A transfer on death deed designates transferees/beneficiaries to receive a piece of real property–home or lot–upon death of the transferor/owner. This is similar to a pay-on-death beneficiary on a bank account. The transferor does not lose any rights to the property during life and can cancel the designation at any time.
To prepare one, you need a copy of the warranty deed where you are the named grantee. It will include the legal description and the proper way to name you in the transfer on death deed (i.e. John Smith, a single person).
A transfer on death deed must be recorded with the county clerk handling property records BEFORE the death of the transferor. The property is left to the transferees in equal shares and can include more than one transferee. A transferee must survive the transferor in order to inherit so the transferor may choose to name alternate transferees should the primary one pass away first.
Upon the death of the transferor, a transferee will record an affidavit acknowledging the death of the transferor in the real property records of the county where the property is located and this will memorialize the transfer of the property.