From deed to affidavit, in 2009
Ohio law once used an actual transfer-on-death deed. Effective December 28, 2009, O.R.C. § 5302.22 replaced it with a Transfer on Death Designation Affidavit — the same basic idea, naming a beneficiary who receives the real estate automatically at death without probate, but executed and recorded as a sworn affidavit rather than a deed. A deed recorded before that date stays valid under § 5302.24, but anyone setting up a new arrangement today uses the affidavit.
Sworn, not witnessed
The affidavit is verified before a notary public or another person authorized to administer oaths — the owner swears to its contents under oath. Ohio doesn't add a separate witness requirement on top of that, which is a lighter formality than some states impose for their own transfer-on-death instruments.
The dower requirement
Ohio is one of a small number of states that still recognizes dower — a spouse's own interest in the other spouse's real estate, independent of who's named on the deed. Under § 5302.22(B), if the owner is married, the spouse must join in signing the TOD designation affidavit to release that dower interest. An owner who signs alone, without the spouse's signature, leaves the dower interest unresolved, which can complicate the transfer later.
Full control during life
Recording the affidavit changes nothing about the owner's rights while alive. The owner can sell, refinance, or mortgage the property normally, and can record a new affidavit naming a different beneficiary, or a revocation, at any time before death. The named beneficiary has no ownership interest in the property, and no say over what the owner does with it, until the owner actually dies.
How it compares to a survivorship deed
Ohio also lets co-owners create a survivorship deed under § 5302.17, which keeps property out of probate a different way — by making the second person a present co-owner with rights during the first owner's life. The TOD designation affidavit is different: the named beneficiary gets no rights at all until death, which suits an owner who wants to name an heir without adding a co-owner or giving up any control in the meantime.