Why the Deed Recording Step Is Separate From Creating the Trust
A trust document is a set of instructions — it tells the successor trustee what to do with your assets after your death. But a trust document does not transfer ownership of anything. It does not reach out and pull your rental properties into the trust. That requires a recorded deed.
Georgia law requires that title to real property be transferred by deed. A trust document that lists specific properties, or states “I intend to fund this trust with my real estate portfolio,” has no legal effect on title. The properties remain titled in your name. When you die, they pass through Georgia probate — subject to the full court process, including the court petition for authority to sell under O.C.G.A. § 53-8-13 — regardless of what your trust document says.
An unfunded trust is the single most common estate planning failure for Georgia real estate investors. The trust was created and signed. The attorney sent the documents. The investor assumed the job was done. No deeds were ever recorded. Years later, their children are in probate court. For a comparison of the methods for passing rental properties to children and the tax consequences of each, see Best Way to Pass Rental Properties to Your Children in Georgia.
If you already have a trust and are not sure whether your rental properties are in it, pull the deed for each property from the county deed records. The GSCCCA deed search portal (search.gsccca.org) covers most Georgia counties. If the grantee on the current deed is your name individually — not the trust — the property is not funded into the trust.
What You Need Before You Start
Before preparing a deed, gather the following for each property:
- Your signed, notarized trust document
- The trust’s exact legal name as it appears in the document (e.g., “The John and Mary Smith Revocable Living Trust, dated January 15, 2025”)
- The current recorded deed for each rental property — you need the exact legal description, not the street address
- A Georgia-licensed attorney or title company to prepare the new warranty deed
- Access to the GSCCCA PT-61 eFiling portal before you go to the courthouse
The legal description must come from the current deed, not the tax assessor record. Tax records use a parcel ID; deeds use a metes-and-bounds or lot-and-block description. Copy it exactly. A mismatch between the description in the new deed and the one in the county records creates a title defect that surfaces when your children try to sell or refinance.
The 5-Step Process to Deed a Rental Property Into Your Trust
1
Pull the current deed
Retrieve the existing recorded deed from the county superior court clerk’s office or the GSCCCA deed search portal. You need the exact legal description of the property. Do not use the tax assessor record — it may have an abbreviated description that will not be sufficient for the new deed.
2
Prepare a new warranty deed naming the trust as grantee
The grantee line must read exactly: “[Your Name] and [Spouse Name], as Co-Trustees of the [Trust Name], dated [Date].” Per O.C.G.A. § 44-2-15, the deed must be signed by the current owner(s) in the presence of a notary public and at least one witness. A missing witness makes the deed defective and unrecordable.
3
File the PT-61 form electronically before going to the courthouse
The PT-61 Real Estate Transfer Tax Declaration must be filed via the GSCCCA eFiling portal before the deed can be recorded. Claim the exemption under O.C.G.A. § 48-6-2(a)(9) — transfers into your own revocable trust are exempt from the tax. No tax is owed, but the form must still be filed. The portal generates a barcode that the clerk scans at recording.
4
Record the deed at the county courthouse
Take the signed, notarized deed and the PT-61 barcode printout to the superior court clerk’s office in the county where the property is located. Recording fees vary — most Georgia counties charge approximately $10 for the first page and $2 per additional page. The clerk returns a stamped, recorded copy. Keep this with your trust documents.
5
Repeat for every rental property
There is no batch process. Each property requires its own deed — its own preparation, its own PT-61 filing, and its own recording. A portfolio of five rental properties requires five separate deeds, five PT-61 filings, and five recordings at the appropriate clerk’s office. The trust is not fully funded until every property has a recorded deed naming the trust as owner.
For context on why court approval is required when you die without this step complete, see Can You Sell a Rental Property During Probate in Georgia. The funded trust eliminates that entire process.
The PT-61 Form — Required Even When No Tax Is Owed
The PT-61 is Georgia’s Real Estate Transfer Tax Declaration form. Under Georgia law, it must be filed whenever real property ownership changes — regardless of whether any tax is owed. The form cannot be waived for trust transfers.
For transfers into your own revocable trust, O.C.G.A. § 48-6-2(a)(9) provides an exemption from the transfer tax. The standard Georgia rate is $1 per $1,000 of the property’s fair market value. On a $400,000 rental property, that would be $400 — but the exemption eliminates this entirely for revocable trust transfers.
What the exemption does not eliminate is the PT-61 filing itself. The GSCCCA FAQ states explicitly: exemption from the tax is not exemption from filing the form. You file the PT-61, claim the exemption, enter $0 for tax due, and receive a barcode. Without the barcode, the clerk will not record the deed.
File the PT-61 at apps.gsccca.org/pt61efiling before your recording appointment. You need the property address, county, grantor and grantee names, the transfer type, and the property’s fair market value. The system generates the barcode immediately after submission.
What Happens to Existing Tenants and Leases
Deeding your rental property into your revocable trust does not terminate existing leases. The trust steps into your role as landlord. The property changes hands on paper, but the tenants’ legal relationship continues under the same lease terms. You are not required to issue new leases, notify tenants of the transfer, or renegotiate rent solely because the titled owner changed from your name to the trust.
After your death, the successor trustee assumes the landlord role and can collect rent, enforce lease terms, and sell the property — all without a court order. Existing tenant leases survive the trust transfer.
One administrative step worth taking: notify your property manager that the trust now holds title. The management agreement may need to be updated to reflect the trust as the contracting party. This prevents confusion when the manager issues rent payments, 1099s, or insurance certificates. For a full breakdown of what happens on the tenant side when a landlord dies, see What Happens to Tenants When a Georgia Landlord Dies.
Out-of-State Rental Properties
If your portfolio includes properties in other states, each state has its own deed execution requirements, transfer tax rules, and recording procedures. A Georgia attorney can prepare your Georgia deeds — out-of-state properties require an attorney licensed in that state, or a title company familiar with local requirements.
Some states have transfer-on-death (TOD) deed statutes that allow property owners to name a beneficiary directly on the deed. Georgia does not have a TOD deed statute. If you own rental properties in states that do — Florida, Texas, Colorado, and others — confirm with a local attorney whether a TOD deed is available and whether it preserves the federal step-up in basis under IRC § 1014.
For Georgia investors with multi-state portfolios, a revocable trust remains the cleanest solution — it can hold real property in any state, and the successor trustee’s authority extends to all trust assets regardless of location. Each out-of-state property still requires its own deed prepared and recorded under local law, but the trust does not need to be created separately in each state.
For cost context on the full estate planning engagement — including deed preparation for each property — see How Much Does Estate Planning Cost for a Georgia Real Estate Investor. For a complete overview of what happens to your rental portfolio without a plan in place, see What Happens to Rental Properties When You Die in Georgia.
