AnalysisIn 2009, the Uniform Law Commission created the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act to create a substitute for the transfer of real property at death. Traditionally, it took a last will or trust to accomplish this, but under the Act, a transfer on death deed can be executed to bequeath property at the death of the grantor instead. New Hampshire is now the 20th state to have enacted the Act. It requires the transfer on death deed to meet the requirements for deeds in RSA 477:3. This includes acknowledgment before a Notary. The official comment on this requirements states: “In the context of transfer on death deeds, the requirement of acknowledgment fulfills at least four functions. First, it cautions a transferor that he or she is performing an act with legal consequences. Such caution is important where, as here, the transferor does not experience the wrench of delivery because the transfer occurs at death. Second, acknowledgment helps to prevent fraud. Third, acknowledgment facilitates the recording of the deed. Fourth, acknowledgment enables the rule in Section 11 that a later acknowledged deed prevails over an earlier acknowledged deed” (Official Comment on Section 9(1)).
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