv) Recding the Transfer on Death Deed in the Proper County Office All Minnesota real property offers one of two types of title ownership evidence: 1. The Abstract Property fm of title evidence; 2. The Registered Property fm of title evidence - the Trens Property Certificate of Title. Real property that offers the Abstract Property fm of title evidence has not been registered pursuant to the Trens real property registration system. The office of the County Recder accepts documents f recding which relate to Abstract Property in Minnesota. The office of the County Registrar of Titles accepts documents f filing which relate to Trens Property in Minnesota. 3
In some Minnesota counties, both the office of the County Recder, and the office of the County Registrar of Titles, are located behind the same counter where the real property recds are maintained. However, in other Minnesota counties, the County Recder and the County Registrar of Titles will each have a separate counter - sometimes in different parts of the same building. The recding filing of a document in the proper office is essential to its effectiveness. If a Minnesota Transfer on Death Deed is recded in the office of the County Recder, when it should have been filed with the County Registrar of Titles, it may be ineffective f all purposes. Likewise, if a Minnesota Transfer on Death Deed is filed with the County Registrar of Titles, when it should have been recded in the office of the County Recder, it may be ineffective f all purposes. Such mistakes could be fatal to obtaining the probate avoidance benefits offered by a properly executed and recded Transfer on Death Deed. (v) Timely Filing Recding of the Transfer on Death Deed If the Grant Owner dies: after executing a Transfer on Death Deed, but befe it is actually filed recded in the proper county real estate office, it will not be effective f any purpose. (vi) After-acquired Title Sometimes, a person may own part of the real estate interests in certain real property, but later, pri to death, acquire all of the ownership interests in such real property. If a Minnesota Transfer on Death Deed is executed and recded in the proper county real estate office befe a Grant Owner acquires all of the ownership interests in such real property, the Transfer on Death Deed will be ineffective to avoid probate with respect to those ownership interests subsequently acquired by the Grant Owner - unless the Transfer on Death Deed indicates that it also conveys after-acquired title. Many do-it-yourselfers would not know how to achieve this result, and may miss out on the benefits of its application. 4
F the above identified reasons, among others, it is always prudent, and cost effective, to have a Minnesota Transfer on Death Deed prepared by a licensed Minnesota attney, who can supervise its execution, and its recding filing in the proper County real estate office. Conclusion Please contact Minnesota Attney Gary C. Dahle f assistance with the preparation, execution, recding of any Minnesota Transfer on Death Deed. Copyright 2013 - All Rights Reserved Gary C. Dahle Attney at Law 2704 County Road 10 Mounds View, MN 55112 Phone: 763-780-8390 Fax: 763-780-1735 Gary@dahlelaw.com Infmation provided herein is only f general infmational and educational purposes. The laws relating to Minnesota Transfer on Death Deeds involve many complex legal issues. If you have a specific legal problem about which you are seeking advice, either consult with your own attney retain an attney of your choice. Gary C. Dahle, Attney at Law, is licensed to practice law only in the State of Minnesota, in the United States of America. Therefe, only those persons interested in matters governed by the laws of the State of Minnesota should consult with, provide infmation to, Gary C. Dahle, Attney at Law, take note of infmation provided herein. Accessing the web site of Gary C. Dahle, Attney at Law - http://www.dahlelaw.com - may be held to be a request f infmation. However, the mere act of either providing infmation to Gary C. Dahle, Attney at Law, taking note of infmation provided on http://www.dahlelaw.com, does not constitute legal advice, the establishment of an attney/client relationship. Nothing herein will be deemed to be the practice of law the provision of legal advice. Clients are accepted by Gary C. Dahle, Attney at Law, only after preliminary personal communications with him, and subject to mutual agreement on terms of representation. If you are not a current client of Gary C. Dahle, Attney at Law, please do not use the e-mail links fms to communicate confidential infmation which you wish to be protected by the attney-client privilege. Please use caution in communicating over the Internet. The Internet is not a secure environment and confidential infmation sent by e-mail may be at risk. Gary C. Dahle, Attney at Law, provides the http://www.dahlelaw.com web site and its contents on an "as is" basis, and makes no representations warranties concerning site content function, including but not limited to any warranty of accuracy, completeness, currency. 5