Santa Cruz County Personal Representative Deed (Intestate) Form

An administrator appointed for a California decedent who left no will conveys estate real property on authority the probate court granted, never on a power written into a will. This California personal representative deed is configured for that intestate pattern. The authority section collects two things a will based deed never asks for: the authority stated in the letters of administration, and the court order that authorizes or confirms the conveyance and directs its execution. The capacity recital names the signer as administrator of the named estate, and the signature block carries that capacity onto the printed name line.

The authority reference the Probate Code asks a probate deed to carry

Probate Code Section 10314(a) provides that on confirmation of a sale the personal representative executes a conveyance to the purchaser which refers to the order confirming the sale and directing the conveyance to be executed, and that a certified copy of that order is recorded with the recorder of the county in which the real property is located. That reference is a printed part of this deed. The Independent Administration of Estates Act supplies the other path: Probate Code Section 10511 gives a representative with full authority the power to sell or exchange estate real property, exercisable after a notice of proposed action under Probate Code Sections 10580 through 10592, while Section 10501(b) keeps a sale under limited authority in front of the judge. One blank carries either answer.

A grant deed built to carry no warranty

California conveyancing runs on the word grant. Civil Code Section 1092 supplies the statutory grant deed form, and Civil Code Section 1113 provides that the word grant implies two covenants, and no others, unless restrained by express terms. A fiduciary conveyance cannot leave those covenants running against the estate, so the operative section of this deed uses the statutory grant language and then restrains the implied covenants expressly, in a capitalized paragraph that also states the deed is made without covenant or warranty. What passes is all right, title, and interest of the estate in the described property, subject to the matters listed on the face of the deed and to other matters affecting title.

How this form is configured

The form recites one appointed personal representative as grantor and carries one signature block and one acknowledgment certificate. The certificate is the California statutory certificate: the Civil Code Section 1189(a)(1) notice sits in an enclosed box at the top, and the blank Civil Code Section 1189(a)(3) places between the acknowledgment date and the appearer holds the name and title of the notary public. A second signature line sits in the documentary transfer tax section, because Revenue and Taxation Code Section 11933 has the tax amount declared and signed by the party determining the tax or that party's agent, and that declaration signature is not acknowledged. An intestate estate selling the family residence through escrow, and an estate deeding property to an heir on an order for distribution, present the pattern this deed recites. An estate administered by two or more co-administrators presents a different signing pattern, since each appointed representative signs, and the form recites one.

Recording an estate conveyance in California

Government Code Section 27361.6 reserves the top 2.5 inches of the first page for recording information and allocates the left 3.5 inches of that space to the requester and return blocks, where this form places them. Government Code Section 27321.5(a) requires the name and address for future tax statements on the first page before acceptance for recording. The documentary transfer tax declaration sits on the face, where Revenue and Taxation Code Sections 11932 and 11933 place it, at the county rate of 55 cents for each 500 dollars of consideration or value over 100 dollars; a distribution to an heir engages the Section 11930 exemption for a transfer by reason of death instead. A court confirmed sale reaches the counter as two documents, the deed and the certified copy of the order.

What this package includes

The package contains the fill in the blank personal representative deed, a completed example carrying a realistic Los Angeles County fact pattern, and a guide that walks the form section by section and describes California execution and recording law. The order confirming sale, the letters of administration, and the preliminary change of ownership report are court and county documents prepared or obtained separately and are not included. The materials are informational and are not legal advice.