Living Trust · Deed Recording

Affidavit of Death of Trustee

When a trustee passes away, the property in their trust can’t be sold, refinanced, or transferred until the county record is updated. We prepare your affidavit and e-record it the same day, for $325 plus recording costs.

Get Started Today Call (408) 766-3532
Same day
E-recorded in all 58 California counties
$325
Published fee, no hourly billing
LDA #268
Registered & bonded in Santa Clara County
Legal document assistant reviewing a living trust with a senior couple in San Jose
Recorded for you
Prepared, notarized, and e-filed

What happens after you click

  1. A ten-minute form online — the property, the trust and the date of death. No payment to start.
  2. We review it, confirm your fee, and email a secure payment link.
  3. The successor trustee signs with any notary in California, another state, or overseas — you never come to our office.
  4. E-recorded with your county the same business day — stamped copy emailed to you.

An affidavit of death of trustee is $325, plus your county’s recording fee and any add-ons you choose. It puts the successor trustee on record so the property can be sold or transferred without probate. See every fee →

What it is

An Affidavit of Death of Trustee is a document recorded with the county when the trustee of a living trust passes away. It confirms the death, identifies the successor trustee named in the trust, and updates the public record so the successor can manage, sell, or transfer the trust’s real property. TruPoint Legal prepares the affidavit, attaches the certified death certificate, and e-records it the same day in any of California’s 58 counties — for $325 plus recording costs, with no attorney retainer.

Adult daughter caring for her senior mother who uses a walker at home
Why it matters

Until it’s recorded, the trust’s property is frozen

A living trust avoids probate only when the public record reflects who holds authority now. After a trustee dies, title still shows their name — so the successor trustee cannot act, and everything tied to the property stalls.

  • A sale or refinance can’t close with clouded title.
  • Beneficiaries wait, and carrying costs keep adding up.
  • Recording the affidavit clears the path, no court needed.

Recording the affidavit is the step that keeps the trust working as it was meant to — quietly, and without probate.

How it works

Three steps, and the record is set right

1

We confirm the successor

We review your trust to identify the successor trustee who is authorized to act now that the original trustee has passed.

2

We prepare the affidavit

We draft the affidavit, attach the certified death certificate, and arrange notarization.

3

We e-record it for you

We submit it to the county the same day through electronic recording, then send you the recorded copy for your files.

Signing a power of attorney and trust documents with a legal document assistant
What you’ll need

A short list, and we handle the rest

  • A certified copy of the trustee’s death certificate.
  • The trust document, or the pages naming the successor trustee.
  • The property address — we can locate the legal description for you.

Often a death of trustee comes alongside other paperwork. We can prepare those documents too, all in one place:

Property title report Living Trusts Deed Transfer Probate
Who prepares it

Every affidavit is prepared and reviewed by Quinnie Do, a registered and bonded Legal Document Assistant, #268 in Santa Clara County — with service in English and Vietnamese, and Spanish through an on-staff partner.

Verify LDA #268 (.gov) CALDA member profile

Need it notarized?

This affidavit must be notarized before recording. Our affiliate Fingerscan Digital handles mobile and in-office notary, so signing and recording can happen together.

Fingerscan notary
Senior couple embracing, at peace after settling their family living trust
Peace of mind

One less thing to carry during a hard time

Losing someone is heavy enough without untangling paperwork. We keep this step simple and respectful — clear published pricing, plain answers, and the recording handled for you, so you can focus on family.

If the trust holds more than one property, or you’re also stepping in as successor on other accounts, we’ll walk you through what comes next, at your pace.

Talk with us
Published pricing

Know the price before we begin

Affidavit preparation
$325 per affidavit

Includes drafting the affidavit and attaching the certified death certificate. No documentary transfer tax applies to this filing. We confirm everything at your free consultation before any work begins.

Optional add-ons
Same-day e-recording$50
Notary, per signature$15
Title report$30
BOE$100
Homestead$15
Documentary transfer taxNot owed

County recording fees are collected at intake and remitted to the county on your behalf. The fees shown are TruPoint Legal’s preparation fees only.

Common questions

Affidavit of Death of Trustee, answered plainly

What is an Affidavit of Death of Trustee?
It’s a document recorded with the county that confirms a trustee has died and identifies the successor trustee named in the living trust. Recording it updates the public record so the successor can manage, sell, or transfer the trust’s real property.
When do I need to record one?
Whenever a trustee who held real property in a living trust passes away and a successor needs to act — for example, to sell the home, refinance, or distribute it to beneficiaries. Recording clears the way for any of those steps.
What documents do you need from me?
A certified copy of the death certificate, the trust document (or the pages naming the successor trustee), and the property address. If you don’t have the legal description, we can locate it for you.
How much does it cost?
Preparation is $325, and no documentary transfer tax applies to this filing. Optional add-ons such as same-day e-recording ($50) or notary ($15 per signature) are listed upfront, and county recording fees are collected at intake and remitted on your behalf.
How long does it take, and can you record it the same day?
Once we have your documents, the affidavit is usually prepared quickly, and we can e-record it the same day in any of California’s 58 counties. You’ll receive the recorded copy back for your records.
Does recording this affidavit mean I avoid probate?
For real property already held in the living trust, recording the affidavit is what keeps it out of probate by passing authority to the successor trustee. If property was never placed in the trust, a different process may apply, and we can explain your options.
Who signs the affidavit?
The successor trustee signs it in front of a notary, declaring the original trustee’s death and their authority to act. We prepare it for that signing and arrange notarization through our affiliate if you need it.
Can you handle property in any California county?
Yes. We electronically record in all 58 California counties, so it doesn’t matter where the property sits — you don’t need to travel to a recorder’s office or mail anything yourself.
Do I also need to notify the County Assessor?
Usually, yes. Separate from recording the affidavit, California generally requires the successor trustee to report the change in ownership to the County Assessor within about 150 days of the death — even if you aren’t selling right away. We can prepare that change-in-ownership filing for you so nothing slips past the deadline (listed as the BOE add-on in our pricing).
After recording, how does the property reach the beneficiaries?
Recording the affidavit confirms your authority as successor trustee. To actually move the property to the beneficiaries named in the trust, the successor trustee then signs and records a deed. We prepare that deed as well, so recording the affidavit and transferring title can happen together, in one place.
The trustee on my parent’s house died. How do I get my name on the title?
Two documents, in order. First the affidavit of death of trustee is recorded with a certified death certificate, which puts on the public record that the original trustee has died and you are the acting successor trustee. Then, as successor trustee, you sign a trust distribution deed conveying the property to whoever the trust names. The affidavit proves your authority; the deed does the transfer. Neither one involves a court, because property titled in a trust is not part of the probate estate.
Escrow or the title company is holding up my sale over the trustee. How fast can this be fixed?
Usually within a day or two. A title company will not insure a sale signed by someone whose authority is not on record, so it wants the affidavit recorded before it will close. Send us the recorded deed, the trust pages naming the successor trustee, and a certified death certificate; we prepare the affidavit and e-record it with the county, most often the same business day. If the sale also needs the property moved out of the trust first, we prepare that deed at the same time.
Can I just use a free affidavit of death of trustee form off the internet?
You can, and the failure mode here is specific. This affidavit has to name the trust exactly as the trust document names it, including the date it was signed, identify the recording reference for the deed that put the property into the trust, recite the trust provision that makes you the successor trustee, and carry the legal description from the recorded deed rather than the tax bill. Free templates prompt for almost none of that. A rejected affidavit costs you a week; an affidavit that records but does not properly establish your authority gets discovered later by a title company, usually mid-escrow.
Can you handle this if I live out of state or outside the country?
Yes, at the same $325, and a large share of successor trustees are out of state. We prepare the affidavit and email it with signing instructions. From another state, you sign before any notary public licensed where you live, scan it back to us, and we e-record it with the California county. From outside the country, the acknowledgment is normally taken at a U.S. embassy or consulate, and California also accepts a notary of that country, though some counties want the signature authenticated first. We confirm which route your county accepts before you book. You never travel to California.
The trustee died years ago and nothing was recorded. Is it too late?
No. There is no statutory deadline and we record these long after the fact. Your authority as successor trustee comes from the trust document itself, not from the recording, so the affidavit is catching the public record up rather than creating something new. The cost of waiting is timing: families almost always discover the gap when they are trying to sell or refinance, and by then a closing date is attached. It is also harder to assemble the trust pages and death certificate a decade later than it is now.
What if the property was never actually put into the trust?
Then this affidavit will not help, and it is worth checking before you pay for anything. Look at the last recorded deed: if it does not name the trust, the trust never held the property no matter what the trust document says. That is the unfunded trust problem, and it is the most common reason families end up in probate despite having a trust. Depending on how title was actually held, the route may be an affidavit of death of joint tenant, a small estate affidavit, or a succession petition. Send us the deed and we will tell you which before you pay.
The bank also wants a certification of trust. Is that the same thing?
No, and most successor trustees end up needing both. They solve different problems. The affidavit of death of trustee is recorded with the county and clears the deceased trustee off the record title to the real property. A certification of trust is handed to institutions — banks, brokerages, escrow, lenders — to prove you are the acting trustee and may sign, without giving them the whole trust and every private word about who inherits. Recording the affidavit tells a bank nothing; a certification does not clean up the public record. The certification is a flat $200 and we prepare it alongside the affidavit so you are not making two separate trips at it.
After the record is updated — the usual next step

The trustee’s death is recorded.
Now the property has to reach the beneficiaries.

Updating the county record lets you act as successor trustee — but it doesn’t move the home to the people who inherit it. When you’re ready, we prepare the trustee’s deed that transfers the property out of the trust to the beneficiaries and e-record it the same day. We prepare it at your direction.

Deed to the beneficiaries

We prepare the trustee’s deed that transfers the property out of the trust to whoever inherits it — whichever deed the trust calls for.

Same-day e-recording

Once you approve the deed, we e-record it with the county the same day — statewide, no trip to the recorder.

One matter, start to finish

Affidavit today, distribution deed next — handled in one place, so you’re not restarting the story with someone new.

Talk to us about the next deed →

TruPoint Legal is a registered Legal Document Assistant, not a law firm, and does not provide legal advice. We prepare successor-trustee and distribution deeds at your specific direction, based on the terms of your trust. What the trust requires and who inherits is determined by the trust and by you — we prepare the documents you direct.

Ready when you are

Let’s get the record set right

Call or get started online, and we’ll tell you exactly what’s needed and the fee before any work begins.

Get Started Today Call (408) 766-3532