Santa Clara Living Trust: Protecting Intel, Nvidia & Semiconductor Equity
Reviewed by Rozsa Gyene, California attorney. Last reviewed October 2026.
The City of Santa Clara has no probate courtroom of its own. An estate left in a Santa Clara resident's name is opened at the Downtown Superior Court on North First Street in San José. On Zillow's August 2026 typical Santa Clara home value of $1,646,715, the statutory attorney and executor fees in a full probate come to $58,934.30, before any stock account is counted. A funded living trust keeps the house and the brokerage account out of that process for a $400 trust plus a $100 deed.
A Santa Clara home avoids probate when it is deeded into a revocable living trust and the deed is recorded with the Santa Clara County Clerk-Recorder on West Tasman Drive. Left in your own name, a home at Zillow's August 2026 typical Santa Clara value of $1,646,715 would go through probate at the Downtown Superior Court in San José, where Probate Code §10810 and §10800 fees come to $58,934.30. Our attorney-prepared trust costs $400 for one person or $500 for a married couple.
Key Takeaways
Santa Clara County hears probate at the Downtown Superior Court, 191 North First Street, San José. The Probate Clerk's Office is in Room 107, and attorneys must e-file probate petitions.
Zillow's typical Santa Clara home value was $1,646,715 on August 31, 2026. Full probate fees on that figure: $29,467.15 to the attorney and the same to the executor.
The County Clerk-Recorder is now at 110 West Tasman Drive, 1st Floor, San José, not the old Hedding Street address. A deed's standard fee is $25.00 for the first page and $3.00 for each additional page.
Santa Clara adds no separate city conveyance tax on a sale. San José, Palo Alto and Mountain View each charge $1.65 per $500 on top of the county tax.
Vested shares can be held by your trust; unvested RSUs and options follow your employer's equity plan.
Attorney-prepared trust: $400 single, $500 married couple. Deed preparation is $100 per property.
Where Santa Clara County Hears Probate
Courthouse
Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara, Downtown Superior Court (DTS)
Address
191 North First Street, San José, CA 95113; Probate Clerk's Office, Room 107
Phone
Probate (408) 882-2654; ssprobinfo@scscourt.org
Phone hours
Monday to Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.; Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
A resident of the City of Santa Clara does not deal with a local courthouse when a parent or spouse dies with property in their own name. The county court's self-help page says probate cases are heard at the Downtown Superior Court in San José, and its probate location page puts the Probate Clerk's Office in Room 107 of that building. The same division handles disputes about trusts, conservatorships of adults and guardianships of children, so the probate calendar there is shared with a wide mix of family matters.
Lawyers do not pick their own hearing date. The court requires attorneys to e-file the petition and notice of hearing with the date, time and department left blank, and the clerk sets the matter on the next available calendar. A person without a lawyer files over the counter in the Probate Clerk's Office. Before the hearing, a probate examiner reviews the papers against the Probate Code, the California Rules of Court and the county's local probate rules. The court posts Advance Case Status Reports for the general probate and estate calendars, generally two court days before the hearing. A petition that passes review can be pre-approved, and the petitioner does not need to appear; one that does not pass gets examiner notes listing what is wrong. The court says the examiner cannot advise anyone on how to fix the problem. The probate staff attorney reviews urgent and ex parte petitions and can be reached by appointment at (408) 882-2100.
Probate is also public. The court's self-help page points the public to its online Case Information Portal to look up probate cases, and the inventory and appraisal of a decedent's assets becomes part of that court file. For a Santa Clara household whose largest asset after the house is a brokerage account full of employer stock, that is often the point that matters most. A successor trustee of a funded trust collects and distributes those same assets without filing anything in San José. The court becomes involved with a trust only if someone files a petition about it. Our guide to avoiding probate in California covers the general rules.
Recording a Santa Clara Deed on West Tasman Drive
Recorder
Santa Clara County Clerk-Recorder's Office
Address
110 West Tasman Drive, 1st Floor, San José, CA 95134 (real property documents recorded without an appointment)
Hours and phone
Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; (408) 299-5688. Assessor, for PCOR forms: (408) 299-5500
Recording fee
$25.00 for the first page, which includes the $10.00 real estate fraud prevention fee (Government Code §27388), and $3.00 for each additional page. Confirm the current fee with the recorder before mailing.
SB 2 fee
$75.00 per title, up to $225 per transaction, unless an exemption applies
PCOR
$20.00 more per deed when the Preliminary Change of Ownership Report is missing or incomplete
A signed trust does not own anything until assets are moved into it. For a Santa Clara house, that means a deed from you as owner to you as trustee, recorded by the County Clerk-Recorder. Older pages, including an earlier version of this one, gave the recorder's address as 70 West Hedding Street. The county now lists the Clerk-Recorder's Office at 110 West Tasman Drive in North San José, open weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and says real property documents can be recorded in person without an appointment. The county says recorded originals are always returned, on average 8 to 10 weeks after recording. If you want proof sooner, it will stamp a conformed copy for $5.00 when you include the copy and a self-addressed stamped envelope.
The county's fee page lists a few more charges that can apply to a deed: a $10.00 survey monument preservation fee on some grant deeds, a $2.00 restrictive covenant program fee per title under AB 1466, and penalties for non-standard paper size or small print. Every deed must show the Assessor's parcel number in the county's 000-00-000 format. One county rule matters for families who own more than one property: the recorder does not accept a single deed covering several properties in different cities that have transfer taxes. A Santa Clara home and a San José rental each get their own deed, which is how our office prepares them anyway.
The $75 SB 2 fee is usually not charged on a deed moving your own home into your trust, because our deed claims the owner-occupier exemption in Government Code §27388.1(a)(2) on its face. It is charged on a deed for a rental, a second home or vacant land, capped at $225 per transaction. No county guarantees in advance how it will treat a particular deed, which is why the exemption is stated on the document itself.
With the deed you file a Preliminary Change of Ownership Report and mark the transfer into a revocable trust. Revenue and Taxation Code §62(d) says that transfer is not a change in ownership, so the Santa Clara County Assessor keeps your Proposition 13 base year value. Documentary transfer tax is $0.00 on a deed into your own revocable trust, declared under Revenue and Taxation Code §11930, because nothing is sold. Our office prepares the deed and the PCOR for $100 per property, and you record it. Base recording fees change statewide on January 1, 2027, when AB 2224 (Stats. 2026, ch. 292) sets the Government Code §27361 base at $15.00 for the first page and $4.00 for each additional page; county add-on fees, such as the fraud prevention fee, stay on top of that base. Our trust transfer deed guide explains the deed itself.
What Probate Would Cost on a Typical Santa Clara Home
Zillow's Home Value Index put the typical Santa Clara home value at $1,646,715 on August 31, 2026, about the same as a year earlier ($1,639,855). Zillow calls this a typical value, not a median sale price. Probate Code §10810 pays the estate's attorney 4% of the first $100,000 of the gross estate, 3% of the next $100,000, 2% of the next $800,000 and 1% of the next $9 million. Section 10800 pays the executor the same amount. The base is the gross value, so the mortgage is not subtracted, and a brokerage account in the decedent's name is added to it.
Filing fee: $435 for the first petition in Santa Clara County (statewide fee, 2026).
Probate referee: one-tenth of one percent of the property appraised (Probate Code §8961), about $1,647 on this home.
Creditor claims: creditors have four months after letters issue (Probate Code §9100), so no estate closes sooner.
Each additional $100,000 of stock or cash in the decedent's own name adds $1,000 to the attorney's fee and another $1,000 to the executor's, because it falls in the 1% tier. There is no shortcut for a home at this price. The Probate Code §13151 petition for a primary residence stops at $750,000 for deaths on or after April 1, 2025, and the small estate affidavit under Probate Code §13100 stops at $208,850, a limit that counts real as well as personal property. A typical Santa Clara home is more than twice the first limit. Our California probate fees guide walks through each charge, and a trust costs $400 for one person or $500 for a couple.
Renters, Stock Plans, Transfer Tax and Historic Homes
A city where most households rent
The 2020 Census counted 127,647 people in Santa Clara. The Census Bureau's American Community Survey for 2020 to 2024 puts the city at 50,088 households, with an owner-occupied rate of 40.8%, so close to three in five households rent. That split shapes estate plans here in two ways. Many younger households own no real estate yet, and their estate is mostly a 401(k), a brokerage account and stock awards; for them the trust's main job is to hold the taxable accounts, and the pour-over will can nominate a guardian for minor children. Owners, on the other hand, often keep an earlier condo or townhouse as a rental when they move up. A rental moved into your trust pays the $75 SB 2 fee on its deed, and your successor trustee steps into your shoes as landlord, so the leases, deposits and property manager's contact belong with your trust papers.
No city transfer tax on top of the county's
Santa Clara is a charter city, but on transfer tax it behaves like a general law city. The county's documentary transfer tax is $0.55 per $500 of value, and Santa Clara takes half of that rather than adding its own tax, for $1.10 per $1,000 in all. The County Clerk-Recorder lists only three cities that add a city conveyance tax of $1.65 per $500: San José, Palo Alto and Mountain View. On a sale at the typical Santa Clara value of $1,646,715, the transfer tax is $1,811.70 in Santa Clara and $7,246.80 for the same price across the line in San José. None of it applies to the deed into your own trust, which carries $0.00 under Revenue and Taxation Code §11930. It matters later, when a successor trustee sells the house after a death and the escrow statement shows the tax.
RSUs, options and ESPP shares from Santa Clara employers
Santa Clara is home to the headquarters of Intel, Nvidia and AMD, and Applied Materials, Marvell, Palo Alto Networks and ServiceNow are among the companies based in the city. For a household paid partly in stock, the trust question comes down to one distinction. Shares that have vested and sit in a brokerage account in your name can be retitled to you as trustee, or the account can name the trust as transfer on death beneficiary where the broker allows it. Then your successor trustee can sell or hold them without a court order. Unvested restricted stock units and unexercised options are different. What happens to them at death is set by your employer's equity plan and award agreement, not by your trust, so read the plan's death provisions and keep a copy with your estate papers. Employee stock purchase plan shares, once purchased, are ordinary shares in your account and can be retitled like any other. A 401(k) or IRA passes by its beneficiary form and should not be retitled into the trust.
Keep a short list for your trustee: each broker that holds stock plan shares, the plan administrator's name, and where the grant agreements are saved. An account that was never retitled or given a beneficiary is not covered by the trust, and the trustee cannot use it without first finding it.
Mills Act contracts on historic homes
The City of Santa Clara runs a Mills Act program for qualified historic buildings. Under it the owner signs a Historic Property Preservation Agreement with the city for at least ten years, agrees to restore and maintain the house under a 10-year plan, and receives property tax relief in return. The city says the contracts renew automatically each year and transfer to new owners even when the property is sold, and it audits every Mills Act property every five years, asking for receipts, invoices and photos. A deed into your trust does not end the contract. Your successor trustee inherits the obligations along with the house, so put the contract and the approved 10-year plan with your trust documents and tell the trustee the city's Planning Division handles the program.
A city-owned electric utility
The City of Santa Clara owns and operates Silicon Valley Power, the electric utility for the city's homes and businesses. Utility accounts do not go into a trust. After a death, the successor trustee simply changes the account holder with the city utility. List the account number with your other household accounts so the trustee does not have to search for it.
A Proposition 19 example on a typical Santa Clara value
Suppose a parent's Santa Clara home has a factored base year value of $300,000 and is worth Zillow's typical $1,646,715 when a child inherits it. If the child moves in and files for the homeowners' exemption within one year, Proposition 19 lets the child keep the parent's base, plus the amount by which market value exceeds that base plus $1,044,586: here $302,129, for a new taxable value of $602,129. If no child moves in, the home is reassessed at its full market value. The $1,044,586 figure applies to transfers from February 16, 2025 to February 15, 2027. This is a hypothetical to show the arithmetic; the State Board of Equalization's Proposition 19 page has the official rules. The trust decides who inherits; it does not change these rules. See our Prop 19 inheritance guide.
Creating and Funding a Trust in Santa Clara
Answer the questionnaire onlineTell us about your family, your Santa Clara County property, your bank, brokerage and stock plan accounts, and who should serve as successor trustee. Answers save as you work, so you can stop and come back.
Attorney prepares and reviews your documentsRozsa Gyene, a California attorney, drafts the trust, pour-over will, durable power of attorney, advance health care directive and certification of trust from your answers and reviews the full set before you receive it.
Sign before a notarySign the trust and the power of attorney before any California notary public, in Santa Clara or elsewhere in the state. The pour-over will is signed before two witnesses, as the signing instructions explain.
Record the deed with the Santa Clara County Clerk-RecorderDeed your Santa Clara home to yourself as trustee and record it at 110 West Tasman Drive, 1st Floor, San José, with a Preliminary Change of Ownership Report. A home you live in claims the SB 2 owner-occupier exemption; a rental pays the $75 fee.
Retitle bank and brokerage accountsGive each bank and broker the certification of trust and have the accounts, including vested shares held at a stock plan broker, put in your name as trustee, or name the trust as payable on death or transfer on death beneficiary where allowed.
Review beneficiary forms and equity plan terms401(k) plans, IRAs, pensions and life insurance pass by beneficiary form, not by the trust. Confirm each form, and read your employer's equity plan on what happens to unvested RSUs and options at death.
Advance health care directive with HIPAA authorization
Certification of trust
Assignment of personal property
Personal property memorandum
Funding instructions
Santa Clara clients pay $400 for one person or $500 for a married couple. A deed for the house, or for a rental elsewhere in Santa Clara County, is $100 per property, and you record it with the Clerk-Recorder. You can reach the attorney's office at (818) 337-4071 and sign before any notary in Santa Clara County. For how the price compares, see what a California living trust costs; for the two documents side by side, see living trust vs. will in California.
Santa Clara Living Trust Questions
How much does a living trust cost in Santa Clara?
$400 for one person or $500 for a married couple. That covers the revocable living trust, pour-over will, durable power of attorney, advance health care directive and certification of trust. A deed moving your Santa Clara home into the trust is $100 per property, and you record it with the Santa Clara County Clerk-Recorder.
Where is probate handled for a Santa Clara resident?
At the Downtown Superior Court, 191 North First Street, San José. The Probate Clerk's Office is in Room 107, and the probate line is (408) 882-2654. Attorneys must e-file the petition and leave the hearing date blank; the clerk sets it. Nothing in the City of Santa Clara hears probate.
What would probate cost on a typical Santa Clara home?
Zillow's typical Santa Clara home value was $1,646,715 as of August 31, 2026. On that gross value Probate Code §10810 gives the attorney $29,467.15 and §10800 gives the executor the same, $58,934.30 together. The $435 filing fee and a probate referee commission of about $1,647 are added on top. The mortgage is not subtracted, and any stock in the decedent's own name raises the fees further.
Can my trust hold my Intel, Nvidia or other employer stock?
Vested shares, yes. Shares in a brokerage account in your name can be retitled to you as trustee, or the account can name the trust as transfer on death beneficiary where the broker allows it. Unvested RSUs and unexercised options are governed by your employer's equity plan and award agreement, which decide what happens to them at death. ESPP shares you have already bought are ordinary shares and can be retitled.
What does it cost to record a trust transfer deed in Santa Clara County?
The Clerk-Recorder's standard fee is $25.00 for the first page, which includes the $10.00 real estate fraud prevention fee, and $3.00 for each additional page, plus $20.00 if the Preliminary Change of Ownership Report is missing or incomplete. Confirm the current fee with the recorder before mailing. Documentary transfer tax is $0.00 on a deed into your own revocable trust. The $75 SB 2 fee is usually not charged on a deed for the home you live in, because the deed claims the owner-occupier exemption in Government Code §27388.1(a)(2). A rental, second home or vacant lot pays it, capped at $225 per transaction.
Does Santa Clara charge a city transfer tax like San José?
No. Santa Clara takes half of the county's $0.55 per $500 documentary transfer tax instead of adding its own, so a sale pays $1.10 per $1,000 in all. The County Clerk-Recorder lists San José, Palo Alto and Mountain View as the cities that add $1.65 per $500. A deed into your own trust pays no transfer tax in any of them.
Will putting my Santa Clara home in a trust raise my property taxes?
No. Revenue and Taxation Code §62(d) says a transfer into a trust you can revoke is not a change in ownership, so the Santa Clara County Assessor keeps your Proposition 13 base year value. You claim that on the Preliminary Change of Ownership Report recorded with the deed. The Assessor's office can mail you the form; its number is (408) 299-5500.
My house has a Mills Act contract with the city. Does the trust affect it?
No. The City of Santa Clara says its Mills Act contracts run at least ten years, renew automatically and transfer to new owners even on a sale, so the contract stays with the house after it is deeded to your trust. Your successor trustee takes on the 10-year maintenance plan and the city's audit every five years, so keep the contract with your trust papers.
Keep Your Santa Clara Home and Stock Out of the San José Probate Calendar
An attorney-prepared living trust for $400, or $500 for a married couple, signed before a notary in Santa Clara and funded with one deed recorded on West Tasman Drive.
