Real Estate Deed,
prepared & recorded right

It is the legal document that transfers ownership of property from one owner to another and, once recorded with the County Recorder, becomes the public record of who owns the property. The grant deed is the standard version used in a sale.

A grant deed promises the seller owns the property and has not hidden a lien, which is why it is used in sales. A quitclaim makes no promise — it simply passes whatever interest you have — so it is used for trusted, non-sale transfers like gifts or removing a name.

In nearly every sale, yes. Lenders and title insurers require a grant deed because its built-in promises let the buyer’s title be insured. We prepare and record it for a flat $325.

TruPoint charges a flat $325 for a standard property deed and $400 for an LLC or corporation transfer. A corrective deed is a flat $350. A California attorney typically charges $1,000 to $2,000 for the same work. County recording fees are estimated at $40–$130 and, with notary fees, are passed through at cost.

Once it is signed and notarized, we e-record it with the County Recorder the same business day in all 58 California counties, then send you the conformed copy.

You can, but the common mistakes on a do-it-yourself document — a wrong legal description, the wrong vesting, or a missing exemption recital — can cloud your title or get the document rejected. A Registered Legal Document Assistant prepares it correctly without the cost of an attorney.

A trust transfer funds a living trust, and an entity transfer moves property into an LLC or corporation. Both can be handled so they do not trigger an unwanted property-tax reassessment. We prepare and record either one at your direction.

No. Preparing and recording one is document work a Registered Legal Document Assistant is registered to do in California, at a fraction of an attorney’s fee. For a contested title or litigation, an attorney is the right choice.

Yes, and it is a common reason people call. Rejections come from a short list: the legal description was copied from the tax bill instead of the recorded deed, the notary acknowledgment was incomplete or on the wrong form, the documentary transfer tax declaration or exemption statement was missing, the Preliminary Change of Ownership Report was not attached, or the margins failed the recorder’s format rules. Send us the rejection notice with the deed and we prepare a compliant version and re-submit it.

Adding a spouse is usually an interspousal transfer deed, which is excluded from property tax reassessment when the exclusion is claimed correctly on the face of the deed. Removing one after a divorce is a divorce transfer deed referencing the judgment — the judgment decides who gets the property, but it does not change title by itself, and until the deed records your ex remains a record owner. Both are $325.

It depends on how title was held, which is written on the last recorded deed. Joint tenants means an affidavit of death of joint tenant. Community property with right of survivorship means an affidavit of death of surviving spouse. Property held in a trust means an affidavit of death of trustee. If the deceased owned in their name alone, nothing passes automatically and a probate procedure applies instead. Send us the recorded deed and we will tell you which document you need before you pay anything.

It depends entirely on who is receiving it. Spousal transfers are excluded. Moving your own home into your own revocable trust is not a change in ownership. A parent-to-child transfer may qualify under Proposition 19, but only for a family home the child makes their principal residence, with a claim filed and a value cap applied — rentals and second homes are reassessed. Entity transfers depend on ownership percentages. We are not tax advisors: we claim the exemption you direct on the face of the deed, and the Assessor decides.

Because most of them only prepare deeds as part of a sale they are already handling. If there is no sale — you are adding a spouse, gifting to a child, funding a trust, moving a rental into an LLC, or clearing a deceased owner — there is no escrow file for it to attach to, so they decline. That is the gap we exist to fill, and it is why people arrive here having already been turned away.

Yes, at the same flat fee no matter where you are. 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. You never travel to California.

The current recorded deed, or the property address and APN so we can pull it; the exact legal names of everyone giving and receiving the property; how the new owners want to hold title; and whether the transfer is a gift, a sale, a divorce transfer, or a move into a trust or entity, because that determines which deed applies and which exemption we claim. If you are not sure which deed you need, describe the situation and we will tell you before you pay anything.

Yes — we prepare and e-record in all 58 California counties. Each property needs its own deed and its own recording, because each has its own legal description and its own recorder, but the intake happens once and we prepare them as a set. A Bay Area home and a rental in the Central Valley stay with one contact rather than two offices. Tell us how many properties and which counties and we will quote the package before you commit.