How Do I Avoid Probate in North Dakota?

In North Dakota, a home with a transfer on death deed, a payable on death account and life insurance with a named beneficiary pass outside probate, as does property in a revocable trust; what is left is the probate estate.

Mark what the owner holds

North Dakota law says how each asset passes at death. Mark what the owner holds and how each piece is titled to see which pass outside probate and what remains for the probate estate.

Examples:

General information about how each asset passes at death under state law, and what remains for probate, not legal or tax advice. The probate cost figures are the probate cost estimator’s, run at the size of the probate estate. Consult a licensed attorney for legal questions.

At a death in North Dakota, the sums in a joint account belong to the surviving owner unless the account says otherwise. On the pay on death designation: a p.o.d. designation passes to the named beneficiary at the owner's death.

North Dakota's nonprobate-transfer statute names an insurance policy: the death benefit is paid to the beneficiary the owner designated, outside probate. A policy with no beneficiary, or one payable to the estate, is part of the probate estate.

An employer plan is governed by federal law: An employer retirement plan pays its death benefit to the beneficiary named in the plan's records, and federal law displaces a state rule that would redirect it. A married participant's spouse is the beneficiary unless the spouse consented in writing to another. An IRA is the state's: North Dakota's statute names an individual retirement account, so the balance is paid to the named beneficiary outside probate. A retirement account with no beneficiary named is part of the probate estate.

Survivorship title in North Dakota: North Dakota's survivorship vesting for land is joint tenancy, which the will or transfer must expressly declare; otherwise co-owners hold as tenants in common. An owner may convey land to themselves and another person, including a spouse, in joint tenancy with right of survivorship without an intermediate deed. North Dakota recognizes the transfer on death deed: the home passes to the named beneficiary at the owner's death without probate. A home in the owner's name alone, with no survivor, deed beneficiary or trust, is part of the probate estate.

In North Dakota, no transfer on death designation is titled on a vehicle. A vehicle in the owner's name alone is part of the probate estate; one titled in a revocable trust passes under the trust's terms.

Avoiding Probate in North Dakota

Probate reaches what a person owned in their own name alone at death, with no survivor, beneficiary or trust named to take it. That is the probate estate, and the will, or the intestacy statute where there is none, governs only that. In North Dakota an estate under $100,000 may be settled by NDPC Form 1: Affidavit For Collection Of Personal Property Of The Decedent instead of a full probate.

North Dakota recognizes the transfer on death deed: the home passes to the named beneficiary at the owner's death without probate. A home retitled to a revocable trust passes under the trust's terms; the deed used is Warranty Deed or Transfer on Death Deed.

At a death, the sums in a joint account belong to the surviving owner unless the account says otherwise. On the pay on death designation: a p.o.d. designation passes to the named beneficiary at the owner's death. Sums in a North Dakota multiple-party account belong to the surviving party at a party's death, whether or not survivorship is mentioned, unless the account's terms are without right of survivorship. A P.O.D. designation passes the sums to the surviving beneficiary.

A transfer on death written into an insurance policy, account or deposit agreement, security, pension plan, individual retirement plan, employee benefit plan or similar instrument is nontestamentary in North Dakota, and the money passes to the person the decedent designates. The statute names an insurance policy, so the death benefit is paid to the named beneficiary outside probate. It names an individual retirement account too. An employer plan is federal: An employer retirement plan pays its death benefit to the beneficiary named in the plan's records, and federal law displaces a state rule that would redirect it. A married participant's spouse is the beneficiary unless the spouse consented in writing to another.

In North Dakota, no transfer on death designation is titled on a vehicle; a vehicle in the owner's name alone is part of the probate estate, and one titled in a revocable trust passes under the trust's terms.

SimplyTrust Editorial·Updated November 1, 2026

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Data sourced from North Dakota statutes and official state code. How we research.

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