I used an online service — can you still fund my trust?

Yes. TruPoint Legal regularly funds trusts drafted online or by another office by reviewing the trust, preparing the deed that moves the home into it, and e-recording it, without starting the estate plan over. The funding deed is a flat $325 per property.

What happens if I never fund my living trust?

The trust exists but does not hold the property, so the estate goes through California probate anyway. This is the single most common reason families who paid for a trust still end up in probate court, and it is discovered after the death, when it can no longer be fixed by the person who created the trust.

Should I use a quitclaim deed to fund my trust?

Generally no. A quitclaim carries no warranty, and some title insurers treat a quitclaim into a trust as breaking the chain of covenants, which surfaces on a later sale or refinance. A trust transfer deed does the same job without raising the question, at the same $325 per property.

Will funding my trust affect my mortgage or trigger the due-on-sale clause?

Almost certainly not. The federal Garn-St Germain Act bars a lender from enforcing a due-on-sale clause when residential property with fewer than five units is transferred into a living trust where the borrower remains a beneficiary and occupancy does not change.

Can a trust be funded if the owner lives out of state or outside the country?

Yes, at the same flat $325 per property. TruPoint prepares the deed and emails it with signing instructions. From another state the owner signs before any notary public licensed where they live, scans it back, and TruPoint e-records 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 require authentication.

What is needed to fund a California living trust with real property?

The current recorded deed, or the property address and APN so it can be pulled; and the first page and signature page of the trust, so the trust name, date, and trustee can be taken exactly as written. The full trust is not needed and is not read for content, because a Legal Document Assistant does not interpret trust terms.

Does funding a trust only cover real estate, or do bank and investment accounts need moving too?

Real estate is the asset that forces a probate when it is left out of a trust, but it is not the only thing a trust needs. Bank and brokerage accounts are usually retitled by the institution on its own forms at no cost, using a certification of trust, which DIY and online trust packages almost never include and which TruPoint prepares for a flat $200. Retirement accounts and life insurance normally stay outside the trust and use beneficiary designations instead, and naming a trust as beneficiary of a retirement account has tax consequences best reviewed by a CPA. Vehicles and mobile homes are handled through the DMV or California HCD. TruPoint prepares the deed at $325 per property.

I have more than one property. Can they all be funded?

Yes. Each property needs its own deed and its own recording because each has its own legal description and county, but the intake is done once and the deeds are prepared as a set. TruPoint quotes the whole package before any commitment.

How long does it take to fund a trust?

The deed is prepared in about a day and can be e-recorded the same business day when signed before noon, in the counties that accept electronic recording. The recorded copy is returned for the trust binder.

Living Trust · Trust Funding

Fund your living trust, not just draft it

A living trust only keeps your home out of probate once the home is actually transferred into it. We prepare and e-record the deed that moves your property in — and file the change-in-ownership form so it isn’t reassessed — for a flat $325 per property.

Start My Trust Deed Schedule a Consultation

Same dayE-recorded, all 58 CA counties

Flat $325Per property · no hourly billing

LDA #268Registered & bonded · Santa Clara County

What happens after you click

A ten-minute form online — the property and your trust name and date. No payment to start.
We review it, confirm your fee, and email a secure payment link.
You sign with any notary in California, another state, or overseas — you never come to our office.
E-recorded with your county the same business day, with the change-in-ownership form filed so the property is not reassessed.

Funding a property into your trust is $325 flat per property, plus your county’s recording fee. A trust only protects what has actually been transferred into it. See every flat fee →

Fund My Trust Call (408) 766-3532

Quinnie Do, Registered Legal Document Assistant LDA #268, founder of TruPoint Legal

Meet Quinnie Do

Founder · Registered & Bonded LDA #268, Santa Clara County

Quinnie is a Registered Legal Document Assistant, a Registered IRS Tax Preparer, and a Commissioned Notary Public who has prepared and e-recorded thousands of California deeds across all 58 counties. Because she is also a notary, she can notarize your funding deed in the San Jose office and e-record it the same day. She serves clients in English and Vietnamese, with Spanish through an on-staff partner.

Verify LDA #268 on the Santa Clara County Clerk-Recorder site ↗ View CALDA member profile ↗

The short answer

What funding a trust means — and why your home isn’t protected until it’s done

Last reviewed July 2026

Funding your trust means moving your assets — most importantly your home — out of your personal name and into the name of your living trust. A trust only controls what has actually been transferred into it, so until a new deed is recorded, the home is still held in your individual name and can still pass through probate. Signing and notarizing the trust document alone does not move the property.

TruPoint Legal prepares the trust transfer deed, claims the applicable exclusion so your base-year value is preserved, files the change-in-ownership form the County Assessor needs, and e-records the deed the same business day in any of California’s 58 counties — for a flat $325 per property. A California real estate attorney typically charges $1,000–$2,000 to prepare and record a single deed, with the consultation billed separately.

Prepared and reviewed by Quinnie Do, Registered Legal Document Assistant #268, Santa Clara County (verify ↗).

The step DIY leaves out

A signed trust in a drawer protects nothing

Online and DIY services can produce the trust document cheaply, but they usually stop at the paperwork. They rarely prepare or record the deed that funds it — and rarely make clear that funding is a separate, essential step.

So the binder gets signed, notarized, and tucked into a file cabinet, and the house is never deeded in. Families discover this at the worst possible moment: grieving a parent, they open the binder and find a beautifully drafted plan and a home that was never transferred into it. The court reads the recorded deed, not the intention — and the home lands in the exact probate the trust was built to prevent.

A trust controls only what has actually been moved into it.
An unfunded home still goes through probate — slow, public, and costly.
The fix is a single recorded deed — once you know to record it.

A signed living trust and will resting unused inside a binder at home

Real estate professional appraising a home's value for property tax purposes

No surprise tax bill

Done right, your property taxes don’t change

Moving your home into your own revocable trust is not a real change of ownership — you are still the person who owns and benefits from it. So it should not trigger a reassessment, and your property tax bill should stay the same.

That only holds when the correct exclusion is claimed on the deed and the matching change-in-ownership form is filed with the County Assessor, confirming the beneficial ownership has not changed. Miss that step and a home can be reassessed by mistake. TruPoint Legal handles the deed and the accompanying filing together, every time — the exclusion form is a flat $100 add-on, itemized before you commit.

How it works

Your home inside the trust, in three steps

You start the intake

You tell us the property and the trust it belongs in on our online intake form. We review your trust and current recorded deed to match its exact name and how title is held today.

We prepare the deed

We draft the trust transfer deed to your county’s format, claim the applicable exclusion so it isn’t reassessed, verify the legal description against the record, and prepare the change-in-ownership form. Sign before a notary in our San Jose office.

We e-record & file

We e-record the deed the same business day when signed before noon, file the change-in-ownership form with the County Assessor, and send you the recorded copy for your binder.

What an unfunded trust costs

The probate your trust was supposed to avoid

When the home never makes it into the trust, the estate goes through California probate anyway. Statutory fees are set on the gross value of the estate — before the mortgage is subtracted — and the family waits while the court works through it. A recorded trust transfer deed is what keeps you out of all three.

~$50,000Typical total probate cost on a California home — statutory fees, court filing, referee, and publication.

12–18 mo.How long families typically wait for assets to be released through probate — versus weeks with a funded trust.

PublicProbate is a public court record. A funded trust keeps your estate and your beneficiaries private.

Transparent pricing

$325 flat per property — no surprises

An unfunded trust can send the home through roughly $50,000 of probate. TruPoint Legal prepares the funding deed right the first time at a published flat fee, reviewed by a human Registered Legal Document Assistant.

Trust Transfer Deed

$325 flat · per property

Deed prepared to your County Recorder’s exact format
Trust name and date matched to your trust document
Legal description verified against the existing record
Applicable exclusion claimed · exempt from documentary transfer tax
Same-day e-recording in any of 58 California counties

County fees & optional add-ons

Change-in-ownership exclusion form+$100

Same-day e-recording+$50

Title search (optional)+$30

Notary (per signature)+$15

Homestead declaration (on request)+$15

Documentary transfer taxExempt

County recording fee (government)≈$40–$130

County recording and government fees are collected at intake and remitted to the county on your behalf — they are not TruPoint fees. We itemize every applicable fee for your specific transfer before any work begins.

Common questions

Your funding questions, answered plainly

Does signing my living trust put my house in the trust?

No. Signing and notarizing the trust document creates the plan, but it only controls assets that have actually been transferred into it. Your home stays in your personal name until a new deed transfers title from you as an individual to you as trustee, and that deed is recorded with the county. Until it is recorded, the home is not in the trust.

I used LegalZoom or an online service — can you still fund it?

Yes. We regularly fund trusts drafted online or by another office. We review the trust, prepare the deed that moves your home into it, and e-record it — there is no need to start your estate plan over. The funding deed is a flat $325 per property.

What happens if I never fund my trust?

Any home left in your personal name can still pass through probate when you die — a public court process that in California typically runs 12 to 18 months and costs the family roughly $50,000 in statutory and court fees. Recording a trust transfer deed is what lets your family skip that.

How much does it cost to fund a trust in California?

TruPoint Legal prepares and e-records a trust transfer deed for a flat $325 per property. Funding a trust is exempt from documentary transfer tax, so you pay only the county recording fee, never the tax. Optional add-ons — the exclusion form ($100), same-day e-recording ($50), notary ($15 per signature) — are itemized up front. County recording fees are collected at intake and remitted on your behalf. A California attorney typically charges $1,000–$2,000 for the same deed.

Will transferring my home into my trust raise my property taxes?

It should not. Moving your home into your own revocable trust is not a real change of ownership, so it is not a reassessment event — as long as the correct exclusion is claimed on the deed and the matching change-in-ownership form is filed with the County Assessor. TruPoint Legal handles both so your base-year value is preserved.

Will this affect my mortgage?

No. You can transfer your home into your revocable living trust without refinancing, and it does not trigger your loan’s due-on-sale clause. Your mortgage stays exactly as it is.

I have more than one property. Can you fund them all?

Yes. Each property needs its own deed at the flat $325, and we e-record in all 58 California counties — so properties in different counties are handled from one place.

How long does it take?

Once we have your documents, the deed is prepared quickly and can be e-recorded the same business day when signed before noon. You receive the recorded copy back for your binder.

Can a Legal Document Assistant prepare a trust transfer deed?

Yes. A California Registered Legal Document Assistant prepares and e-records a trust transfer deed at your direction. TruPoint Legal is LDA #268, Santa Clara County, registered and bonded, and records in any of California’s 58 counties at a flat $325 per property.

How do I know whether my trust was ever funded?

Look at the last recorded deed for the property, not at the trust document. If the vesting on that deed does not name your trust, the trust does not hold the house, no matter what the trust says or how much you paid for it. Signing a trust and funding a trust are two separate acts, and the second one is the one families skip. If you cannot find the deed, send us the property address and we will pull it from the county recorder and tell you what it says.

Can I just use a quitclaim deed to fund my trust?

We would not. A quitclaim carries no warranty, and some title insurers treat a quitclaim into a trust as breaking the chain of covenants, which surfaces later when you sell or refinance. A trust transfer deed does the same job without raising the question, at the same $325. If you already used a quitclaim deed to fund your trust, it is usually fine, but mention it to your title company early rather than at closing.

Can I use a free trust transfer deed form off the internet?

You can, and the failure here is quieter than with other deeds. A funding deed has to name the trust exactly as the trust document names it including the date it was signed, name you as trustee in that capacity, claim the documentary transfer tax exemption for a transfer into a revocable trust, and carry the legal description from the recorded deed rather than the tax bill. Free templates miss at least one routinely. The deed records, you believe the house is in the trust, and nobody discovers otherwise until you have died and the family is in probate — the exact outcome the trust was bought to prevent.

My escrow or lender needs the property out of the trust. Can you do that too?

Yes, and it is a common call. Some lenders require title held in your individual name at closing and then deeded back afterwards. We prepare the deed out and the deed back in, so the property does not sit outside the trust any longer than the lender requires. Tell us the closing date when you contact us — that is what sets the timing, and we e-record the same business day where the county allows it.

Can you fund my trust if I live out of state or outside the country?

Yes, at the same flat $325 per property, and it comes up constantly with owners who moved away but kept the California house. We prepare the deed 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 an appointment.

What do you need from me to fund the trust?

The current recorded deed, or the property address and APN so we can pull it; and the first page and signature page of your trust, so we can take the trust name, the date, and the trustee exactly as written. We do not need the whole trust and we do not read it for content — we are not attorneys and we do not interpret trust terms. Intake takes about ten minutes and nothing is charged until we confirm the flat fee.

Does funding only cover real estate, or do my bank and investment accounts need moving too?

Real estate is what we handle, and it is the asset that actually forces a probate when it is left out — but it is not the only thing a trust needs. Bank and brokerage accounts are usually retitled by the institution itself, on its own forms, at no cost to you: you give them a certification of trust and they change the account name. If your trust package never came with one — and DIY and online trusts almost never do — that is the document standing between you and a retitled account. We prepare it for a flat $200. Retirement accounts and life insurance normally stay outside the trust and use beneficiary designations instead, and naming a trust as beneficiary of a retirement account has tax consequences that call for a CPA. Vehicles and mobile homes are separate again, through the DMV or California HCD. Our part is the deed at $325 per property; ask your trust drafter or a financial advisor for the rest, and do not assume the trust is finished when the house is in it.

Trust-funding services also available in Tiếng Việt · Español · We speak English

Related services

Make sure your whole plan is in place

Living Trust PackagesDon’t have the trust yet? We prepare the complete California living trust — then fund it with the deed.Build the trust → Transfer Property Out of TrustNeed the home in your own name for a refinance or HELOC? We deed it out — and back in after closing.Move it out → All Trust Deed TransfersInto, out of, successor trustee, correction, or trust-to-LLC — every trust deed we prepare.Trust deed hub → Deed Transfer & RecordingCompare every California deed type and our same-day e-recording in all 58 counties.Deed hub → Quitclaim DeedTransfer between family or trusted parties with no warranty — add or remove a name, or gift property.Quitclaim transfers → Probate Document PreparationEstate already in probate because a trust wasn’t funded? We prepare the probate documents too.Probate help →

Don’t leave the house out of the plan

Flat $325 per property, prepared and reviewed by a human Registered Legal Document Assistant, e-recorded the same business day in all 58 California counties. Make sure your trust actually holds your home.

Start My Trust Deed Schedule a Consultation