San Mateo County Certificate of Trust Form (California)
All San Mateo County specific forms and documents listed below are included in your immediate download package:
Certificate of Trust Form
Fill in the blank form formatted to comply with all recording and content requirements.
Included San Mateo County compliant document last validated/updated 4/3/2025
Certificate of Trust Guide
Line by line guide explaining every blank on the form.
Included San Mateo County compliant document last validated/updated 6/30/2025
Completed Example of the Certificate of Trust Document
Example of a properly completed form for reference.
Included San Mateo County compliant document last validated/updated 4/25/2025
The following California and San Mateo County supplemental forms are included as a courtesy with your order:
When using these Certificate of Trust forms, the subject real estate must be physically located in San Mateo County. The executed documents should then be recorded in the following office:
San Mateo County Recorder
555 County Center, 1st floor, Redwood City, California 94063-1665
Hours: Monday through Friday 8:00am to 5:00pm
Phone: (650) 363-4500
Local jurisdictions located in San Mateo County include:
- Atherton
- Belmont
- Brisbane
- Burlingame
- Daly City
- El Granada
- Half Moon Bay
- La Honda
- Loma Mar
- Menlo Park
- Millbrae
- Montara
- Moss Beach
- Pacifica
- Pescadero
- Portola Valley
- Redwood City
- San Bruno
- San Carlos
- San Francisco
- San Gregorio
- San Mateo
- South San Francisco
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 San Mateo 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 San Mateo County using our eRecording service.
Are these forms guaranteed to be recordable in San Mateo County?
Yes. Our form blanks are guaranteed to meet or exceed all formatting requirements set forth by San Mateo 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 San Mateo County that you need to transfer you would only need to order our forms once for all of your properties in San Mateo County.
What are supplemental forms?
Often when a deed is recorded, additional documents are required by California or San Mateo 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 San Mateo 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 San Mateo 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 San Mateo 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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July 24th, 2025
Forms easy to download but experienced problems trying to type in my information into the forms. Then when I went to print a form, Adobe wanted to charge me for printing. I ended up printing the blank forms and then filling them out manually.
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July 22nd, 2025
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February 26th, 2020
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William S C.
June 11th, 2021
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.
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Michael W.
January 25th, 2022
I needed a quitclaim deed to transfer ownership of a home. An attorney wanted $400.00 to file the deed. I downloaded a blank deed for my area from deeds.com. I received it instantly. (Small fee) it came with instructions and a template. I filled it out and submitted it to the County Clerks office.it was simple and I saved a lot of money. There may be other forms you need, check with whoever you are submitting the deed. You'll have additional fees, but that is up to the municipality in which you reside. It will be helpful if you have the latest deed on file. It was much easier than I thought. This is an easy website to navigate through and it is 100% legitimate. I recommend Deeds.com.
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Roger M.
January 22nd, 2021
EASY. WORKED WITH PROBLEMS.
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Betty J W.
May 31st, 2022
Was Totally Amazed, it was so easy to follow the example and I am 75 years old. I took my paper work in and it passed with flying colors. Thank-You So much saved me $665.00. BJW
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September 16th, 2021
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Lisa C.
October 7th, 2020
Please change on the example for the warranty deed the portion that says Source of Title: They don't use book and pages anymore They only use recording numbers. Please show an example with that for Maricopa County AZ Plus your Notary certificates should have a blank part for if it is signed in another state.
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April 25th, 2024
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November 7th, 2020
The deeds.com site provides clarifying useful information for the do-it-yourself type of person.
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May 7th, 2025
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March 29th, 2019
Wow! So easy and such a cost savings. Thanks
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