The best way to protect your home from probate is to transfer it into a Living Trust. Creating a Living Trust allows for the easy transfer of your home and saves thousands of dollars after you pass away. But it is not enough to just establish your Living Trust – you must also properly transfer your home to your Living Trust.
Transfer of your home to your trust is accomplished by a Trust Transfer Deed. You as the homeowner must sign a deed that transfers ownership of your home to you as “Trustee of your Living Trust”. The deed is recorded in the county where your home is located, and this officially puts your home in your living trust. Transfer of your home to your trust does not change the fact that you still own your home; you can still sell it, get a loan on it, or even get a reverse mortgage if needed. The advantage to owning your home in your trust is it allows for the simple and easy transfer of your home after you pass away, thus avoiding the long and expensive process of probate.
Furthermore, transferring your home into your trust is exempt from a property tax reassessment and increase. Transfers in and out of a Living Trust are excluded from a reassessment or an increase in your property tax bill. To obtain this all-important property tax exclusion, you must prepare and file a form with the county assessor’s office. This form should be filed with your deed when you transfer your home into your trust. And lastly there should be no California State transfer tax on the transfer of your home to your trust. By preparing and filing a transfer tax exemption form, your transfer tax should be $0.00 when you put your home in your trust.
Speak to an Estate Planning Attorney About Transferring Your Home into Your Living Trust
For help with transferring your home into your Living Trust, please contact the Law Offices of Eric A. Rudolph, P.C. We have over 12 years of experience helping individuals and couples just like you with transferring their home to their trust, thus helping them avoid probate, maintain control, and save money.
