The fees, forms and wording the Sonoma County recorder publishes for a deed into a revocable living trust, quoted from the county.
“Documentary Transfer Tax paid or exempt from SB2 and AB1466 fee (stated on first page of document or cover sheet) ... $14.00 first page (effective 1/1/27 $19.00) ... $3.00 per additional page (effective 1/1/27 $4.00)”
County source
“requires that documents accepted for recording at the Sonoma County Recorder’s Office be charged an additional seventy-five dollars ($75.00) fee per title, unless exempted by statute. ... The fee shall not be imposed on any real estate instrument, paper, or notice recorded in connection with a transfer subject to the imposition of a documentary transfer tax”
County source
“When an exemption is applicable, a valid declaration of exemption must be placed on the face of each document, or on the cover page, prior to depositing with the Recorder, otherwise the fee will be assessed and collected.”
County source
“No Documentary Transfer Tax, SB2 fee exemption, or AB1466 fee exemption ... $91.00 first page (effective 1/1/27 $96.00)”
County source
“Documents transferring title must contain the Assessor's Parcel Number (APN) and must be accompanied by a Preliminary Change of Ownership Report”
County source
“If a Preliminary Change of Ownership Report (PCOR) does not accompany transfers of title, an additional fee of $20.00 is added to the recording fee”
County source
“Certain Trust Transfers ... A deed that transfers the grantor's interest to or from a revocable trust, when the trust is for the benefit of the grantor, is exempt from the tax. Revenue and Taxation Code Section 11930”
County source
Yes, $75 per parcel, unless the deed is exempt and the exemption is declared on it. For a home you live in, the exemption that can apply is Gov. Code 27388.1(a)(2)(B), a transfer of real property that is a residential dwelling to an owner-occupier. The statute does not define 'owner-occupier,' so whether a deed into your own trust qualifies is decided when the deed is prepared.
Change in ownership exclusion for trusts, Revenue and Taxation Code section 62(d)
"Any transfer by the trustor, or by the trustor’s spouse or registered domestic partner, or by both, into a trust for so long as" ... "(1) the transferor is the present beneficiary of the trust, or (2) the trust is revocable". Section 62 opens with: "Change in ownership shall not include:"
Official text
Property Tax Rule 462.160, subdivision (b)(2)
“(b) EXCEPTIONS. The following transfers do not constitute changes in ownership:” ... “(2) Revocable Trusts. The transfer of real property or an ownership interest in a legal entity holding an interest in real property by the trustor to a trust which is revocable by the trustor. However, a change in ownership does occur at the time the revocable trust becomes irrevocable unless the trustor-transferor remains or becomes the sole present beneficiary or unless otherwise excluded from change in ownership.”
Official text
Preliminary Change of Ownership Report, Revenue and Taxation Code section 480.3(b)
"If a document evidencing a change in ownership is presented to the recorder for recordation without the concurrent filing of a preliminary change in ownership report, the recorder may charge an additional recording fee of twenty dollars ($20)."
Official text
All California counties · Estate planning with The Flaig Law Firm
Quoted from Sonoma County and California government sources, checked November 1, 2026. Legal information, not legal advice for a specific property. The Flaig Law Firm, APC, Donald W. Flaig, Esq., 5707 Corsa Avenue, Suite 104, Westlake Village, CA 91362.
The Flaig Law Firm prepares the deed that moves your home into your living trust, with the transfer tax statement, the SB2 declaration and the PCOR, and records it with the recorder in the county where your home sits.
