Sonoma County: putting your home in your living trust.

The fee schedule, in the county’s words

“Documentary Transfer Tax paid or exempt from SB2 and AB1466 fee (stated on first page of document or cover sheet) ... $14.00 first page (effective 1/1/27 $19.00) ... $3.00 per additional page (effective 1/1/27 $4.00)” Source

The $75 SB2 fee

“requires that documents accepted for recording at the Sonoma County Recorder’s Office be charged an additional seventy-five dollars ($75.00) fee per title, unless exempted by statute. ... The fee shall not be imposed on any real estate instrument, paper, or notice recorded in connection with a transfer subject to the imposition of a documentary transfer tax” Source

The Preliminary Change of Ownership Report

“Documents transferring title must contain the Assessor's Parcel Number (APN) and must be accompanied by a Preliminary Change of Ownership Report” Source

Trust transfers

“Certain Trust Transfers - A deed that transfers the grantor's interest to or from a revocable trust, when the trust is for the benefit of the grantor, is exempt from the tax. Revenue and Taxation Code Section 11930” Source

Statewide rules that apply in Sonoma County

• Change in ownership exclusion for trusts, Revenue and Taxation Code section 62(d), as written: "Any transfer by the trustor, or by the trustor’s spouse or registered domestic partner, or by both, into a trust for so long as" ... "(1) the transferor is the present beneficiary of the trust, or (2) the trust is revocable". Section 62 opens with: "Change in ownership shall not include:" Source
• Property Tax Rule 462.160 (State Board of Equalization), subdivision (a): "The transfer by the trustor, or any other person, of real property into a trust is a change in ownership of such property at the time of the transfer." Subdivision (b)(2) on revocable trusts: "The transfer of real property or an ownership interest in a legal entity holding an interest in real property by the trustor to a trust which is revocable by the trustor." Source
• Property Tax Rule 462.160(b)(2), continued: "However, a change in ownership does occur at the time the revocable trust becomes irrevocable unless the trustor-transferor remains or becomes the sole present beneficiary or unless otherwise excluded from change in ownership." Source
• SB2 fee statute, Government Code section 27388.1(a)(1), as written: "a fee of seventy-five dollars ($75) shall be paid at the time of recording of every real estate instrument, paper, or notice required or permitted by law to be recorded" ... "The fee imposed by this section shall not exceed two hundred twenty-five dollars ($225)." Source
• SB2 fee exemptions, Government Code section 27388.1(a)(2), as written: "The fee described in paragraph (1) shall not be imposed on any of the following documents:" ... "(A) Any real estate instrument, paper, or notice recorded in connection with a transfer subject to the imposition of a documentary transfer tax as defined in Section 11911 of the Revenue and Taxation Code." ... "(B) Any real estate instrument, paper, or notice recorded in connection with a transfer of real property that is a residential dwelling to an owner-occupier." Source
• Preliminary Change of Ownership Report, Revenue and Taxation Code section 480.3(b), as written: "If a document evidencing a change in ownership is presented to the recorder for recordation without the concurrent filing of a preliminary change in ownership report, the recorder may charge an additional recording fee of twenty dollars ($20)." Source

All 58 California counties · Estate planning with The Flaig Law Firm

Checked 2026-11-01.

General information from county and state government sources, checked on the date shown. Not legal advice for any one property; The Flaig Law Firm, APC, Donald W. Flaig, Esq., 5707 Corsa Avenue, Suite 104, Westlake Village, CA 91362.