The Virginia legislature recently passed the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act. The Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act allows real property to be treated in a similar fashion as bank accounts, stock brokerage accounts, etc. which currently have a transfer on death or pay on death designation.

The Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act authorizes the creation of a transfer on death deed which, if properly drafted and recorded among the land records, passes title directly to the grantees or beneficiaries named in the deed without the need for probate.

Basically, the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act means that Virginia is among a small but growing number of states that allow both personal property and real property to be titled in a manner that property does not have to pass through probate.