Chico, CA asked in Estate Planning for California

Q: Does a Revocable Living Trust need to be filed with the County Recorder's office in California

The Trust does contain real property (a home)

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2 Lawyer Answers
James Edward Berge
James Edward Berge
Answered
  • Estate Planning Lawyer
  • San Jose, CA
  • Licensed in California

A: Generally, no. The trust agreement does not need to be filed (recorded) with the county recorder's office, but any deed which is intended to convey legal ownership of real property to the trust needs to be recorded. It's generally not good enough to simply list the property in a Schedule "A" attached to the trust agreement. The deed must be recorded.

Zaher Fallahi agrees with this answer

Jeffrey Louis Gaffney
Jeffrey Louis Gaffney
Answered
  • Estate Planning Lawyer
  • Carlsbad, CA
  • Licensed in California

A: No. You can do it but the county clerk does that so infrequently that you will just get a funny look from them. Also, this would make the document public, which most people don't want.

Keep the original safe, and I usually tell my clients to give the successor trustees a copy.

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