Chittenden County Gift Deed (Reserving Life Estate) Form

Last validated July 16, 2026 by our Forms Development Team

Chittenden County Gift Deed (Reserving Life Estate) Form

Chittenden County Gift Deed (Reserving Life Estate) Form

Fill in the blank Gift Deed (Reserving Life Estate) form formatted to comply with all Vermont recording and content requirements.

Document Last Validated 7/16/2026
Chittenden County Gift Deed (Reserving Life Estate) Guide

Chittenden County Gift Deed (Reserving Life Estate) Guide

Line by line guide explaining every blank on the Gift Deed (Reserving Life Estate) form.

Document Last Validated 7/16/2026
Chittenden County Completed Example of the Gift Deed (Reserving Life Estate) Document

Chittenden County Completed Example of the Gift Deed (Reserving Life Estate) Document

Example of a properly completed Vermont Gift Deed (Reserving Life Estate) document for reference.

Document Last Validated 7/16/2026

All 3 documents above included • One-time purchase • No recurring fees

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Important: Your property must be located in Chittenden County to use these forms. Documents should be recorded at the office below.

Where to Record Your Documents

Town Clerk of Bolton

Address:
3045 Roosevelt Hwy.
Waterbury, Vermont 05676

Hours: M-Th 8:00 - 4:00

Phone: (802) 434-5075

Chittenden County Clerk (for Buel's Gore)

Address:
175 Main St / PO Box 187
Burlington, Vermont 05402

Hours: 7:30 to 4:00 M-F

Phone: (802) 951-5106

City Clerk of Burlington

Address:
City Hall - 149 Church St
Burlington, Vermont 05401

Hours: M-F 8:00 to 4:30

Phone: (802) 865-7000

Town Clerk of Charlotte

Address:
159 Ferry Rd / PO Box 119
Charlotte, Vermont 05445

Hours: M-F 8:00 to 4:00

Phone: (802) 425-3071

Town Clerk of Colchester

Address:
781 Blakely Rd / PO Box 55
Colchester, Vermont 05446

Hours: M-F 7:30 - 4:30

Phone: (802) 254-5520

Town Clerk of Essex

Address:
81 Main St
Essex Jct, Vermont 05452

Hours: M-F 7:30 - 4:30

Phone: (802) 879-0413

Town Clerk of Grand Isle

Address:
9 Hyde Rd / PO Box 49
Grand Isle, Vermont 05458-0049

Hours: M-F 8:30 - 3:30; Tu 5:00 - 7:00; Sa 10:00 -12:00

Phone: (802) 372-8830

Town Clerk of Hinesburg

Address:
10632 Route 116
Hinesburg, Vermont 05461

Hours: M - F 8:00 to 4:00

Phone: (802) 482-2281

Town Clerk of Huntington

Address:
4930 Main Rd
Huntington, Vermont 05462

Hours: M 8:00 - 7:00; Tu, W, Th 8:00 - 3:00

Phone: (802) 434-2023

Town Clerk of Jericho

Address:
67 VT Route 15 / PO Box 67
Jericho, Vermont 05465

Hours: M-Th 8:00 - 4:00; F 8:00 - 1:30 (or by appointment)

Phone: (802) 899-4936 x1

Town Clerk of Milton

Address:
43 Bombardier Rd / PO Box 18
Milton, Vermont 05468

Hours: M-F 8:00 - 5:00

Phone: (802) 893-4111

Town Clerk of Richmond

Address:
203 Bridge St. / PO Box 285
Richmond, Vermont 05477

Hours: M 8:00 - 5:00; Tu - Th 8:00 - 4:00; F 8:00 - 12:00

Phone: (802) 434-2221/3139

Town Clerk of Shelburne

Address:
5420 Shelburne Rd / PO Box 88
Shelburne, Vermont 05482

Hours: M - F 8:30 - 5:00

Phone: (802) 985-5116 x0

City Clerk of South Burlington

Address:
575 Dorset St
South Burlington, Vermont 05403

Hours: M-F 8:00 - 4:30

Phone: (802) 846-4105

Town Clerk of St. George

Address:
21 Barber Rd / PO Box 874
St. George, Vermont 05495

Hours: Mon - Wed 8:00 - 2:00; Th 4:30 - 6:30

Phone: (802) 482-5272

Town Clerk of Westford

Address:
1713 VT Rte 128
Westford, Vermont 05494

Hours: M-F 8:30 - 4:30; Summer F 8:30 - 1:00

Phone: (802) 878-4587

Town Clerk of Williston

Address:
7900 Williston Rd
Williston, Vermont 05495

Hours: M-F 8:00 - 4:30

Phone: (802) 878-5121

City Clerk of Winooski

Address:
27 West Allen St
Winooski, Vermont 05404

Hours: M-F 7:30 - 4:30

Phone: (802) 655-6419

Recording Tips for Chittenden County:
  • Bring your driver's license or state-issued photo ID
  • Ensure all signatures are in blue or black ink
  • Ask if they accept credit cards - many offices are cash/check only
  • Bring extra funds - fees can vary by document type and page count
  • Make copies of your documents before recording - keep originals safe

Cities and Jurisdictions in Chittenden County

Properties in any of these areas use Chittenden County forms:

  • Burlington
  • Cambridge
  • Charlotte
  • Colchester
  • Essex
  • Essex Junction
  • Fairfax
  • Hinesburg
  • Huntington
  • Jericho
  • Jonesville
  • Milton
  • Richmond
  • Shelburne
  • South Burlington
  • Underhill
  • Underhill Center
  • Westford
  • Williston
  • Winooski

View Complete Recorder Office Guide

Hours, fees, requirements, and more for Chittenden County

How do I get my forms?

Forms are available for immediate download after payment. The Chittenden County forms will be in your account ready to download to your computer. An account is created for you during checkout if you don't have one. Forms are NOT emailed.

Are these forms guaranteed to be recordable in Chittenden County?

Yes. Our form blanks are guaranteed to meet or exceed the applicable formatting requirements used for recording in Chittenden County, including margin requirements, font requirements, and other layout standards. This guarantee applies to formatting, not to the legal sufficiency of information entered by the user or the suitability of a form for a particular transaction.

Can I reuse these forms?

Yes. You can reuse the forms for your personal use. For example, if you have multiple properties in Chittenden County you only need to order once.

What do I need to use these forms?

The forms are PDFs that you fill out on your computer. You'll need Adobe Reader (free software that most computers already have). You do NOT enter your property information online - you download the blank forms and complete them privately on your own computer.

Are there any recurring fees?

No. This is a one-time purchase. Nothing to cancel, no memberships, no recurring fees.

How much does it cost to record in Chittenden County?

Recording fees in Chittenden County vary. Contact the recorder's office at (802) 434-5075 for current fees.

Questions answered? Let's get started!

A Vermont gift deed reserving a life estate passes the family home, camp, or land to the next generation now, while the giver keeps the legal right to live there for life. This form prepares that deed for one Vermont owner: the grantor conveys the property as a gift, reserves a common-law life estate, and the named grantee takes a vested remainder that ripens into full ownership, outside probate, when the life estate ends at the grantor's death.

A gift now, possession later

The deed divides ownership along a timeline. From delivery, the grantor holds a life estate: the exclusive right to occupy and use the property, and to its rents and income, for the rest of the grantor's natural life. The grantee holds the remainder from the same moment, a present property interest that waits for possession. At the grantor's death the life estate simply ends, and the grantee holds the property outright without probate administration of the parcel. Because the transfer is donative, the deed recites love and affection rather than a purchase price, and it states that it conveys without covenant or warranty of title, the posture Vermont law leaves to the deed's own text since no statute implies covenants into a Vermont deed.

A vested remainder, not a revocable arrangement

The reservation here is the traditional common-law life estate, and the deed says so on its face: no power is reserved to sell, convey, or mortgage the property without the grantee's joinder, and the instrument is not an enhanced life estate deed under 27 V.S.A. chapter 6, Vermont's statute for reserved-power deeds. The certainty runs in both directions. The grantee's remainder is vested and safe from later changes of heart, and by the same token the grantor cannot take the gift back or deal with the full title alone; a later sale or mortgage of the whole property takes both signatures. The completed example shows the reservation, the gift conveyance, and the statutory references exactly as they read on a finished deed.

Who signs, and the homestead joinder

The form recites one grantor, who signs before a notary public; Vermont requires no witnesses on a deed, and 27 V.S.A. Section 341 makes the notarial acknowledgment and town recording the operative formalities. A parent conveying the home place to a child while continuing to live in it, or an owner passing a woodlot or camp to family with continued lifetime use, presents the single-owner pattern this deed recites. The grantee section accepts one or more grantees together with the co-ownership form they take, and the guide walks through Vermont's forms, from tenancy in common to joint tenancy and tenancy by the entirety. Because a married owner's homestead moves only with the spouse's joinder under 27 V.S.A. Section 141, the form carries a labeled spouse joinder signature block, and it carries a separate acknowledgment certificate for each signer on the Vermont statutory short form, so the grantor and a joining spouse may acknowledge on different dates or before different notaries.

Recording in the town, with the transfer tax return

Vermont records land instruments town by town, not by county, so the deed goes to the clerk of the town or city where the land lies, at fifteen dollars per page. Until recorded, a Vermont deed holds the estate only against the grantor and the grantor's heirs, so recording is what secures the gift against everyone else. One filing controls the counter: a completed Vermont Property Transfer Tax Return, Form PTT-172, accompanies the deed, and the town clerk cannot record without it. For a gift, the tax value is fair market value rather than the recited consideration, and Vermont exempts no-consideration transfers between spouses, parent and child or the child's spouse, and grandparent and grandchild or the grandchild's spouse; the exemption is claimed right on the return. The guide's recording section walks through the return, the Act 250 certificate that accompanies it, and the survey reference rule that reaches deeds citing a recorded plat.

The download includes the gift deed as a fillable blank PDF, a completed example that presents the whole deed prepared for a realistic Vermont fact pattern, and a plain-language guide explaining every numbered section, the signing formalities, and the recording steps. The materials are informational and are not legal advice; a Vermont attorney can apply these rules to a specific title or estate plan.

Important: Your property must be located in Chittenden County to use these forms. Documents should be recorded at the office below.

This Gift Deed (Reserving Life Estate) meets all recording requirements specific to Chittenden County.

Our Promise

The documents you receive here are guaranteed to meet or exceed the applicable Chittenden County recording format requirements. If there is a rejection caused by our formatting, we will correct the issue or refund your payment. This guarantee applies to document formatting only and does not extend to information entered by the user, the selection of the form, or the legal effect of the completed document.

Save Time and Money

Get your Chittenden County Gift Deed (Reserving Life Estate) 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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