New Hampshire transfer on death deed
A transfer on death deed lets you name who inherits your New Hampshire property without probate, while you keep full control, including the power to sell or mortgage it without anyone's signature. Here is exactly what New Hampshire requires, what it costs, and where to file it.
- Recording office
- Register of Deeds
- Witnesses
- Notary only
- Transfer tax
- None when recorded
- First-page margin
- 3″ top
- Recording fee
- ~$12 first page
- E-recording
- Approved submitters
What a transfer on death deed does in New Hampshire
A transfer-on-death deed (a beneficiary deed in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado and Missouri) names the person who should receive your real estate when you die. You record it now, but it transfers nothing until death: you keep full ownership, you can sell or mortgage the property, and you can revoke the deed at any time without your beneficiary's consent. When you die, the property passes outside probate. Your beneficiaries then record the documents your state requires to show them as the owners; in a few states that filing has a deadline, or is what completes the transfer.
In New Hampshire the governing statute is N.H. Rev. Stat. § 563-D:1 et seq. New Hampshire's Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act took effect July 1, 2024. A transfer on death deed is void unless it is titled "Transfer on Death Deed", states that the transfer happens at the owner's death, is signed and acknowledged like any deed, and is recorded before the owner's death and within 60 days after it is signed (RSA 563-D:9). No witnesses are needed, but the owner must have the capacity needed to make a will (RSA 563-D:8). After the owner's death, the beneficiaries record a notice of death affidavit within 60 days (RSA 563-D:22).
The New Hampshire law behind this deed
Start with N.H. Rev. Stat. § 563-D:1 et seq. if you want to read the statute's own language. The table below lists the main statutes behind the rules on this page.
| What it governs | Citation |
|---|---|
| Transfer on death deeds specifically | N.H. Rev. Stat. § 563-D:1 et seq. |
| Conveyances generally | N.H. Rev. Stat. §§ 477:1 and 477:3 |
| Recording with the Register of Deeds | N.H. Rev. Stat. §§ 477:3-a and 478:4-a |
| Homestead and spousal consent | N.H. Rev. Stat. §§ 480:3-a and 480:5-a |
| Transfer tax | N.H. Rev. Stat. § 78-B:1 |
When New Hampshire property owners use a transfer on death deed
- Leave a house to your children without probate
- Keep real estate out of a will contest
- Get probate avoidance without paying for a full living trust
- Name a backup beneficiary in case your first choice dies first
- Revoke or change an earlier beneficiary designation
What New Hampshire requires on the deed
These are the execution and formatting rules registers of deeds enforce. Getting any of them wrong is the usual reason a deed comes back in the mail.
| Requirement | What New Hampshire says |
|---|---|
| Recording office | Register of Deeds |
| Notarization | Required. Each signer must appear before the notary and acknowledge the signature. Signing in front of the notary is the safest practice. |
| Witnesses | None required. A notarial acknowledgment is enough. |
| Legal description | Required, copied exactly from the prior recorded deed. A street address is not sufficient. |
| Grantee's address | Must appear on the face of the deed. |
| Return address | Include a 'when recorded, return to' block so the original comes back to you. Deedly always prints one. |
| Preparer statement | Not required, but customary. |
| Prior deed reference | Not required, though it keeps the chain of title clean. |
| Page setup | 8.5 × 11 in, 3-inch clear space at the top of page one, 1-inch margins elsewhere, nothing under 11pt. This is the profile Deedly applies. |
| Accompanying form | None when you record it. |
| Timing | Must be recorded within 60 days after it is signed and before the owner's death, or it is void (RSA 563-D:9). |
Your spouse does not sign, but keeps a homestead right
A transfer on death deed changes nothing during your life, and your spouse does not sign it (RSA 563-D:12). But if you are married and the property is your home, your spouse has a homestead right in it, for life if your spouse outlives you (RSA 480:3-a). Your beneficiaries take the property subject to the rights it is subject to at your death (RSA 563-D:13), and only a deed your spouse signs with the formalities of a deed releases the homestead right (RSA 480:5-a). This deed does not include that release. Property that passes by this deed does not count toward your spouse's elective share (RSA 563-D:13, V). If you want your beneficiaries to take the home free of your spouse's homestead right, talk to a New Hampshire attorney.
How to complete and record it in New Hampshire
- Find your current deedYou need the legal description from it, word for word. If you can't find your copy, the Register of Deeds can provide one, usually for a few dollars.
- Identify everyone by full legal nameNames must match the current deed and government ID exactly, middle names included. A mismatch creates a gap in the chain of title that shows up years later at closing.
- Complete the deedDeedly builds it with the wording, notary certificate, and 3-inch first-page margin used for New Hampshire deeds.
- Sign in front of a notaryBring photo ID. Wait to sign until you are in front of the notary: you have to appear before the notary anyway, and signing there leaves no question about who signed.
- Record it with the Register of DeedsFile in the county where the property is located and pay the recording fee. Many offices in this state also accept e-recording, but usually only from approved submitters such as title companies. Keep the stamped receipt. It fixes your priority date.
- Tell your beneficiaries where it isWithin 60 days after the owner's death, the beneficiaries record a notarized notice of death affidavit with the Register of Deeds, giving each beneficiary's name and address, the property's street address, the date and book and page of the transfer on death deed, the owner's name, date and place of death, and where future tax bills should go (RSA 563-D:22). The Register sends a copy to the town or city's assessor. The affidavit is not a condition of the transfer: the property passes at the owner's death either way.
What it costs in New Hampshire
| Cost | Typical amount |
|---|---|
| Recording fee | About $12 for the first page and roughly $4 per additional page |
| Transfer tax | None when recorded |
| Notary | A New Hampshire notary may charge up to $10 for each notarial act, or $25 for an act performed for you remotely by video (RSA 455:11). |
| Deedly | $49, one time (launch price, regular $69) |
| Attorney (for comparison) | $150–$700 for the same statutory document |
A transfer on death deed made for no consideration is exempt from New Hampshire's real estate transfer tax (RSA 78-B:2, XXV), and your deed says so on its face, as RSA 78-B:6 requires. No Declaration of Consideration (Forms CD-57-P and CD-57-S) is filed for it: RSA 78-B:10, III excuses them for exempt transfers other than gifts.
Where to record it in New Hampshire
New Hampshire deeds are recorded with the Register of Deeds in the county where the property sits, not where you live. There are 10 counties in New Hampshire.
Many New Hampshire recording offices accept e-recording through vendors such as Simplifile, CSC, or ePN. E-recording is generally open only to approved submitters such as title companies, attorneys, and lenders, so if you prepared the deed yourself, plan to record in person or by mail. Some offices accept filings from the public through those vendors; your county's website will say.
Recording offices we cover in New Hampshire: Hillsborough, Rockingham, Merrimack, Strafford, Grafton, Cheshire. See all New Hampshire recording offices.
What a transfer on death deed does NOT do
Being honest about the limits is more useful than a sales pitch. Every one of these catches somebody out.
- Only 34 states plus DC recognize it. Recording one in a state that does not accept it accomplishes nothing.
- It does not clear the mortgage. Your beneficiary takes the property subject to any loan, lien, or judgment against it.
- It doesn't protect the property from your creditors, and in many states it doesn't shield the property from Medicaid estate recovery.
- The beneficiary receives no ownership interest until you die. They cannot be added as a co-owner this way.
- If a beneficiary dies before you, what happens to their share depends on state law: in some states it passes to the other beneficiaries or to the beneficiary's descendants, in others it fails. Naming an alternate, where your state's form allows one, avoids the question.
Quirks of New Hampshire law that catch people out
- New Hampshire charges its transfer tax to BOTH parties (0.75% each, 1.5% total) which is unusual and catches people out.
- The Register of Deeds charges transfer tax on every deed unless the deed itself states why it is exempt (RSA 78-B:6). The form is not enough.
- Forms CD-57-P, CD-57-S and PA-34 must be filed with the Department of Revenue Administration within 30 days after recording, in addition to recording the deed.
- The register must refuse a deed whose property description does not name, in its first sentence, every town or city the land lies in (RSA 478:4-a). Use the town or city, not the post office name.
- A married owner's spouse must sign the deed of the home to release the homestead right, even if the spouse is not on title (RSA 480:5-a).
- New Hampshire has recognized transfer on death deeds since July 1, 2024 (RSA 563-D). One is void unless it is recorded within 60 days after it is signed and before the owner's death.
- New Hampshire does not recognize tenancy by the entirety. A deed to spouses "as tenants by the entirety" creates a joint tenancy with right of survivorship (RSA 477:18).
$49, one time. Your finished deed appears in full before you pay, with New Hampshire's witness rules, margins, and recording instructions already applied.
Common questions
No. New Hampshire has no requirement that an attorney prepare a deed. What matters is the correct statutory language, an accurate legal description, proper notarization, and recording with the Register of Deeds. Deedly produces all of that for $49, versus roughly $150–$700 for an attorney to draft the same document. If ownership is disputed, the current owner has died without probate, or the transfer is tax-sensitive, use an attorney.
Expect around $12 for the first page and roughly $4 per additional page. A transfer on death deed made for no consideration is exempt from New Hampshire's real estate transfer tax (RSA 78-B:2, XXV), and your deed says so on its face, as RSA 78-B:6 requires. No Declaration of Consideration (Forms CD-57-P and CD-57-S) is filed for it: RSA 78-B:10, III excuses them for exempt transfers other than gifts. State law sets $10 for the first page and $4 for each additional page (RSA 478:17-g). A register may add a surcharge of up to $2 per document, but only in a county whose commissioners and county convention have approved it (RSA 478:17-j), so the fee is not set the same everywhere. When Deedly checked in September 2026, all ten registries' fee pages listed $12 for the first page. A $25 LCHIP surcharge on every deed is paid by the grantee (RSA 478:17-g, II). A two-page deed costs $41 in all where the $2 surcharge applies, and $2 less where it does not. Add return postage.
No. New Hampshire requires only that the grantor's signature be acknowledged before a notary public. A justice of the peace can take the acknowledgment instead of a notary public (RSA 477:3).
With the Register of Deeds in the county where the property is located, not where you live, and not where the buyer lives. New Hampshire has 10 counties. Many offices in this state also accept e-recording, but usually only from approved submitters such as title companies.
Yes. You can revoke or replace it at any time while you're alive. Sign a revocation, or a new transfer on death deed, before a notary, and record it within 60 days after you sign it and before your death (RSA 563-D:11). Tearing up or marking the recorded deed does not revoke it. A deed you signed with a joint owner is revoked only if every living joint owner signs the revocation. If you sell or give away the property, the deed passes nothing, because it transfers only what you own at death (RSA 563-D:13). You don't need your beneficiary's permission for any of it.
Yes, for this property. On your death the property passes directly to the people you named, outside probate. Within 60 days after the owner's death, the beneficiaries record a notarized notice of death affidavit with the Register of Deeds, giving each beneficiary's name and address, the property's street address, the date and book and page of the transfer on death deed, the owner's name, date and place of death, and where future tax bills should go (RSA 563-D:22). The Register sends a copy to the town or city's assessor. The affidavit is not a condition of the transfer: the property passes at the owner's death either way. It doesn't avoid probate for anything else you own, it doesn't clear the mortgage, and it doesn't protect the property from your creditors.
No. A transfer on death deed changes nothing during your life, and your spouse does not sign it (RSA 563-D:12). But if you are married and the property is your home, your spouse has a homestead right in it, for life if your spouse outlives you (RSA 480:3-a). Your beneficiaries take the property subject to the rights it is subject to at your death (RSA 563-D:13), and only a deed your spouse signs with the formalities of a deed releases the homestead right (RSA 480:5-a). This deed does not include that release. Property that passes by this deed does not count toward your spouse's elective share (RSA 563-D:13, V). If you want your beneficiaries to take the home free of your spouse's homestead right, talk to a New Hampshire attorney.
Keep reading
- New Hampshire quitclaim deedTransfers whatever interest you have in a property, with no promises about the title.
- New Hampshire general warranty deedTransfers ownership with the strongest title guarantees the law allows.
- New Hampshire special warranty deedTransfers ownership, but only guarantees the title for the period you owned it.
- New Hampshire life estate deedYou keep the right to live in the property for life; named remaindermen own it after you.
- All deed rules for New HampshireRecording offices, transfer tax, witness rules, and fees.
- New Hampshire recording officesWhere to file in each county.
Deedly is not a law firm
Its software and documents are not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. We provide self-help software and state-specific deed forms; you make your own decisions about your property. Using Deedly does not create an attorney-client relationship, and nothing here is legal advice. If your situation is complex or contested, talk to a licensed attorney in your state.