How to Hold Title in California: Vesting Options Compared

How you hold title decides who inherits your California property, whether it goes through probate, and what happens to the tax basis. The chart below compares the six common vesting options — sole ownership, joint tenancy, tenancy in common, community property, community property with right of survivorship, and title held in a living trust. Changing how you hold title takes a recorded deed, which TruPoint Legal prepares and records for $325.

Chart comparing six California ways to hold title: community property, community property with right of survivorship, joint tenancy, tenancy in common, partnership, and trust

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You tell us the deed you need — grant, quitclaim, interspousal or trust transfer — and we prepare it, you sign with any notary, and we record it with your county. $325 plus county fees, most prepared within 24 hours.

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