All Santa Cruz County specific forms and documents listed below are included in your immediate download package:
The Following California and Santa Cruz County supplemental forms are included as a courtesy with your order.
Parent to Child Exclusion Form (Santa Cruz County Document)
Preliminary Change of Ownership Report (Santa Cruz County Document)
Transfer Tax Exemptions List (Santa Cruz County Document)
Certificate of Acknowledgment (Santa Cruz County Document)
Building Homes and Jobs Act (Santa Cruz County Document)
Parent to Child Exclusion Form - Instructions (Santa Cruz County Document)
Jurat (Santa Cruz County Document)
Building Homes and Jobs Act - Fee Grid (Santa Cruz County Document)
Declaration of Exemption Form (Santa Cruz County Document)
Change in Ownership of a Mobile Home-Form (Santa Cruz County Document)
Change in Ownership Statement - Death of Real Property Owner (Santa Cruz County Document)
Grandparent to Grandchild Exclusion Form (Santa Cruz County Document)
Affidavit of Cotenant Residency (Santa Cruz County Document)
Affidavit of Ownership Transfer (Santa Cruz County Document)
Transfer Tax Exemptions List (California Document)
Preliminary Change of Ownership Report (California Document)
Building Homes and Jobs Act (California Document)
Declaration of Exemption Form (California Document)
Parent to Child Exclusion Form (California Document)
Grandparent to Grandchild Exclusion Form (California Document)
Affidavit of Cotenant Residency (California Document)
Change in Ownership Statement - Death of Real Property Owner (California Document)
Including:
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.
The documents you receive here will meet, or exceed, the Santa Cruz County recording requirements for formatting. If there's an issue caused by our formatting, we'll make it right and refund your payment.
Get your Santa Cruz 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.
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!
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!
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
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Name: Gary J.
Review: Whomever "KCH" is, that person was of great help. It took me several tries due my inexperience with ADOBE SCAN, but that certainly is no fault of yours!! KVH was very patient with me, and in fact resolved the things I was doing wrong for me, without my even requesting the assistance.
Reply from Staff
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Name: Neira S.
Review: No problem with Recorders Office using your document. It is now completed and recorded.
Reply from Staff
Thank you Neira, have a wonderful day!
Name: Frank H.
Review: Form and instructions were useful. But I suggest creating a form for transferring a deed pursuant to a trust. The existing form is based on a will going through probate so it doesn't fit the trust situation in some respects.
Reply from Staff
Thank you for your feedback. We really appreciate it. Have a great day!
Name: Sherri S.
Review: Easy to access forms, and reasonably priced. I'll definitely use again in the future.
Reply from Staff
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Name: Beverly H.
Review: Thanks!!
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Name: Michael D.
Review: Great service
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Name: John V.
Review: getting the proper forms was easy--filling them out, not so much
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Thank you!
Name: Wesley B.
Review: Exactly what I needed
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Name: Michelle H.
Review: Fast, easy and helpful. Highly recommend, my document was recorded within 24 hours.
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Name: Christina H.
Review: I appreciate having forms available and not having to go to a business supply or attorney. This is great. However, there are two individual quit claim deed forms and I don't know which one is appropriate.
Reply from Staff
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Name: Harry S.
Review: This is my first time using the service. Wow! How efficient and effortless! Keep up the good work!
Reply from Staff
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Name: A. S.
Review: First, I am glad that you gave a blank copy, an example copy, and a 'guide'. It made it much easier to do. Overall I was very happy with your products and organization... however, things got pretty confusing and I have a pretty 'serious' law background in Real Estate and Civil law. With that said, I spent about 10+ hours getting my work done, using the Deed of Trust and Promissory note from you and there were a few problems: First, it would be FANTASTIC if you actually aligned your guide to actually match the Deed or Promissory Note. What I mean is that if the Deed says 'section (E)' then your guide shouldn't be 'randomly' numbered as 1,2,3, for advice/instructions, but should EXACTLY match 'section (E)'. Some places you have to 'hunt' for what you are looking for, and if you did it based on my suggestion, you wouldn't need to 'hunt' and it would avoid confusion. 2nd: This one really 'hurt'... you had something called the 'Deed of Trust Master Form' yet you had basically no information on what it was or how to use it. The only information you had was a small section at the top of the 'Short Form Deed of Trust Guide'. Holy Cow, was that 'section' super confusing. I still don't know if I did it correctly, but your guide says only put a return address on it and leave the rest of the 16 or so page Deed of Trust beneath it blank... and then include your 'Deed of Trust' (I had to assume the short form deed that I had just created) as part of it. I had to assume that I had to print off the entire 17 page or so title page and blank deed. I also had to assume that the promissory note was supposed to be EXHIBIT A or B on the Short Form Deed. It would be great if someone would take a serious look at that short section in your 'Short Form Deed of Trust Guide' and realize that those of us using your products are seriously turning this into a county clerk to file and that most of us, probably already have a property that has an existing Deed... or at least can find one in the county records if necessary... and make sure that you make a distinction between the Deed for the property that already exists, versus the Deed of Trust and Promissory note that we are trying to file. Thanks.
Reply from Staff
Thank you for your feedback. We'll have staff review the document for clarity. Have a great day!