VEHICLES/BOATS: TRANSFER ON DEATH TITLE, the official text

Enrolled SB 104 
 Relating to the transfer of a title on the death of the owner; relating to the transferability of 
 common interest community ownership interests; and providing for an effective date. 
 _______________ 
 * Section 1. AS 05.25 is amended by adding a new section to read: 
 Sec. 05.25.058. Transfer of certificate of title on death. The owner of a boat 
 for which the Department of Administration is required or allowed to issue a 
 certificate of title under this chapter may obtain a transfer on death title for the boat 
 under AS 13.33.401. 
 * Sec. 2. AS 13.33.101(a) is amended to read: 
 (a) A provision for a nonprobate transfer on death in an insurance policy, 
 contract of employment, bond, mortgage, promissory note, certificated or 
 uncertificated security, account agreement, custodial agreement, deposit agreement, 
 compensation plan, pension plan, individual retirement plan, employee benefit plan,

trust, conveyance, deed of gift, marital property agreement, or other written instrument 
 of a similar nature is nontestamentary. This subsection includes 
 (1) a written provision that 
 (A) [(1)] money or other benefits due to, controlled by, or 
 owned by a decedent before death must be paid after the decedent's death to a 
 person whom the decedent designates either in the instrument or in a separate 
 writing, including a will, executed either before or at the same time as the 
 instrument, or later; 
 (B) [(2)] money due or to become due under the instrument 
 ceases to be payable in the event of death of the promisee or the promisor 
 before payment or demand; or 
 (C) [(3)] property controlled by or owned by the decedent 
 before death that is the subject of the instrument passes to a person the 
 decedent designates either in the instrument or in a separate writing, including 
 a will, executed either before or at the same time as the instrument, or later; 
 and 
 (2) a transfer of a boat or vehicle by a transfer on death title under 
 AS 13.33.401. 
 * Sec. 3. AS 13.33 is amended by adding a new section to read: 
 Article 4. Transfer of Boat and Vehicle Title on Death. 
 Sec. 13.33.401. Transfer of certificate of title on death. (a) The owner of a 
 boat or vehicle for which the department is required or allowed to issue a certificate of 
 title may obtain a transfer on death title for the boat or vehicle. A transfer on death 
 title transfers the title to a designated beneficiary when the sole owner or the last 
 surviving joint owner dies. 
 (b) To obtain a transfer on death title for a boat or vehicle, the owner of the 
 boat or vehicle shall submit to the department an application on a form established by 
 the department, with the names of at least one and not more than two designated 
 beneficiaries, and a fee for the transfer on death title. Each joint owner shall sign the 
 application to obtain, revoke, or change a transfer on death title. 
 (c) A transfer on death title must contain the words "transfer on death to" or

the abbreviation "TOD," followed by the names of not more than two designated 
 beneficiaries. 
 (d) A transfer on death title obtained under this section is effective without 
 (1) notice to, delivery to, or acceptance by the designated beneficiary; 
 or 
 (2) consideration. 
 (e) A transfer on death title is a nontestamentary transfer on death. 
 (f) The owner may revoke a transfer on death title or change the designated 
 beneficiary on a transfer on death title at any time during the owner's life without the 
 consent of or notice to the designated beneficiary. 
 (g) To revoke or change a transfer on death title, the owner shall 
 (1) transfer the boat or vehicle to another person and assign and deliver 
 the certificate of title for the boat or vehicle to the other person; or 
 (2) file with the department an application on a form established by the 
 department and pay a fee to the department to reissue the certificate of title for the 
 boat or vehicle without a designated beneficiary or with a different designated 
 beneficiary. 
 (h) A designated beneficiary may disclaim the designated beneficiary's interest 
 in the boat or vehicle under AS 13.70 (Uniform Disclaimer of Property Interests Act). 
 (i) Except as limited under (j) - (l) of this section, a designated beneficiary 
 takes the transfer on death title subject to the 
 (1) conveyances, encumbrances, assignments, contracts, liens, and 
 other interests to which the boat or vehicle is subject at the owner's death; and 
 (2) claims of creditors against the owner or the owner's estate. 
 (j) To the extent the owner's probate estate is insufficient to satisfy an allowed 
 claim against the estate, the costs of administration of the estate, or a statutory 
 allowance to a surviving spouse or child, the estate may enforce the liability against a 
 boat or vehicle transferred at the owner's death by a transfer on death title. 
 (k) If more than one boat or vehicle is transferred by one or more transfer on 
 death titles, the liability under (j) of this section is apportioned among the boats or 
 vehicles in proportion to the net values of the boats or vehicles at the owner's death.

(l) A proceeding to enforce a liability under (j) of this section shall begin not 
 later than 12 months after the owner's death. A proceeding to enforce a liability under 
 (j) of this section may not begin unless the personal representative of the owner's 
 estate has received a written demand by the surviving spouse, a creditor, a child of the 
 decedent, or a person acting for a child or the surviving spouse of the decedent. 
 (m) During the life of the owner, a transfer on death title does not 
 (1) affect an interest or right of the sole owner or a joint owner of the 
 boat or vehicle, including the right to transfer or encumber the boat or vehicle; 
 (2) affect an interest or right of the designated beneficiary, even if the 
 designated beneficiary has actual or constructive notice of the transfer on death title; 
 (3) affect an interest or right of a secured or unsecured creditor or 
 future creditor of the sole owner or a joint owner, even if the creditor has actual or 
 constructive notice of the transfer on death title; 
 (4) affect the eligibility of the sole owner, a joint owner, or a 
 designated beneficiary for any form of public assistance; 
 (5) create a legal or equitable interest in favor of the designated 
 beneficiary; or 
 (6) subject the boat or vehicle to the claims or service of process of a 
 creditor of the designated beneficiary. 
 (n) Except as otherwise provided in this section or in AS 13.12.203, 
 13.12.803, or 13.12.804, on the death of the owner, the title to the boat or vehicle is 
 transferred to the designated beneficiary, if the designated beneficiary survives the 
 owner by 120 hours. 
 (o) The department shall issue a new certificate of title for a boat or vehicle to 
 the designated beneficiary after the death of the owner if the designated beneficiary 
 otherwise satisfies this section and submits 
 (1) proof of the death of the owner by providing a death certificate, 
 another official record of the death, or other evidence of the death that is satisfactory 
 to the department; and 
 (2) an application on a form established by the department and pays a 
 fee to the department for the certificate of title.

(p) If a designated beneficiary obtains the title to a boat or vehicle under (o) of 
 this section and if the designated beneficiary consists of more than one person, the 
 persons hold the title as joint tenants with the right of survivorship and the department 
 shall issue the new title in the conjunctive. 
 (q) Except as provided in this section, a transfer on death title may not be 
 changed or revoked by will or another instrument, by a change in circumstances, or in 
 any other manner. 
 (r) The department may adopt regulations under AS 44.62 (Administrative 
 Procedure Act) to implement this section, including regulations establishing the forms 
 to be used under this section and the fees to be paid. 
 (s) In this section, 
 (1) "boat" means a boat for which the department is required or 
 allowed to issue a title under AS 05.25.055 or 05.25.056; 
 (2) "department" means the Department of Administration; 
 (3) "designated beneficiary" means a person to whom a boat or vehicle 
 title is transferred by a transfer on death title; 
 (4) "joint owner" means an individual who owns a boat or vehicle with 
 one or more other individuals as joint tenants with a right of survivorship or as tenants 
 by the entirety; 
 (5) "owner" means 
 (A) the sole owner; or 
 (B) all joint owners; 
 (6) "person" includes a corporation, company, partnership, firm, 
 association, organization, trust, business trust, or society, as well as a natural person; 
 (7) "sole owner" means an individual who is the only person who owns 
 the boat or vehicle; 
 (8) "transfer on death title" means a certificate of title obtained under 
 (a) of this section that transfers the title of a boat or vehicle to a designated beneficiary 
 when the owner dies; 
 (9) "vehicle" means a vehicle for which the department is required or 
 allowed to issue a certificate of title under AS 28.10.201.

* Sec. 4. AS 13.48.110(c) is amended to read: 
 (c) A proceeding to enforce the liability under this section must be 
 commenced not later than 12 months after the transferor's death. A proceeding to 
 enforce the liability under (a) of this section may not be commenced unless the 
 personal representative of the transferor's estate has received a written demand by the 
 surviving spouse, a creditor, a child, or a person acting for a child or the surviving 
 spouse of the decedent. 
 * Sec. 5. AS 13.48.190(5) is amended to read: 
 (5) "property" means 
 (A) an interest in real property located in this state, which is 
 transferable on the death of the owner; or 
 (B) an ownership interest in a unit, and all rights, 
 obligations, and interests appurtenant to the unit, in a common interest 
 community, or a leasehold interest in a leasehold common interest 
 community subject to AS 34.08, which is transferable on the death of the 
 owner; 
 * Sec. 6. AS 28.10 is amended by adding a new section to read: 
 Sec. 28.10.275. Transfer of certificate of title on death. In addition to the 
 transfer of a vehicle provided by AS 28.10.211, 28.10.271, or another statute, the 
 owner of a vehicle for which the department is required or allowed under 
 AS 28.10.201 to issue a certificate of title may obtain a transfer on death title for the 
 vehicle under AS 13.33.401. 
 * Sec. 7. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 
 read: 
 TRANSITION: REGULATIONS. The Department of Administration may adopt 
 regulations necessary to implement AS 13.33.401, enacted by sec. 3 of this Act. The 
 regulations take effect under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act), but not before the 
 effective date of sec. 3 of this Act. 
 * Sec. 8. Section 7 of this Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c). 
 * Sec. 9. Except as provided in sec. 8 of this Act, this Act takes effect July 1, 2026.