How Do I Revoke A Texas Transfer On Death Deed?

One of the benefits of a Transfer on Death Deed is that it is completely revocable during lifetime of the grantor (the homeowner making the deed).

According to the Transfer on Death Deed Statute, a Texas Transfer on Death Deed can be revoked in one of the following ways:

1. By signing a new Transfer on Death Deed that expressly revokes the prior one or specifies that the property should pass to someone else.
2. By signing a separate document that expressly revokes the prior Transfer on Death Deed.

Absent from the list is the ability to revoke a Transfer on Death Deed by making a contrary provision in a Will. The Transfer on Death deed will always trump a contrary provision in a Will

To be valid, the revocation must be signed and notarized by the Grantor and recorded before the Grantor’s death in the deed records of the county clerk’s office of the county were the deed being revoked is recorded. If the revocation is signed and notarized, but not recorded before the Grantor dies, it will not be valid.

If a Grantor is divorced after he signs a Transfer on Death Deed that names his spouse as the designated beneficiary, a final judgment of the court dissolving the marriage will operate to revoke the transfer on death deed as to the divorced spouse, but only if notice of the judgment is recorded before the Grantor’s death in the deed records in the county clerk’s office of the county where the deed is recorded.