## Facts

- Henry M. Roloff farmed land in Atchison County, Kansas, and planted wheat, corn, and soybeans on the property in the spring of 2004.
- On June 26, 2004, Roloff executed a recorded transfer-on-death (TOD) deed naming his longtime employee, Charles A. Schletzbaum, as grantee beneficiary of certain farmland.
- The TOD deed did not contain any language reserving the growing crops to Roloff or to Roloff’s estate.
- The TOD deed was recorded on June 28, 2004.
- Roloff died intestate on July 24, 2004, and Commerce Trust Company was appointed administrator of his estate.
- After Roloff’s death, Schletzbaum harvested and sold the crops grown on the land:
  - Corn: 14,224.95 bushels for $25,732.19
  - Soybeans: 11,164.76 bushels for $53,720.86
  - Total sales: $79,453.05
  - Expenses: $12,028.40
  - Net proceeds: $67,424.65
- Commerce Trust asserted that the growing crops were personal property at Roloff’s death and therefore belonged to the estate, not to Schletzbaum as the TOD grantee beneficiary.
- The trial court agreed with Commerce Trust, ruled the crops were personal property, and ordered Schletzbaum to pay the net proceeds ($67,424.65) plus interest to the estate.
- Schletzbaum appealed, arguing that because the TOD deed conveyed the farmland without reserving crops, the growing crops passed with the land to him upon Roloff’s death.

## Issues

1. When a grantor executes and records a TOD deed conveying farmland but does not reserve the growing crops, do the crops pass with the land to the grantee beneficiary at the grantor’s death, or do they remain personal property of the grantor’s estate under K.S.A. 59-1206?

## Decision

- The Kansas Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s judgment.
- The court held that because Roloff did not reserve the growing crops in the TOD deed, the growing crops passed with title to the land to Schletzbaum upon Roloff’s death.
- As a result, the crop proceeds were not estate assets, and the order requiring Schletzbaum to pay the net proceeds plus interest to Commerce Trust was erroneous.

## Legal Principles

- A transfer-on-death deed is a statutory real-property transfer that becomes effective at the owner’s death and is designed to transfer real estate outside probate to a named grantee beneficiary.
- Growing crops are generally treated as part of the realty for conveyancing purposes and pass with the land unless the grantor makes an effective reservation or the parties have a valid agreement separating the crops from the land.
- If a TOD deed conveys farmland and contains no reservation of crops, the default conveyancing rule applies: the growing crops on the land at the owner’s death pass with the land to the TOD grantee beneficiary.
- K.S.A. 59-1206, which Commerce Trust relied on to characterize crops as personal property for estate administration, does not control ownership of crops when the underlying real estate transfers by TOD deed and the deed does not reserve the crops.
- When the controlling question is the legal effect of a deed and related statutes, the appellate court resolves the issue as a matter of law.

## Conclusion

In re Estate of Roloff held that unreserved growing crops on farmland subject to a recorded TOD deed pass with the land to the grantee beneficiary at the owner’s death, and the estate administrator cannot recover the crop proceeds as estate property based on K.S.A. 59-1206.


In re Estate of Roloff, 143 P.3d 406, 36 Kan. App. 2d 684 (2006)