How This Is Calculated
The checklist shows a step only for the kinds of assets you tick. Two answers change the steps: whether you are married (spousal consent for an employer retirement plan, and the one owner rule for vehicle TOD registration) and, for a mobile home or a timeshare, how it is held. The deed count multiplies the number of California properties by our $100 deed price. Every fee shown comes from the site's constants file, checked on the date shown in the tool. These are the rules behind each step.
- Trust transfer deed and PCOR: each California deed is recorded with a Preliminary Change of Ownership Report, form BOE-502-A, marking Part 1, line L.1 for a transfer to a revocable trust. Without it the recorder may charge an extra recording fee, shown in the checklist (form BOE-502-A, R&T Code §480.3).
- No reassessment: a transfer by the trustor into a revocable trust is not a change in ownership (R&T Code §62(d)).
- SB 2 fee: the $75 SB 2 fee is usually not charged on a deed moving your own home into your trust because the owner-occupier exemption is claimed on the deed; it is charged on rentals and other property, with a cap per transaction. Each county recorder decides whether the exemption applies to a given deed (Gov. Code §27388.1(a)(2)).
- Home loans: a lender may not call a loan on residential property of fewer than five units because of a transfer into an inter vivos trust in which the borrower is and remains a beneficiary and which does not relate to a transfer of rights of occupancy in the property (12 U.S.C. §1701j-3(d)(8)).
- Certification of trust: a trustee may give a certification instead of the whole trust, and a person who relies on it without knowing it is wrong is protected (Probate Code §18100.5).
- Vehicles: heirs or will beneficiaries may transfer a vehicle without probate when no other property needs probate, on DMV form REG 5 (Vehicle Code §5910). A vehicle with one owner may be registered with one TOD beneficiary for a DMV fee, and the DMV accepts a trust as beneficiary (Vehicle Code §4150.7, Vehicle Code §5910.5, DMV registration manual).
- Mobile and manufactured homes: a home titled with HCD moves into a trust through HCD, on HCD's transfer form signed by each trustee, whether the home is on the county property tax roll or on yearly HCD registration (HCD registration and titling). A home installed on a foundation with a recorded document is real property (Health and Safety Code §18551). Heirs may transfer an HCD titled home without probate in limited cases (Health and Safety Code §18102).
- Digital assets: the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act gives trustees access rules, and a provider's online tool direction can override a contrary direction in a trust or will (Probate Code §870, Probate Code §873).
- Employer retirement plans: for a 401(k), pension or other private employer plan covered by ERISA, a married participant's plan benefits go to the spouse unless the spouse consents in writing, witnessed by a plan representative or a notary, to another beneficiary (29 U.S.C. §1055). The rule does not cover IRAs (29 U.S.C. §1051(6)). An IRA stays in your name because it is set up for the exclusive benefit of you and your beneficiaries (IRS Pub 590-A).
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it mean to fund a living trust?
Funding means putting your assets in the name of the trustee of your trust, or naming the trust to receive them at your death. Signing the trust is not enough. A house still in your own name at death can need probate even though you have a trust.
Do I have to pay the $75 SB 2 fee on the deed to my home?
Usually not. The $75 SB 2 fee is usually not charged on a deed moving your own home into your trust because the owner-occupier exemption is claimed on the deed; it is charged on rentals and other property. The exemption is in Gov. Code §27388.1(a)(2), and each county recorder applies it.
Will moving my home into the trust raise my property tax?
No. A transfer into your own revocable trust is not a change in ownership under R&T Code §62(d), so the assessor does not reassess. You still file a Preliminary Change of Ownership Report, form BOE-502-A, with the deed.
Should I put my IRA or 401(k) in my trust?
No. Retirement accounts stay in your name. You coordinate them with the trust through the beneficiary designation form that the plan or custodian keeps. Whether the trust should be a beneficiary depends on its terms, so ask before you change it.
Is my checklist saved anywhere?
Only in this browser, on this device. Nothing you tick is sent to us. Use Clear my answers to remove it, or Save as PDF to keep a copy.
