No TOD deed, but a genuinely distinctive substitute
Vermont has not adopted the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act or any equivalent TOD deed statute. What it did instead is genuinely distinctive compared to most other states without a TOD deed: rather than leaving property owners to rely on the informal, common-law "Lady Bird deed" concept the way many states do, Vermont enacted its own dedicated Enhanced Life Estate Deed Act, codified at 27 V.S.A. Chapter 6, effective July 13, 2020. This gives the concept its own statutory name, its own defined terms, and its own specific rules, directly written into Vermont law rather than left to case-by-case judicial recognition.
Full lifetime control retained
Under an Enhanced Life Estate Deed, the owner retains a life estate with enhanced powers — the full right to sell, mortgage, lease, revise, or revoke the deed during their own lifetime, all without needing the named remainder beneficiary's consent, and without even needing to notify that beneficiary. The named remainder beneficiary holds only a contingent remainder interest, one that vests automatically at the owner's death, but only if the owner hasn't already conveyed the property away to someone else first.
A specific answer on mortgages
Vermont's statute directly addresses a question that can otherwise create real uncertainty: does taking out a mortgage on the property revoke the deed? The answer, written directly into the statute, is no — a mortgage by the life tenant does not revoke an Enhanced Life Estate Deed. This kind of explicit statutory clarity is exactly the advantage of Vermont's codified approach over states that rely on informal, common-law recognition of the same basic concept, where this specific question might otherwise be left genuinely unsettled.
Revocation: a deed back to yourself, or a replacement
The deed is revoked by recording a deed from the grantor back to the grantor, or it can be revised by recording a replacement Enhanced Life Estate Deed naming all of the grantees. Neither approach requires the remainder beneficiary's consent or notice — the owner remains firmly in control throughout their lifetime, consistent with the deed's overall design.
Property transfers without probate
Like a TOD deed in other states, property subject to a validly executed and recorded Enhanced Life Estate Deed transfers to the named remainder beneficiary without probate. The deed must be executed, acknowledged, and recorded in the town land records to be effective.
Securities follow a completely separate framework
Vermont does permit TOD, or beneficiary-form, designations — but only for securities and financial accounts, under a separate statute that does not apply to real property at all. See our guide to Vermont beneficiary and P.O.D. accounts for how that framework works, including a distinctive rule about how multiple owners of a beneficiary-form security are automatically treated.
Joint ownership still comes first
See our guide to Vermont joint tenancy rules for how ordinary co-ownership with survivorship, through joint tenancy or tenancy by the entirety, interacts with real estate that isn't handled through an Enhanced Life Estate Deed.