A deed may look like a simple document.

But transferring real estate can have long-term legal consequences, and mistakes are often not discovered until years later — sometimes after the property owner has died.

That is why having a Georgia real estate or estate-planning attorney prepare and review a deed can be important.

This is especially true for Georgia Transfer on Death Deeds, because Georgia substantially changed the law governing these deeds in 2026.

A Deed Does More Than Change a Name

A deed determines who owns an interest in real estate.

Depending on the type of deed and how it is written, it can affect:

• Who owns the property;
• Whether another person has survivorship rights;
• What happens when an owner dies;
• Whether the property must pass through probate;
• What warranties of title are being given;
• Whether creditors may affect an ownership interest; and
• Whether the owner can later sell or refinance the property without another person’s involvement.

Once a deed is signed and recorded, correcting a mistake may require additional deeds, cooperation from other people, litigation, or probate proceedings.

An Attorney Should First Determine Who Actually Owns the Property

Before preparing a new deed, the existing title should be reviewed.

Property may be owned:

• By one person individually;
• By spouses;
• As tenants in common;
• As joint tenants with right of survivorship;
• By a trust;
• By an LLC or other business entity; or
• Under another ownership arrangement.

Those distinctions matter.

For example, a Transfer on Death Deed does not sever an existing joint tenancy. Georgia law provides that a TOD beneficiary generally receives the interest only if the owner who created the designation is the last surviving record joint owner of that interest.

A deed should therefore be prepared based on the actual title rather than assumptions about who owns the property.

The Legal Description Has to Be Correct

A deed should contain an accurate legal description of the real estate.

That is not necessarily the same thing as a street address.

Legal descriptions can contain land lots, districts, subdivision references, plats, metes-and-bounds descriptions, condominium references, or exhibits.

Copying the wrong legal description can result in a deed that transfers the wrong property — or does not properly transfer the intended property at all.

An attorney preparing the deed should review the existing land records and make sure the new deed correctly identifies the property.

The Type of Deed Matters

Not every deed accomplishes the same thing.

For example:

General Warranty Deed

A General Warranty Deed generally provides broad warranties concerning title.

Limited Warranty Deed

A Limited Warranty Deed generally limits the seller’s title warranties to matters arising during the seller’s ownership.

Quitclaim Deed

A Quitclaim Deed generally transfers whatever interest the signer has without making warranties of title.

Transfer on Death Deed

A Georgia Transfer on Death Deed allows an owner to retain ownership during life while designating beneficiaries to receive the property after death through the statutory acceptance process.

Using the wrong deed can create consequences very different from what the owner intended.

Adding Someone to Your Deed Is Not the Same as Naming a Beneficiary

A common estate-planning mistake is adding an adult child to a traditional deed because the owner wants the child to receive the property after death.

That may give the child an immediate ownership interest.

Once the child becomes a present co-owner, issues involving the child’s:

• Creditors;
• Divorce;
• Bankruptcy;
• Lawsuits; or
• Refusal to cooperate

may affect the property.

A Transfer on Death Deed works differently.

The beneficiary does not become a present owner merely because the beneficiary is named in the deed.

The owner retains control during life.

That distinction can be extremely important.

Georgia Transfer on Death Deed Law Changed in 2026

Another reason professional preparation matters is that the law changes.

Georgia substantially amended its Transfer on Death Deed statute in 2026.

Among other things, current law now addresses:

• The owner’s contractual capacity;
• Execution of the deed by a Power of Attorney;
• Alternate beneficiaries;
• Trust beneficiaries;
• Revocation procedures;
• The death of a beneficiary;
• Post-death beneficiary acceptance;
• Real estate transfer tax declaration requirements;
• Duties of the deceased owner’s personal representative; and
• Certain estate expenses involving the property.

An online form prepared before these amendments may contain instructions that are no longer correct.

A Power of Attorney Cannot Sign a Transfer on Death Deed for You

This is an important example of why using an old form can be dangerous.

Under current Georgia law, an attorney-in-fact acting under a Power of Attorney cannot execute a Transfer on Death Deed for the owner.

The owner must personally sign the deed and must have the legal capacity required to enter into a contract.

Older instructions suggesting that a POA agent can create a Transfer on Death Deed for an incapacitated owner are no longer consistent with current Georgia law.

A Power of Attorney Cannot Sign the Statutory Revocation Either

Georgia also changed the revocation rules in 2026.

An attorney-in-fact can no longer execute the statutory revocation of a Transfer on Death Deed on behalf of the owner.

The owner must personally execute the revocation.

That is another example of why a deed package created under prior law should not automatically be reused after the law changes.

Beneficiary Planning Requires More Than Filling in a Name

Choosing beneficiaries can appear simple, but the wording of the deed may determine what happens if a beneficiary dies.

Georgia law now expressly permits a Transfer on Death Deed to designate alternate beneficiaries.

That allows the owner to plan for situations in which a primary beneficiary:

• Dies before the owner; or
• Survives the owner but dies before accepting the property.

An attorney can help structure the beneficiary designations so the result matches the owner’s actual intentions rather than simply relying on statutory default rules.

A Trust May Be a Better Beneficiary

Georgia’s 2026 amendments also expressly allow the trustee of an existing express trust to be named as the beneficiary of a Transfer on Death Deed.

That may be useful when:

• A beneficiary is a minor;
• Property should be managed for a beneficiary rather than distributed outright;
• There are multiple generations of beneficiaries;
• The owner wants additional control over what happens after death; or
• The existing estate plan already uses a trust.

The TOD deed cannot itself create the trust, so the deed and trust need to be coordinated correctly.

Recording Requirements Matter

A properly signed deed may still fail to accomplish its purpose if it is not properly recorded.

A Georgia Transfer on Death Deed must be recorded before the owner’s death.

Signing the document and leaving it in an estate-planning binder is not enough.

An attorney who handles the recording can help make sure the deed reaches the correct Clerk of Superior Court and is entered into the real estate records.

Even the PT-61 Procedure Changed

Georgia’s 2026 Transfer on Death Deed amendments changed when the real estate transfer tax declaration is used.

Current law provides that a real estate transfer tax declaration is not filed with the original Transfer on Death Deed.

Instead, the applicable transfer-tax declaration becomes part of the post-death beneficiary acceptance process.

That is a relatively small procedural change, but it illustrates the larger problem with relying on old instructions.

A document package can look professional and still be based on outdated law.

The Beneficiary Has Work to Do After Death

A Transfer on Death Deed is not complete simply because the owner dies.

After death, a beneficiary must complete Georgia’s statutory acceptance process.

That generally includes preparing and recording the required affidavit and supporting documents.

Current law also generally requires each beneficiary to accept that beneficiary’s own interest.

The post-death paperwork therefore matters just as much as preparing the original deed correctly.

A Lawyer Can Coordinate the Deed With the Rest of Your Estate Plan

Real estate rarely exists in isolation.

Most people also have:

• A will;
• A Power of Attorney;
• Bank accounts;
• Retirement accounts;
• Life insurance;
• Vehicles;
• Personal property;
• Business interests; or
• A trust.

A deed should work with those documents and assets.

For example, changing your will does not necessarily change a beneficiary designation already contained in a recorded Transfer on Death Deed.

Georgia law specifically provides that a Transfer on Death Deed cannot be revoked through a will.

Reviewing the entire estate plan can prevent one document from contradicting another.

Correcting a Mistake After Death Is Much Harder

Many deed mistakes remain invisible while the owner is alive.

The problem is discovered only when:

• The owner dies;
• The family tries to sell the property;
• A title company examines the records;
• A beneficiary attempts to accept the property; or
• Someone challenges ownership.

By then, the person who signed the deed is no longer available to sign a correction or explain what was intended.

Spending the time to prepare the deed correctly while the owner is alive can prevent significantly greater expense and difficulty later.

Fletcher Estate Planning Can Prepare and Record Your Georgia Deed

Fletcher Estate Planning helps Georgia property owners prepare deeds as part of their estate planning.

For Transfer on Death Deeds, we can:

• Review the current deed and ownership;
• Verify the property description;
• Discuss primary and alternate beneficiaries;
• Coordinate a trust beneficiary when appropriate;
• Prepare the Transfer on Death Deed;
• Provide signing and notarization instructions;
• Record the deed with the appropriate Clerk of Superior Court; and
• Provide current instructions and forms for beneficiaries to use after the owner’s death.

Georgia substantially changed its Transfer on Death Deed law in 2026. Using current legal documents and current procedures can help ensure that your property passes the way you intended.

To learn more, call Fletcher Estate Planning at (478) PROTECT — (478) 776-8328.