Santa Clara County Certificate of Trust Form (California)

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

Certificate of Trust Form

Santa Clara County Certificate of Trust Form

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

Certificate of Trust Guide

Santa Clara County Certificate of Trust Guide

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

Completed Example of the Certificate of Trust Document

Santa Clara County Completed Example of the Certificate of Trust Document

Example of a properly completed form for reference.
Included Santa Clara 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 Santa Clara County. The executed documents should then be recorded in the following office:

County Clerk-Recorder

110 West Tasman Drive (ATTN: Recording-First floor), San Jose, California 95134

Hours: 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m

Phone: (408) 299-5688

Local jurisdictions located in Santa Clara County include:

  • Alviso
  • Campbell
  • Coyote
  • Cupertino
  • Gilroy
  • Holy City
  • Los Altos
  • Los Gatos
  • Milpitas
  • Morgan Hill
  • Mount Hamilton
  • Mountain View
  • New Almaden
  • Palo Alto
  • Redwood Estates
  • San Jose
  • San Martin
  • Santa Clara
  • Saratoga
  • Stanford
  • Sunnyvale

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 Santa Clara 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 Santa Clara County using our eRecording service.
Are these forms guaranteed to be recordable in Santa Clara County?

Yes. Our form blanks are guaranteed to meet or exceed all formatting requirements set forth by Santa Clara 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 Santa Clara County that you need to transfer you would only need to order our forms once for all of your properties in Santa Clara County.

What are supplemental forms?

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

4.8 out of 5 - ( 4563 Reviews )

JAMES D.

July 10th, 2025

Slick as can be and so convenient.rnrnWorked like a charm

Reply from Staff

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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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Brian O.

June 27th, 2020

It's an instant download. I was very pleased that it included instructions and any necessary additional forms. Much easier than spending 3 hours on a county assessor's website searching for every single form. A good deal and I don't know how Deeds.com keeps up with thousands of counties. The fillable .pdf capability is a great enhancement.

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Richard E.

January 3rd, 2019

Very easy. I copied each doc separately. Is there a way to copy the all docs at once into a folder?
Thanks for being there.
Rich

Reply from Staff

Thank you for the feedback Richard. Currently there is no way to download all of the documents at once but we'll definitely look into it. Have a great day!

Nick V.

July 21st, 2020

Turn time was great. Highly recommend.

Reply from Staff

Thank you!

Lutalo O.

December 26th, 2019

Great tool for finding the best real estate forms!

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Lowell P.

May 26th, 2020

Exceptionally helpful instruments that are compliant with State law and anticipate various contingencies. Very pleased.

Reply from Staff

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Deborah B.

January 6th, 2019

Easy download, and super easy to fill out. Had them recorded Friday with zero issues. Recommended.

Reply from Staff

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Ira S.

June 8th, 2022

Hi,
1. I need a password to be able to copy and paste from the deed.

2. It would be more convenient if all documents could be downloaded together.

Ira

Reply from Staff

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SANTTINA W.

August 13th, 2022

IT WAS SO VERY HELPFUL AND EASY TO DO WILL RETUN TO THE SITE AGAIN.

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Lori W.

December 2nd, 2020

Great resource! Nice to have these forms and information available. No problems at the recorder, in fact it was the recorder that referred me to deeds.com they like their forms so much.

Reply from Staff

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Debby P.

October 5th, 2023

Great company!rn I have been using Deeds.com for many years. I just opened a new account when I retired from my Escrow job. My recording was flawless!

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Michael L.

April 25th, 2024

Professional, simple. Very good.

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Winifred T.

May 18th, 2021

ive been looking for this information thank you .

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