Santa Clara County Transfer on Death Deed Form (California)

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

Transfer on Death Deed Form

Santa Clara County Transfer on Death Deed Form

Fill in the blank form formatted to comply with all recording and content requirements.
Included Santa Clara County compliant document last validated/updated 7/22/2025

Transfer on Death Deed Guide

Santa Clara County Transfer on Death Deed Guide

Line by line guide explaining every blank on the form.
Included Santa Clara County compliant document last validated/updated 7/11/2025

Completed Example of the Transfer on Death Deed Document

Santa Clara County Completed Example of the Transfer on Death Deed Document

Example of a properly completed form for reference.
Included Santa Clara County compliant document last validated/updated 7/10/2025

Notice of Revocable Transfer on Death Deed

Santa Clara County Notice of Revocable Transfer on Death Deed

Provide this form to your beneficiary(s).
Included Santa Clara County compliant document last validated/updated 6/17/2025

When using these Transfer on Death Deed 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 Transfer on Death Deed 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 Transfer on Death Deed 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.

Use this form to transfer real estate at death, but outside of a will and without the need for probate distribution. Execute the TODD form, then record it during the course of your life, and within 60 days of the signing date (5626(a)). Note that unlike grant deeds or quitclaim deeds, there is no change in ownership when transfer on death deeds are recorded (5650), so they are exempt from transfer taxes and the Preliminary Change of Ownership Report (PCOR).

Section 5650 explains that while you are alive, you retain absolute ownership of and control over your property. You may sell, mortgage, rent, or otherwise use the real estate in any lawful manner, without input from or notice to the beneficiaries, or even modify or revoke the future transfer.

Be aware, too, that the TODD is NOT affected by provisions in your will (5642(b)). Best practices dictate that any change to an estate plan initiates a review of the whole thing, so to reduce the chance for conflict, ensure that the transfer on death deed reinforces the will and other related documents.

Beneficiaries take title to the property under the rules set out at section 5652. Any associated debts, obligations, or agreements in place when you die follow the real estate to the beneficiaries. In addition, the title transfers without warranty, so the beneficiaries might find themselves liable for future claims against the property. For these reasons, among others, some beneficiaries might wish to disclaim the gift (5652(a)(1)).

As it stands, California's transfer on death deed is not valid for real estate held in joint tenancy or as community property with right of survivorship (5664).

5624. A revocable transfer on death deed is not effective unless all of the following conditions are satisfied:
(a) The deed is signed by the transferor and dated.
(b) The deed is signed by two witnesses who were present at the same time and who witnessed either the signing of the deed or the transferor's acknowledgment that the transferor had signed the deed.
(c) The deed is acknowledged before a notary public.

SEC. 10. Section 5625 is added to the Probate Code, to read:
5625. (a) Any person generally competent to be a witness may act as a witness to a revocable transfer on death deed.
(b) A revocable transfer on death deed is not invalid because it is signed by an interested witness.
(c) If a beneficiary of a revocable transfer on death deed is also a subscribing witness, there is a presumption that the witness procured the revocable transfer on death deed by duress, menace, fraud, or undue influence. This presumption is a presumption affecting the burden of proof. This presumption does not apply where the witness is named as beneficiary solely in a fiduciary capacity.

Overall, the Simple Revocable Transfer on Death Deed offers a convenient, flexible option to consider as part of an overall estate plan. Even so, they may not be appropriate in all cases. Contact an attorney for complex situations or with any questions.

Included NOTICE OF REVOCABLE TRANSFER ON DEATH DEED Form
5681. (a) After the death of the transferor, the beneficiary of a revocable transfer on death deed shall serve notice on the transferor's heirs, along with a copy of the revocable transfer on death deed and a copy of the transferor's death certificate. (b) The notice required by subdivision (a) shall be in substantially the following form:

(California Transfer on Death Deed 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.

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Get your Santa Clara County Transfer on Death Deed 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 21st, 2025

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Patricia P.

July 14th, 2021

Easy to use and super convenient.

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Rebecca H.

May 22nd, 2021

I thought the forms were reasonably priced, the instructions included in the packet were thorough, and the examples helpful. Thank you for the additional CDR forms too. I contacted the Recorder's office via email with a question and Jennifer Bowser answered promptly. Job well done! However, when I delivered the deed and Real Property Transfer Declaration to the Clerk's office in Lafayette, the clerk was unfamiliar with the Declaration document being submitted and it took some time to convince her to submit the form without charging the recording fee. She even tried to phone the recorder's office for clarification, but no one answered. There then was an additional form at that office that I had to complete called Recording Request/Transmittal Form. I would suggest including that form with instructions in your on-line packet to speed up the process when a Deed is delivered to the County Clerk's satellite office. I do not expect every clerk to know all the particulars of recording requirements but a little knowledge wouldn't hurt.

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William G.

July 21st, 2023

Exactly what I needed and saved me a bundle by not having to hire an attorney. My county clerk said it was exactly correct.

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Michelle M.

July 3rd, 2020

The website was easy to navigate and great communication on every step of the process.

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Karen F.

June 6th, 2022

The documents' format contained information needed to complete the necessary paperwork for filing with Georgia. However, the fields were not large enough to put the legal description in, and there was no way to enlarge the area. These were only semi-helpful in providing what I needed per Georgia's filing requirement.

Reply from Staff

Thank you!

Marc T.

August 31st, 2021

Walked the document through our county offices today. the directions to fill out the document were awesome and we had no issues, We now have a TOD property. Beats paying an attorney $200.00

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Leticia A.

January 20th, 2020

Down to the point,covers every angle with great tips:Don't forget Probate.

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Debra W.

January 13th, 2021

I was trying to get a lien released for the last 3 month with Maricopa County and once I utilized your system it was complete within 24 hours of my filing. Great company and customer service, thank you!

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Kevin M.

May 14th, 2019

All I can say is WOW. They were so fast and professional. I received my copy of my deed that same day I requested it. There was some confusion on my part but within minutes it was explained.

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