How Do I Put My House in a Trust: The Parts You Cannot Learn From Reading

To put a house in a trust, execute a written trust, then record a deed that transfers title from the current owners to the named trustee, copying the legal description from the last recorded deed, in the county where the parcel sits. A mortgage is not called due if the borrower remains a beneficiary and occupancy does not change; that exemption is 12 U.S.C. § 1701j-3(d)(8) of the Garn-St Germain Depository Institutions Act of 1982. A revocable living trust does not shelter the house from Medicaid. Under 42 U.S.C. § 1396p(d)(3)(A), the entire corpus of a revocable trust is a resource available to the grantor.

Six figures decide whether that deed funds the trust. Los Angeles County's fee table (Government Code §§ 27361, 27388, 27388.1, 27388.2, and 27397) posts a $15 first-page base, $3 per extra page, a $75 Building Homes and Jobs Act (SB 2) fee, a $10 District Attorney fraud fee, and a $2 Assembly Bill 1466 fee. California Revenue and Taxation Code § 11911 sets the county documentary transfer-tax rate at $0.55 per $500 of consideration, exclusive of remaining liens; § 11930 then exempts a deed that vests realty "in trust for the benefit of any person" by inter vivos gift. Cook County Clerk's Recording FAQs require a complete legal description, the Property Index Number, and the common address; the MyDec portal rejects "SEE ATTACHED" in the legal-description field. If a due-on-sale clause is enforced, 12 U.S.C. § 1701j-3(a)(1) lets the lender declare due "sums secured," the unpaid principal on that note plus interest; the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Q2 2026 household-debt report put U.S. mortgage balances at $13.117 trillion. Uniform Trust Code § 704, as in Massachusetts General Laws chapter 203E, section 704, fills a vacancy when the remaining-trustee count hits zero. Los Angeles County will issue a certified copy "immediately upon recording" for $6 and $3 a page, books in-person appointments up to three weeks ahead, and, for mail, returns the original after archival indexing.

Those numbers live on fee tables and on the last deed. They do not live in the trust booklet.

How do you actually transfer the house into the trust?

A trust that never takes title does not own the house. Funding is a second instrument: a deed from the current owners to the trustee. The grantee line has to match, typically "[Name], Trustee of the [Name] Revocable Trust dated [date]." Fannie Mae Selling Guide B2-2-05, published September 2, 2026, accepts an inter vivos revocable trust as mortgagor only if "the primary beneficiary of the trust must be the individual(s) establishing the trust" and, on a principal residence, at least one of those individuals occupies the property.

1. Sign the trust. Name the grantor, the trustee (often the grantor), the current beneficiaries, and successor trustees in order of appointment.
2. Copy the legal description from the last recorded deed onto the new deed, character for character. Do not substitute the street address.
3. Recite the documentary-transfer-tax exemption, and any SB 2 exemption, on the face of the deed. San Luis Obispo County's SB 2 guide requires the exemption "on the face of the document, or on the cover page, prior to depositing with the Recorder."
4. Notarize every grantor signature. California Government Code § 8211 caps the acknowledgment at $15 per signature through 2026; Assembly Bill 1597 raises that cap to $20 on January 1, 2027.
5. File the county change-of-ownership form with the deed. Revenue and Taxation Code § 480.3 lets the recorder add a fee when that form is missing; Sacramento County posts the add-on at $20.
6. Record in the county where the parcel sits.
7. Send the recorded deed to the homeowners insurer. If the lender asks for a method of later notice, 12 C.F.R. § 191.5(b)(1)(vi) is the regulation that makes that request.

What recording fee and transfer-tax rate apply when the deed is classified as a trust funding?

Recorders classify the deed by the recitals on its face. Los Angeles County's combined-document examples use a $15 base, a $75 SB 2 fee, and a $10 fraud fee per title, plus $3 per extra page. A two-page trust-funding deed that pays every add-on therefore starts at $105. Those figures are not national. Orange County's January 2, 2026 schedule lists a $12 first page. Sacramento County posts $20. Cook County Clerk prices a Class 1 deed at $107.

The transfer-tax rate is a separate heading. Section 11911 authorizes $0.55 per $500 of consideration, exclusive of remaining liens, once value exceeds $100. Los Angeles County's documentary-transfer-tax page posts the City of Los Angeles overlay at $2.25 per $500. A standard funding of a revocable living trust claims $0 under § 11930, if that exemption is written on the deed. Shasta County Assessor-Recorder's list names "Transfer to or from revocable trust for the benefit of grantor (R & T 11930)" and requires that reason on the face of the document.

SB 2 collides with that exemption. Government Code § 27388.1(a)(2)(A) waives the $75 fee on instruments recorded "in connection with a transfer subject to the imposition of a documentary transfer tax." A § 11930 deed is not subject to that tax, so heading (A) does not fit. Heading (B) waives the fee on a transfer of a residential dwelling "to an owner-occupier." California Trusts and Estates Quarterly (Vol. 24, No. 2) treated a principal residence going into a revocable trust as excluded under that heading. Fresno County's SB 2 cover page is blunter: "Failure to include an exemption reason will result in the imposition of the $75.00 Building Homes and Jobs Act fee." A vacant rental, or a deed that never recites (B), pays the $75. The cap is $225 per parcel. New York still requires Form TP-584; the tax is usually $0, the form is not optional.

What legal description has to appear on the deed?

The legal description is the identity of the parcel. A street address is a delivery instruction. Cook County Clerk lists, as required on any real-estate document, "a Complete Legal Description of Property, the Property Index Number (PIN), and the Common Property Address." The same office tells e-recorders that the full legal must be typed into MyDec "as it appears on the instrument." "SEE ATTACHED" in that field rejects the declaration, the deed, and the entire payload.

The description that belongs on the new deed is the description on the last recorded deed, including any exhibit letter. Los Angeles County Government Code § 27361.7 demands that the legal description be "clearly legible" enough to produce a readable photographic record.

An assessor's parcel number is an index. It does not convey title. Copy the prior deed. If two prior deeds disagree, stop and reconcile the chain before anyone signs. A deed that describes the wrong lot funds the wrong lot.

What happens to the mortgage balance when title moves?

The unpaid principal on the note does not vanish when the trustee's name goes on the deed. Payments and the rate continue.

A due-on-sale clause, defined in 12 U.S.C. § 1701j-3(a)(1), lets a lender declare due "sums secured by the lender's security instrument" if the property is transferred without consent. Those sums are the remaining unpaid principal plus accrued interest. The New York Fed counted $13.117 trillion of U.S. mortgage balances at the end of June 2026. The figure that would be accelerated on one house is the balance on that month's statement.

Garn-St Germain blocks that acceleration for a short list of residential transfers. Section 1701j-3(d) applies to a loan secured by residential real property containing fewer than five dwelling units, a cooperative share, or a residential manufactured home. Item (8) is "a transfer into an inter vivos trust in which the borrower is and remains a beneficiary and which does not relate to a transfer of rights of occupancy in the property." A standard revocable living trust fits that sentence.

The implementing regulation is stricter than the statute. 12 C.F.R. § 191.5(b)(1)(vi), current through September 1, 2026 on the eCFR, protects the transfer unless the borrower "refuses to provide the lender with reasonable means" of timely notice of a later beneficial-interest transfer or occupancy change. The statute never mentions notice. The regulation does. Firms that tell clients no lender notice is required are reading subsection (d)(8) alone. A servicer that demands a method of later notice is reading § 191.5. Both documents are in force.

A later refinance into the trustee's name is a new loan. Move the house into an irrevocable trust that strips the borrower of beneficiary status, and item (8) no longer fits. The remaining balance can be called.

How many successor trustees does the instrument have to name?

Uniform Trust Code § 704 does not set a required headcount of named successors. It sets a remaining-trustee count of zero as the trigger for a forced appointment. Massachusetts General Laws chapter 203E, section 704(b), is typical: a vacancy "need not be filled" if one or more co-trustees remain; it "shall be filled if the trust has no remaining trustees."

Name nobody, and a death or resignation of the last acting trustee sends the file to court. Name one person who later declines, and the beneficiaries have to agree in writing or petition.

Practitioners disagree on how many names to write. Jeffrey G. Marsocci, an estate-planning attorney at the Law Offices of Jeffrey G. Marsocci, PLLC, in Raleigh and Asheville, tells clients that "there should be at least three successor trustees named in succession." In 27 years of practice his office has seen families burn through two successors "passing on, becoming incapacitated, or refusing to take the job," and has not yet seen three fail in a row. Nolo's Living Trust manual takes the other side: "Usually, it makes sense to name just one person as successor trustee, to avoid any possibility of conflicts."

The statute cares that the remaining-trustee count never hits zero. Marsocci's three-in-succession is a roster.

How long does the county take to record the deed?

There is no national processing time. Los Angeles County will, at the counter, record and hand back a certified copy "immediately upon recording." Mail-in originals come back after archival indexing. Cook County Clerk adds $5 per document for recording by mail with return. CSC's eRecording guide says most eRecorded documents are "processed and returned within a few hours depending on the county's operating hours and queue."

A rejection for a missing exemption recital or an illegible legal description restarts whichever clock was running. Los Angeles County charges an extra $3 per page when any page is not 8.5 by 11 inches. Until the recorder stamps the deed, a title search still shows the grantor.

How does a revocable living trust compare with a will and an irrevocable trust?

Probate avoidance, mortgage transfer, and Medicaid protection travel in the same search. The three instruments do different jobs.

| | Revocable living trust | Will | Irrevocable trust (Medicaid-style) | |---|---|---|---| | Probate of the house | Avoided if the deed was recorded | Required if the house is still in the decedent's name | Avoided if title sits in the trustee | | California probate on a $1 million gross estate | Not triggered for a funded house | Probate Code §§ 10800 and 10810: $23,000 attorney plus $23,000 personal representative, $46,000 combined, on gross value "without reference to encumbrances" | Same probate result as a funded revocable trust | | Mortgage due-on-sale | Blocked by 12 U.S.C. § 1701j-3(d)(8) if the borrower remains a beneficiary and occupancy does not change | A will does not retitle the house during life | Blocked only if the borrower remains a beneficiary | | Medicaid | § 1396p(d)(3)(A) counts the whole corpus | The house remains an asset of the individual during life | § 1396p(d)(3)(B) and (c)(1)(B): transfer for less than fair market value, 60-month look-back on or after February 8, 2006 | | Control | Grantor can amend or revoke | Testator can rewrite the will | Grantor generally cannot take the house back | | California transfer tax on funding | $0 if § 11930 is recited | None, because nothing is deeded during life | $0 if still a gift in trust under § 11930 | | Typical 2026 setup cost | Neptune 909-firm median $2,475; Ridley Law (California) $3,700 single, $4,100 married; online kits $100 to $600 | Lower upfront; the house still goes through probate | Higher: must survive the "any circumstances" test in § 1396p(d)(3)(B) |

California Revenue and Taxation Code § 62(d), and 18 Cal. Code Regs. § 462.160, exclude a transfer into a revocable trust from "change in ownership" while the trust remains revocable or the transferor is the present beneficiary. The Proposition 13 base year stays. That exclusion is an assessor's heading. Medicaid still counts the corpus. A will never deeds the house during life. An irrevocable trust deeds it only by giving it away under the look-back rules. The unread work is matching the heading on the deed to the goods in the crate.

Frequently asked questions

What is the disadvantage of putting your house in a trust?

A revocable living trust does not hide the house from Medicaid. 42 U.S.C. § 1396p(d)(3)(A) treats the whole corpus as a resource of the grantor. The deed is public. Refinances need extra trust paperwork. A misdescribed or unrecorded deed still sends the house through probate.

How much does it cost to put a house in a trust?

Attorney-drafted revocable trusts in 2026 cluster around $1,500 to $5,000. Neptune's 909-firm compilation puts the national median at $2,475; Ridley Law in California posts $3,700 and $4,100. Online kits run $100 to about $600. Los Angeles County recording starts at $15 plus $75 SB 2; Cook County prices a deed at $107.

Can I lose my house if it is in a trust?

A funded revocable trust does not forfeit the house. The grantor can revoke it and take title back. Loss still happens the ordinary ways: unpaid taxes, foreclosure on the existing mortgage, or a creditor claim, because the grantor still beneficially owns the property. An irrevocable trust can put the house beyond the grantor's reach.

Can I put my house in a trust without a lawyer?

Yes. Many counties will record a properly notarized deed that a homeowner prepared. The recorder does not check that the trust exists, that the legal description matches the chain, or that Garn-St Germain occupancy is true. Cook County's FAQs state that meeting recording requirements is the filer's sole responsibility.

How can I put a house in a trust with a mortgage?

Record the deed to the trustee, keep living in the house, and remain a beneficiary. 12 U.S.C. § 1701j-3(d)(8) then bars the lender from calling the unpaid principal due on a residential loan of fewer than five units. 12 C.F.R. § 191.5 lets the lender require a reasonable method of later notice. The monthly payment does not change.

Does putting a home in a trust protect it from Medicaid?

A revocable trust does not. 42 U.S.C. § 1396p(d)(3)(A) counts the corpus. An irrevocable trust can, if no principal can be paid to the grantor under any circumstances, but funding it is a transfer for less than fair market value. Section 1396p(c)(1)(B) sets a 60-month look-back for those trust transfers on or after February 8, 2006.