To put a property in a trust, you record a new deed that transfers title from your individual name to yourself as trustee of the trust, then update your mortgage lender, insurance policy, and title coverage to reflect the new owner of record. On paper the process is short, but small mistakes in the deed, a missed tax form, or an overlooked insurance update can create expensive problems years later. Most transfers wrap up in a few weeks, and out-of-pocket costs are usually limited to notarization and county recording fees.
Decide Which Kind of Trust You’re Transferring Into
The choice between a revocable and an irrevocable trust shapes almost every step that follows.
A revocable living trust lets you change the terms, swap beneficiaries, or dissolve the arrangement whenever you want. You keep control of the property, and the IRS still treats everything in the trust as yours. This is the common choice for a primary residence because it avoids probate without giving anything up.
An irrevocable trust works differently. Once you transfer property in, you generally cannot take it back or change the terms. In exchange you get real legal separation: the property is no longer yours for creditor claims, lawsuit judgments, or (after a waiting period) Medicaid eligibility. That separation also means the IRS may treat the transfer as a taxable gift, which brings reporting requirements a revocable trust never triggers.
Prepare the New Deed
Pull Your Current Deed First
Get a copy of your existing deed from the county recorder’s office where the property is located. You need the legal description, which is a precise, surveyor-style identification of the parcel. Copy it onto the new deed exactly. A typo in the legal description creates what’s called a cloud on title, and it can complicate any future sale or refinance.
Pick the Deed Type
A quitclaim deed is the most common tool for moving property into your own revocable trust. It transfers whatever interest you have without warranting anything about the title. That sounds risky, but since you’re transferring to yourself as trustee, you already know the title history. A warranty deed adds a guarantee of clear title, which is usually unnecessary here, though some estate planners prefer it because it can help preserve existing title insurance coverage. Worth asking your attorney about.
Get the Names Exactly Right
You are the grantor. The grantee is the trust, and its name must match the trust document word for word, including the date the trust was created. A typical grantee line reads something like “Jane Doe, Trustee of the Jane Doe Revocable Living Trust, dated March 15, 2025.” If the deed and the trust document don’t match exactly, a title company or future buyer will flag it as a defect.
If the property is jointly owned, every owner signs. In community property states, both spouses need to sign even if only one name appears on the current title, because the property may still be community property by operation of law. Leaving a co-owner off the deed can void the transfer in whole or in part.
Sign, Notarize, and Record
Everyone transferring the property must sign in front of a notary public, who verifies identity and affixes an official seal. Most states now allow remote online notarization over a secure video connection. Notary fees for a deed acknowledgment usually run between $5 and $25, with remote sessions costing a bit more.
A signed deed in your desk drawer does nothing. The transfer becomes official only when the deed is recorded with the county recorder’s office where the property sits. Most counties accept filings in person, by mail, or electronically. Recording fees vary but generally fall between $10 and $100 for a standard single-page deed. Some counties charge per page, some flat, some add surcharges.
The recorder’s office often requires a preliminary change of ownership report or a similar form alongside the deed. That form tells the county assessor what kind of transfer happened, which is how the assessor decides whether the property gets reassessed. For a revocable trust transfer, this form is where you establish that the reassessment exemption applies, so fill it out carefully.
Update Your Lender, Insurer, and Title Policy
The Mortgage and the Due-on-Sale Clause
Nearly every mortgage contains a due-on-sale clause that technically lets the lender demand full repayment if you transfer the property. Federal law overrides this for revocable trust transfers. Under the Garn-St. Germain Act, a lender cannot accelerate your loan when you transfer residential property with fewer than five dwelling units into a trust where you remain a beneficiary and continue living in the home.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 12 U.S. Code 1701j-3 – Preemption of Due-on-Sale Prohibitions You should still notify the lender of the transfer, but the loan cannot be called due.
Home equity lines of credit are murkier. HELOCs have their own contract terms, and the Garn-St. Germain protection is not as clearly established. Transferring to an irrevocable trust is especially risky because the lender may argue you’ve changed beneficial ownership enough to trigger acceleration. Get written confirmation from your HELOC lender before recording any deed.
Homeowner’s Insurance
Call your insurance company and ask them to add the trust as an additional insured or named insured. The trust is now the legal owner, and if a claim arises with only your individual name on the policy, the insurer could deny coverage on a technicality. The update is usually free and takes a phone call.
Title Insurance
This is the step people skip most often, and it can be the costliest. Your existing owner’s title insurance policy may not automatically cover the trust as the new titleholder. Some older policy forms explicitly exclude voluntary transfers, even to your own revocable trust. Before recording the deed, read the coverage continuation language in your policy or call your title company and ask whether the transfer will affect coverage. If it will, you can usually buy an endorsement to extend coverage to the trust for a modest fee.
Handle the Tax Angles Before You Record
Property Tax Reassessment
People often worry that moving property into a trust will trigger a property tax increase. For revocable living trusts, this is almost never the case. Because you retain full control and beneficial ownership, assessors in the vast majority of jurisdictions treat the transfer as a non-event for reassessment. Some counties require you to file a change-of-ownership form with the deed to confirm the exemption, so check with your county assessor’s office before recording.
Homestead Exemption
Transferring to a revocable trust should not eliminate a homestead exemption in most states, but some counties require you to refile after the transfer. Contact your county assessor before recording and ask whether a new homestead application is needed. Miss this step and you can lose the exemption for an entire tax year before you notice.
Transfer Taxes
Many states and localities impose a transfer tax or documentary stamp tax when real estate changes hands. Transfers into a revocable living trust are typically exempt because no money changes hands and the grantor retains full beneficial ownership. Some recording offices want you to note the exemption on the deed or on a separate form. Irrevocable trust transfers may follow different rules, so confirm with the county recorder before filing.
Gift Tax on Irrevocable Transfers
Moving property into a revocable trust has no gift tax consequences because the IRS still treats the property as yours. Irrevocable trusts are different. The IRS generally treats the transfer as a gift. If the beneficiaries’ enjoyment is delayed (a “future interest”), the $19,000 annual gift tax exclusion for 2026 does not apply, and you must file IRS Form 709 regardless of the property’s value.2Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 709 (2025) The transfer then counts against your lifetime exemption, which for 2026 is $15,000,000.3Internal Revenue Service. Whats New – Estate and Gift Tax Most people will never owe actual gift tax because of that large lifetime exemption, but failing to file Form 709 can create problems with the IRS years later.
What Changes After the Property Is in the Trust
Selling is straightforward. The trustee signs the deed and closing documents instead of an individual owner. Most title companies handle these closings routinely, though they may ask for the trust document or a certificate of trust to verify the trustee’s authority.
Refinancing can be trickier. Some lenders will refinance property titled in a revocable trust without issue. Others insist the property be titled in an individual’s name before they’ll process the loan. The workaround is to temporarily deed the property out of the trust, close the refinance, and then deed it back in. Your lender’s title company usually handles both deeds at closing, but it does add recording fees. Make sure the property actually gets deeded back into the trust after closing. People forget this step more often than you’d expect, and the property sits in their individual name until someone catches it.
Keep a Pour-Over Will as a Backstop
Even careful people acquire new property or forget to re-title assets after a refinance. A pour-over will catches anything that isn’t in the trust at your death and directs it into the trust. Treat it as a backstop, not a plan: assets that pass through a pour-over will still go through probate before reaching the trust. The point of transferring property into the trust during your lifetime is to skip probate entirely.
A Word of Caution for Medicaid Planning
If long-term care costs are the reason you’re considering an irrevocable trust, timing matters enormously. Federal law imposes a 60-month look-back period for transfers to trusts. If you moved the property into the trust within five years of applying for Medicaid, the transfer triggers a penalty period during which you’re ineligible for benefits.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 U.S. Code 1396p – Liens, Adjustments and Recoveries, and Transfers of Assets The penalty is calculated by dividing the value of the transferred property by the average monthly cost of nursing home care in your state, so transferring a valuable home too late can mean months or years of ineligibility.
This is one area where doing it yourself almost always backfires. The trust has to be drafted so that you genuinely give up control, or Medicaid will look through the trust and count the home anyway. At the same time, it can usually be written to let you keep living in the home. Getting that balance right calls for an elder law attorney who works with your state’s Medicaid rules.
Notify the HOA
If the property is in a homeowners association, send the HOA a copy of the recorded deed. Most HOA governing documents tie voting rights and assessment obligations to the property’s owner of record. Skipping this notice won’t invalidate the transfer, but it creates confusion about who receives notices, who votes at meetings, and whose name appears on lien records if assessments go unpaid.