Existing law governs the execution, revocation, and effectiveness of a revocable transfer on death (TOD) deed, defined as an instrument that makes a donative transfer of property to a named beneficiary, as defined, that operates on the transferor's death, and remains revocable until the transferor's death. Existing law establishes statutory forms for executing and revoking a revocable TOD deed that include provisions and instructions for the forms to be notarized by the transferor and recorded with the county recorder. Existing law requires that subsequent pages of the form to execute a revocable TOD deed include statutory "common questions" regarding the use of that form. Existing law requires that, in order to be effective, a revocable TOD deed be recorded on or before 60 days after the date it was executed. Existing law makes these provisions inoperative on January 1, 2021.
California SB 1305 (20192020) — Revocable transfer on death deeds.
Existing law governs the execution, revocation, and effectiveness of a revocable transfer on death (TOD) deed, defined as an instrument that makes a donative transfer of property to a named beneficiary, as defined, that operates on the transferor's death, and remains revocable until the transferor's death. Existing law establishes statutory forms for executing and revoking a revocable TOD deed that include provisions and instructions for the forms to be notarized by the transferor and recorded with the county recorder. Existing law requires that subsequent pages of the form to execute a revocable TOD deed include statutory "common questions" regarding the use of that form. Existing law requires that, in order to be effective, a revocable TOD deed be recorded on or before 60 days after the date it was executed. Existing law makes these provisions inoperative on January 1, 2021.
Version chain
The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.
Do pass and be ordered to the Consent Calendar — 8–0 (pass) · upper
Consent Calendar SB1305 — 39–0 (pass) · upper
SB 1305 Roth Consent Calendar Second Day — 75–0 (pass) · lower
Do pass. To Consent Calendar. — 11–0 (pass) · lower
Sponsors
Roth — primary (person)
Timeline
The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.
2020-02-21 Introduced. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. introduction
2020-02-24 From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 25.
2020-02-24 Read first time. reading-1
2020-03-05 Referred to Com. on JUD. referral-committee
2020-05-13 From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on JUD. reading-1, reading-2, amendment-passage, committee-passage, referral-committee
2020-05-15 Set for hearing May 22.
2020-05-22 From committee: Do pass. Ordered to consent calendar. (Ayes 8. Noes 0. Page 3584.) (May 22). committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage
2020-05-26 Read second time. Ordered to consent calendar. reading-1, reading-2
2020-06-11 Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 39. Noes 0. Page 3681.) Ordered to the Assembly. passage, reading-3, reading-1
2020-06-11 In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. reading-1
2020-06-18 Referred to Com. on JUD. referral-committee
2020-07-09 July 22 hearing postponed by committee.
2020-07-27 July 30 hearing postponed by committee.
2020-08-12 From committee: Do pass. Ordered to consent calendar. (Ayes 11. Noes 0.) (August 12). committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage
2020-08-13 Read second time. Ordered to consent calendar. reading-1, reading-2
2020-08-30 Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 75. Noes 0. Page 5280.) Ordered to the Senate. passage, reading-3, reading-1
2020-08-30 In Senate. Ordered to engrossing and enrolling.
2020-09-10 Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3 p.m.
2020-09-28 Approved by the Governor. executive-signature
2020-09-28 Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 238, Statutes of 2020.
Source
OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/844a7331-45d3-4379-a0e9-f542b8b54b45. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).
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