A House Can Now Skip Probate in Maryland. Pennsylvania May Be Next.

Relative Ease News · October 16, 2026

For years, naming who gets your bank account when you die has been simple: fill out a beneficiary form. Naming who gets your house has not. The house usually had to go through probate, be put into a trust, or be given away while you were still alive. Two developments this month show that gap closing, state by state, at very different stages.

In Maryland, a transfer-on-death deed is now usable law. In Pennsylvania, a bill for the same tool has passed the House unanimously and waits in the Senate. Maryland homeowners can act now. Pennsylvania homeowners cannot yet.

What a transfer-on-death deed actually is

A transfer-on-death deed, often shortened to a TOD deed, is a recorded deed that names a beneficiary for a specific piece of real estate. While you are alive, nothing changes: you own the property, you can sell or refinance it, or revoke the deed. The person you named has no ownership interest and does not need to approve your decisions. When you die, if the deed is still in place and properly recorded, the property passes to that beneficiary without a probate case for that property.

Think of it as a beneficiary designation, the kind financial accounts have long had, finally applied to a house. It covers only the property in the deed. It does not settle other accounts, name a guardian, appoint a medical decision-maker, or replace a will.

Maryland: the law took effect October 1

Governor Wes Moore signed the Maryland Transfer-on-Death Deed Act, House Bill 738 and Senate Bill 651, on May 26, 2026, and the act took effect on October 1. It amended provisions across Maryland's Estates and Trusts, Real Property, and Tax-Property articles to cover how these deeds are created, revoked, and recorded.

The practical rules are specific. A Maryland deed must be signed, notarized, and recorded before the owner dies. It can be changed or canceled at any time, by recording the right document in the land records. A beneficiary's creditors have no claim while the owner is alive, because the beneficiary has no title yet. If the property is the owner's primary or secondary residence, the deed is exempt from state and county transfer and recordation taxes. Any existing loan passes with the property to the beneficiary. The act also applies to a deed executed or recorded before October 1, as long as the owner did not die before that date.

Pennsylvania: passed the House, not yet law

Pennsylvania's House Bill 2124 would add a Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act to Title 20, the state's decedents and estates code. The official legislative record shows final passage in the House on October 5, 2026, by a vote of 202 to 0, and referral to the Senate Judiciary Committee on October 13. The House Democratic Caucus announced the passage on October 15.

As written, the bill would let an owner record a TOD deed with the county recorder where the property is located. The beneficiary would receive the property at the owner's death, provided the beneficiary survives the owner. The deed would be revocable, would not stop the owner from selling the property, and would give the beneficiary no interest while the owner is alive. It also addresses joint property, a beneficiary who dies first, and a surviving spouse's rights.

Until the Senate passes it and it is signed, Pennsylvania homeowners do not have this option. A unanimous House vote is a strong signal, not a usable form.

The step people are most likely to miss

In both states, the word that does the work is recorded. Consider a generic example: a homeowner signs a deed naming a child, puts the copy in a desk drawer, and tells nobody. That unrecorded paper is the weak point in the whole plan. Maryland's rules require recording before death, and the Pennsylvania bill requires recording with the county recorder as well. Signing is step one. Recording, promptly and in the right office, is what makes it real.

The second weak point is staleness. A TOD deed names a person, and people move, marry, divorce, and die. Guidance on the Maryland act is plain: estate documents need periodic review after family and legal changes, or the document on file may no longer match your life.

A short checklist before you record anything

First, confirm your state currently authorizes TOD deeds, not just that a bill is moving. Second, check the deed against the rest of your plan, including your will and beneficiary forms, so the pieces do not point in different directions. Third, record the deed and note where it was recorded, what it covers, and who it names. Fourth, tell the person you named that it exists.

That record is worth keeping somewhere your family can find. Relative Ease's free locker is built for that inventory, the deeds, policies, accounts, and contacts in a plan, in one encrypted place, alongside a directory of licensed estate planning attorneys for the legal work itself.

Sources