Transferring a Georgia property into your trust costs $550 per deed at The Hive Law. The county recording fee is included. Georgia charges no transfer tax on a deed into your own revocable trust. Each LLC and each out-of-state property adds to the total.
Transferring rental properties into a trust in Georgia costs $550 per deed at The Hive Law. The county recording fee is included in that price.
The total cost for your situation depends on how many properties you own, whether they are held personally or inside an LLC, and whether any are in other states.
The deed fee is only one part. LLCs and out-of-state properties add to the total, and leaving a property out of the trust has a cost of its own.
A deed transfer into a trust means preparing a new deed that changes the title of the property from your personal name to the name of your revocable living trust. In Georgia, this is a warranty deed or quitclaim deed signed by you as the grantor, naming your trust as the grantee.
The new deed must be recorded at the county courthouse where the property is located. Georgia also requires a PT-61 form (a Real Estate Transfer Tax Declaration) to be filed with every deed. For transfers into your own revocable trust, the transfer tax is $0 under O.C.G.A. § 48-6-2(a)(9), because the grantor-to-revocable-trust exemption applies.
Without the deed transfer, the property stays in your personal name. Your trust cannot control what happens to it. When you die, the property goes through probate regardless of what your trust says.
At The Hive Law, a deed transfer into a trust costs $550 per property. You sign the deed in front of a notary and a second witness you line up.
The county recording fee is included in that price. Georgia sets that fee by state law, under O.C.G.A. § 15-6-77(f)(1)(A)(i), so it does not change from one county to the next. You do not pay the county separately.
For a complete breakdown of what a Georgia real estate investor’s estate plan costs in total, see How Much Does Estate Planning Cost for a Real Estate Investor in Georgia.
The $550 deed transfer fee is one flat price for each Georgia deed.
What is not included:
The deed transfer service is available as a standalone service or as part of a complete estate plan. See Deed Transfer Into Your Trust for full details.
The base deed transfer fee is for one Georgia property in your personal name. Several situations add to the total cost.
LLCs with rental properties do not require a deed transfer, but they do require an operating agreement review. If you own rental properties inside an LLC, the property title is already in the LLC’s name. To connect that LLC to your trust, the operating agreement must be reviewed and amended to authorize trust ownership. That review costs $1,250 per LLC at The Hive Law.
Multiple personal-name properties add a deed transfer fee for each. If you own five rental properties in your personal name, the deed transfer cost is $2,750 ($550 x 5).
Out-of-state properties require local counsel in each state. The Hive Law handles the Georgia trust coordination. The deed preparation in the other state is handled by an attorney licensed there. Out-of-state coordination at The Hive Law costs $1,100 per state.
Skipping the deed transfer does not eliminate cost. It delays it and adds court involvement.
A rental property in your personal name that is not transferred into a trust goes through probate when you die. In the simple probate cases we’ve handled, probate has taken 13 months and cost families $14,700 in attorney and court costs.
That is about $14,700, what the simple probate cases we’ve handled have cost families, compared to a $550 deed transfer today.
For a complete overview of the property transfer process, see How to Transfer Rental Property Into a Trust in Georgia.
The trust has to exist before a deed can name it as the new owner. Georgia requires a trust to be in writing and signed by the person creating it. Confirm your signed trust is in hand before starting the deed transfer.
Your attorney needs the current deed for each property. This confirms the legal description, the current owner of record, and the county where the new deed must be filed. A legal description mismatch between the existing deed and the new deed can invalidate the transfer.
Your attorney prepares the new deed naming your trust as the new owner. You sign as the grantor in front of a notary and one other witness. Georgia requires a deed to be attested by an officer, such as a notary, and one other witness before it can be recorded.
The PT-61 Transfer Tax Declaration is filed with the county at the same time as the deed. This transfer carries a Georgia transfer tax of $0. Recording confirms the new title in the public record. How long the county takes to return the recorded deed varies by county.
Update your landlord insurance policy to name the trust as an additional insured. Tell your lender before you record. Most loans have a due-on-sale clause. Federal law (the Garn-St. Germain Act) stops a lender from calling the loan when a home with fewer than five units goes into a trust, the borrower stays a beneficiary, and the transfer does not change who has the right to live there. A rental you do not live in may not meet those conditions, so get your lender’s answer in writing first.
To see what a complete estate plan for a real estate investor costs and what is included, visit How Much Does Estate Planning Cost for a Real Estate Investor in Georgia. To start the deed transfer process, visit Deed Transfer Into Your Trust.
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Georgia Estate Planning Attorney
Melissa Breyer is a Georgia estate planning attorney who works exclusively on trust-based estate planning and LLC formation. She personally designs and drafts every plan at The Hive Law after the initial call. Every plan is built from scratch for your specific family, your specific assets, and your specific wishes.
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The Hive Law charges $550 per property for a deed transfer into your trust. The county recording fee is included in that price. If the property is inside an LLC, the operating agreement review costs an additional $1,250 per LLC. Out-of-state property coordination costs $1,100 per state.
Transferring property into a trust does not trigger transfer tax in Georgia. Under O.C.G.A. § 48-6-2(a)(9), transfers from a grantor into a revocable living trust are exempt from Georgia’s real estate transfer tax. The PT-61 form is still required. It just shows $0 tax due. The county recording fee still applies, and it is included in the deed price at The Hive Law.
No deed transfer is needed if the property is titled in the LLC’s name. The LLC already owns the property, not you personally. To connect that LLC to your trust, the operating agreement must be reviewed and amended to authorize trust ownership and include succession provisions. That review costs $1,250 per LLC at The Hive Law.
How long a deed transfer takes depends mostly on the county. The Clerk of Superior Court records the deed and returns it, and that turnaround varies from county to county.
Your lender should know about the deed transfer before it is recorded. Most mortgage loans include a due-on-sale clause. Federal law (the Garn-St. Germain Act) stops a lender from calling the loan when a home with fewer than five units goes into a trust, the borrower stays a beneficiary, and the transfer does not change who has the right to live there. A rental you do not live in may not meet those conditions, so get your lender’s answer in writing first.
A mortgage does not prevent a deed transfer into a revocable trust in Georgia. Federal law (the Garn-St. Germain Act) stops a lender from calling the loan when a home with fewer than five units goes into a trust, the borrower stays a beneficiary, and the transfer does not change who has the right to live there. A rental you do not live in may not meet those conditions, so ask your lender first. Your existing mortgage stays in place after the transfer. The trust does not assume the debt, and your personal obligation on the loan does not change. Notify your lender and update your landlord insurance to name the trust as an additional insured.
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