Lake County Certificate of Trust Form (California)

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

Certificate of Trust Form

Lake County Certificate of Trust Form

Fill in the blank form formatted to comply with all recording and content requirements.
Included Lake County compliant document last validated/updated 4/3/2025

Certificate of Trust Guide

Lake County Certificate of Trust Guide

Line by line guide explaining every blank on the form.
Included Lake County compliant document last validated/updated 6/30/2025

Completed Example of the Certificate of Trust Document

Lake County Completed Example of the Certificate of Trust Document

Example of a properly completed form for reference.
Included Lake County compliant document last validated/updated 4/25/2025

When using these Certificate of Trust forms, the subject real estate must be physically located in Lake County. The executed documents should then be recorded in the following office:

Lake County Assessor-Recorder

Courthouse - 255 N Forbes St, Lakeport, California 95453-4757

Hours: Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m

Phone: (707) 263-2293 Recorder; (707) 263-2302 Assessor

Local jurisdictions located in Lake County include:

  • Clearlake
  • Clearlake Oaks
  • Clearlake Park
  • Cobb
  • Finley
  • Glenhaven
  • Hidden Valley Lake
  • Kelseyville
  • Lakeport
  • Lower Lake
  • Lucerne
  • Middletown
  • Nice
  • Upper Lake
  • Witter Springs

How long does it take to get my forms?

Forms are available immediately after submitting payment.

How do I get my forms, are they emailed?

Immediately after you submit payment, the Lake County forms you order will be available for download directly from your account. You can then download the forms to your computer. If you do not already have an account, one will be created for you as part of the order process, and your login details will be provided to you. If you encounter any issues accessing your forms, please reach out to our support team for assistance. Forms are NOT emailed to you.

What does "validated/updated" mean?

This indicates the most recent date when at least one of the following occurred:

  • Updated: The document was updated or changed to remain compliant.
  • Validated: The document was examined by an attorney or staff, or it was successfully recorded in Lake County using our eRecording service.
Are these forms guaranteed to be recordable in Lake County?

Yes. Our form blanks are guaranteed to meet or exceed all formatting requirements set forth by Lake County including margin requirements, content requirements, font and font size requirements.

Can the Certificate of Trust 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 Lake County that you need to transfer you would only need to order our forms once for all of your properties in Lake County.

What are supplemental forms?

Often when a deed is recorded, additional documents are required by California or Lake 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.

What type of files are the forms?

All of our Lake County Certificate of Trust 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.

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.

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.

Are there any recurring fees involved?

No. Nothing to cancel, no memberships, no recurring fees.

California Certification of Trust

In California, the certification of trust is governed by Probate Code Section 18100.5.
A certificate of trust is used by an acting trustee or trustees of a trust to prove to financial institutions or other third parties that he/she/they has/have the authority to act on behalf of the trust. The certificate is used in lieu of the full trust document to keep nonessential information about the trust, such as the identities of trust beneficiaries, confidential.

The certificate verifies the existence of the trust and presents the pertinent details of the trust, such as the settlor, the trustee, the powers granted to the trustee, and, in the case that there are co-trustees, the number and identity of persons required to sign legal documents dealing with the trust. The certificate also specifies how the trust will vest title to real property.

Like all documents affecting real estate, the certification requires a legal description of the real property subject to the trust. In California, the certification also must include the trust's taxpayer ID, a number that is either the SSN of the settlor (in the case of revocable trusts) or an EIN assigned by the IRS (in the case of irrevocable trusts).
Trust law can quickly become complicated, and each case is unique, so contact a lawyer with any questions that arise.

(California Certificate of Trust Package includes form, guidelines, and completed example)

Our Promise

The documents you receive here will meet, or exceed, the Lake 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 Lake County Certificate of Trust 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.

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MARY LACEY M.

June 30th, 2025

Great service! Recording was smooth and swiftly performed. Deeds.com is an excellent service.rn

Reply from Staff

We are delighted to have been of service. Thank you for the positive review!

Robert F.

June 30th, 2025

Breeze.... It feels silly to hire an attorney to do this for just one beneficiary. Thanks.

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Pauline C.

June 29th, 2025

Everything that was stated to be included in my order was complete. Very satisfied

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Thank you for your positive words! We’re thrilled to hear about your experience.

Katherine M.

June 26th, 2019

Very helpful!

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Thank you!

Nancy A.

April 24th, 2024

This is an excellent resource. I was surprised because the price is so low I thought the products might be inferior. Not only were were the requested documents high quality, additional unrequested documents were added to my order that I didn't realize I would need until I read them. I especially appreciate that all the documents were specific to my county. I highly recommend using deeds.com.

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AMY J.

February 16th, 2022

Very easy user friendly thank you for that

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Thank you!

Marlene S.

May 22nd, 2019

This service seems simple and reasonably priced. The deed I requested was not available, and they let me know immediately and refunded the fee. I would try to use this service again, if I had need.

Reply from Staff

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Edith W.

February 4th, 2020

I was very pleased to be able to get all the legal forms, with instructions, I need to file a beneficiary deed specific to my county in one place. The downloads went smoothly. Deeds.com has saved me time and money by offering this service.

Reply from Staff

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

Stephen B.

August 21st, 2024

This was the first time to use the Deeds.com website for preparing my deed document. This was painless and easy to follow the instructions and sample package for filling in the blank boxes document. The city clerk was impressed to review my document and easily filed my deed record without questions. I would recommend anyone to prepare a legal form that is available from the Deeds.com website.

Reply from Staff

Your appreciative words mean the world to us. Thank you.

Gina G.

April 17th, 2024

This service is fantastic! Took a few tries to scan the document correctly, but their patience and quick turn around made this a far better experience than going to the County myself.

Reply from Staff

We are delighted to have been of service. Thank you for the positive review!

Don R.

January 26th, 2022

From Pennsylvania here. Documents are great and easy to fill out however you are lacking a couple of things. You only provide the option for a Grant Deed when you purchase by your county which is Mercer County for me. Why not give the ability to get a Warranty Deed that better protects the Grantee?
Also, being from Pennsylvania and in a county that mined Buituminous Coal we are required to include the Coal Severance Notice and Bituminous Mine Subsidence and Land Conservation Act Notice. You can check the box on your Deed form that they are required and attached but you do not provide the verbiage or form for this. You state that you know what each county requires and include everything required but you do not include these two required Notices. This has been a requirement for years and the wording never changes. I had to look for these Notices and hand type this information and include it on another seperate page after the Notary section on the Deed. The Grantor has to sign the Coal Severance Notice and be witnessed by a Notary so I had to add another place for the Notary and will have to pay twice for witnessed signatures when it could have been included in your document. My Deed from 2003 was done that way and then the Notary statement after that so it was only one notarized witness of signature.

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CHARMAINE G.

August 10th, 2022

Would have paid double for these forms. Thankfully there are professionals making these things, I would have surely messed it up if I tried to do it myself based on my incorrect preconceived ideas.

Reply from Staff

Thank you!

Shirley R J.

February 5th, 2019

Great website.....fast and easy access!

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Lucinda L.

December 29th, 2021

mostly good; however, you need to update the annual exclusion gift amount from $14,000 to $15,000 (where it has ben for several years), and you need to make your Gift Deed final paragraph be gender neutral like "they" or "he or she" rather than just"he". We women lawyers and our women clients appreciate that.

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Tim T.

August 24th, 2020

Fast and efficient

Reply from Staff

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