California - Alameda County Affidavit of Surviving Spouse Forms

Included Forms

All Alameda County specific forms and documents listed below are included in your immediate download package:

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Included Supplemental Documents

The Following California and Alameda County supplemental forms are included as a courtesy with your order.

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Change in Ownership Statement - Death of Real Property Owner (Alameda County Document)

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Transfer Tax Exemptions List (Alameda County Document)

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Preliminary Change of Ownership Report (Alameda County Document)

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Grandparent to Grandchild Exclusion Form (Alameda County Document)

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Affidavit of Cotenant Residency (Alameda County Document)

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Parent to Child Exclusion Form (Alameda County Document)

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Building Homes and Jobs Act (Alameda County Document)

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Building Homes and Jobs Act Fee Grid (Alameda County Document)

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Declaration of Exemption Form (Alameda County Document)

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Transfer Tax Exemptions List (California Document)

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Preliminary Change of Ownership Report (California Document)

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Building Homes and Jobs Act (California Document)

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Declaration of Exemption Form (California Document)

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Parent to Child Exclusion Form (California Document)

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Grandparent to Grandchild Exclusion Form (California Document)

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Affidavit of Cotenant Residency (California Document)

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Change in Ownership Statement - Death of Real Property Owner (California Document)

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Frequently Asked Questions:

• How long does it take to get my forms?
  • Forms are available immediately after submitting payment.
• What are supplemental forms?
  • Often when a deed is recorded additional documents are required by California or Alameda County. These could be tax related, informational, or even as simple as a coversheet. Supplemental forms are provided for free with your order where available.
• How do I get my forms, are they emailed?
  • After you submit payment you will see a page listing the Alameda County forms you ordered with a download link to the pdf form file. You download the forms to your computer. You will also receive an email with a link to your download page in case you need it later.
• What type of files are the forms?
  • All of our Alameda County Affidavit of Surviving Spouse forms are PDFs. You will need to have or get Adobe Reader to use our forms. Adobe Reader is free software that most computers already have installed.
• Can the Affidavit of Surviving Spouse forms be re-used?
  • Yes. You can re-use the forms for your personal use. For example, if you have more than one property in Alameda County that you need to transfer you would only need to order our forms once for all of your properties in Alameda County.
• Are these forms guaranteed to be recordable in Alameda County ?
  • Yes. Our form blanks are guaranteed to meet or exceed all formatting requirements set forth by Alameda County including margin requirements, content requirements, font and font size requirements.
• Do I have to enter all of my property information online?
  • No. The blank forms are downloaded to your computer and you fill them out there, at your convenience.
• Can I save the completed form, email it to someone?
  • Yes, you can save your deed form at any point with your information in it. The forms can also be emailed, blank or complete, as attachments.
• Do I need any special software to use these forms?
  • You will need to have Adobe Reader installed on your computer to use our forms. Adobe Reader is free software that most computers already have installed.
• Are there any recurring fees involved?
  • No. Nothing to cancel, no memberships, no recurring fees.

Areas covered by these Affidavit of Surviving Spouse Forms:

• Alameda County

Including:

• Alameda
• Albany
• Berkeley
• Castro Valley
• Dublin
• Emeryville
• Fremont
• Hayward
• Livermore
• Newark
• Oakland
• Piedmont
• Pleasanton
• San Leandro
• San Lorenzo
• Sunol
• Union City

What is the California Affidavit of Surviving Spouse?

Transferring California Community Property to the Surviving Spouse

Section 100(a) of the California Probate Code states that when a married person dies, one-half of the couple's community property belongs to the surviving spouse and the other half stays in the decedent's name, ostensibly for probate distribution. For transfers occurring after July 1, 2001, California property owners gained the option to hold title as community property with the right of survivorship. By vesting this way, the remaining spouse acquires the deceased spouse's portion of the shared property without the need for probate (Cal Civ Code 682.1(a)).

The surviving spouse files an affidavit (a statement of facts, made under oath), along with an official copy of the death certificate, at the recording office for the county where the property is located. The content may vary depending on the circumstances, but it generally contains the names of both spouses, a formal legal description of the shared real estate, and the recording information for the deed transferring ownership to the couple, confirming their intention to hold title as community property. Note that the right of survivorship is not automatic with community property -- it must be written on the face of the deed. To alleviate any questions about the survivorship status, consider including an official copy of the recorded deed.

The affidavit should also confirm, among other things, that the co-owners were married when the decedent died, that there are no probate actions related to the property, and that the surviving spouse is submitting the affidavit to ensure clear title. A clear title is important because it makes future transactions involving the real estate less complicated.

Each case is unique, so contact an attorney with specific questions or for complex situations.

Our Promise

The documents you receive here will meet, or exceed, the Alameda County recording requirements for formatting. If there's an issue caused by our formatting, we'll make it right and refund your payment.

Save Time and Money

Get your Alameda County Affidavit of Surviving Spouse form done right the first time with Deeds.com Uniform Conveyancing Blanks. At Deeds.com, we understand that your time and money are valuable resources, and we don't want you to face a penalty fee or rejection imposed by a county recorder for submitting nonstandard documents. We constantly review and update our forms to meet rapidly changing state and county recording requirements for roughly 3,500 counties and local jurisdictions.

Customer Reviews:

4.8 out of 5 (3872 Reviews)

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January 28th, 2023

Name: Conrad R.

Review: Easy to obtain form, easy to use. Came with instrucions and references to state statutes. Very Helpful.

Reply from Staff on January 28th, 2023

We appreciate your business and value your feedback. Thank you. Have a wonderful day!

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January 27th, 2023

Name: LIsa B.

Review: Deeds.com made this process of electronic document recording so easy! The communication was quick, friendly, helpful and efficient. I am out of state and have administrative items to handle for my father who has Alzheimer's. Deeds.com is a great service. I highly recommend them, and will use them again when the time comes.

Reply from Staff on January 27th, 2023

Thank you!

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January 27th, 2023

Name: Victor K.

Review: The form I needed was correct and paginated as required. It was accepted w/o penalties. I was not happy about the information which I found way too scant. One sample form does not cover enough possibilities, more would be helpful. The instruction page is a bit better but sometimes it is not clear enough - sometimes it is not clear what the numbered items in the form correspond to. There is no guidance about the process and it would take very little to provide it. Example about "description", say where to find. There is a bunch of "free forms" attached but no guide on which are needed and when. Example: at the counter I was given a paper "conveyance" form and asked to fill it - I did not know it was needed and what it did and so I had not d

Reply from Staff on January 27th, 2023

Thank you for your feedback. We really appreciate it. Have a great day!

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Name: Deborah H.

Review: Wonderful service, very fast and great customer service will be using you guys from now on. Thanks a bunch

Reply from Staff

Thank you for your feedback. We really appreciate it. Have a great day!

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Name: Kerry H.

Review: Good experience - Just what I needed

Reply from Staff

Thank you Kerry, have an awesome day!

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Name: David J.

Review: Very easy to use and saved a lot of time

Reply from Staff

Thank you!

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Name: James J.

Review: I couldn't be more pleased or more impressed with the e-recording services I received from deeds.com and from my service representative, KVH. I was able to record documents in approximately half a dozen different counties easily and seamlessly, with a minimum of fuss. The turn around time was incredibly fast. The pricing was incredibly reasonable. I know I have alternatives because, in the past, I have used a competitor service for my recording needs. I won't do that again -- this was an exceptional experience. Thank you for your help!

Reply from Staff

We appreciate your business and value your feedback. Thank you. Have a wonderful day!

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Name: Ruth L.

Review: Extremely convenient for a moderate fee. Will definitely use Deeds.com for my recording needs going forward. Will also share with my team on their projects. Thanks a bunch!!!

Reply from Staff

Thank you for your feedback. We really appreciate it. Have a great day!

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Name: Lindsay B.

Review: The form was easy to fill out. The only problem I had was on the Notary page I live in a different state than the property and I couldn't change the name of the state or county where the notary had to sign.

Reply from Staff

Thanks Lindsay, we appreciate your feedback.

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Name: Susan S.

Review: I just started using Deeds.com but so far it has been a very easy and pleasant experience. I work in the area of family law and I was thrilled to find a service that offers the recoding of deeds via e-recording.

Reply from Staff

Glad we could be of service Susan, thank you for your kind words. Have an amazing day!

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Name: Michael C.

Review: I would appreciate being able to increase the size of the blocks such as the Grantor block and the legal description block where information is enter on the form and to adjust the font. Otherwise great product,

Reply from Staff

Thank you for your feedback Michael. We do wish we could make that an option. Unfortunately, adhering to formatting requirements (specifically margin requirements) leaves a finite amount of space available on the page.

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Name: William S C.

Review: The Lady Bird Deed appears to be fine with me as are the instructions. However, there apparently are no specific laws in Texas addressing them other than they are OK. The problem is that lenders are surely going to use them as triggers for their due on sale clauses, especially as the current small mortgage rates begin to increase. The solution to that seems to be to sign and have them notarized, but not to record them unless the holder needs to enforce the provisions. It seems to me that you should consider your solution to that problem in your instructions.

Reply from Staff

Thank you for your feedback. We really appreciate it. Have a great day!

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Name: Diane D.

Review: Document site was very easy to access and pull up what I needed.

Reply from Staff

Thank you!

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Name: Madline J.

Review: amazing job!!

Reply from Staff

Thank you!

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Name: LeRoy E.

Review: So thankful I found this. I was feeling stressed out and reluctant about doing this on my own.

Reply from Staff

Thank you!

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