A trust only protects what is inside it. For Georgia rental properties to be covered by a revocable living trust, a new deed must be recorded transferring ownership from your name to the trust. Signing the trust document is not enough. The deed transfer is the step that makes it work.
Our firm has seen this gap more than any other. The investor signed the trust. The trust sat in a drawer. The properties were never transferred. When the investor died, five rental properties went through probate — all of which were supposed to be covered by the trust they had signed years earlier.
What “Transferring” Actually Means
A deed is the legal document that shows who owns a piece of real property. To transfer a Georgia property into a trust, a new deed must be drafted, signed, and recorded. Drafted means the deed names the trust as the new owner and includes the property’s full legal description. Signed and notarized means the current owner — you — executes it in front of a notary. Recorded means the deed is filed with the clerk of superior court in the county where the property is located.
Until it is recorded at the county level, the transfer is not legally effective. A deed sitting in a folder is not a transfer. Only the recorded deed changes ownership.
Which Type of Deed
In Georgia, transferring property into a trust is typically done with a quitclaim deed. A quitclaim deed transfers whatever ownership interest you currently hold in the property to a new owner, without making any guarantees about the title. For a property you own outright, this transfers full ownership.
The deed must include the trust’s full legal name — which includes the trustee’s name and the trust date, not just the trust’s shorthand name. It must include a complete legal description of the property, taken from the existing deed on file at the county. And it must correctly identify the grantor — you — and the grantee — the trust.
The Mortgage Question
Many Georgia rental properties carry mortgages. Transferring a property into a revocable living trust does not trigger the due-on-sale clause. Federal law — the Garn-St. Germain Depository Institutions Act — specifically exempts transfers into revocable living trusts where the borrower remains a beneficiary of the trust. The lender cannot demand full payment because you transferred the property into your own trust.
After recording the deed, notify the lender and your title insurance company. The loan does not change. The lender should be aware of the ownership change. The title insurance company needs to update their records to reflect the trust as the insured party.
Property Insurance
After the deed transfer, notify your property insurer. The insured party on the policy should reflect the trust as the owner. If the property is damaged or a liability claim arises and the trust is not named as the insured, the claim may be complicated or disputed. This is a straightforward update — contact your insurer, provide the deed, and confirm the policy reflects the trust.
Each Property Requires a Separate Deed
An investor with five rental properties needs five separate deeds. A single document cannot transfer multiple properties. Each deed is prepared, notarized, and recorded individually in the county where each property is located. A property in Fulton County and a property in Gwinnett County require separate filings at separate clerk offices.
Properties Inside LLCs
If rental properties are already inside LLCs, the deed transfer step does not apply to the properties themselves. The LLC owns the property — the deed already reflects that. The step needed is assigning the LLC membership interest to the trust, not transferring the deed. The deed stays with the LLC as owner. What changes is who owns the LLC.
For properties held directly in your name outside an LLC, the deed transfer into the trust is the required step. For properties inside LLCs, the membership interest assignment is the required step. Many investors have a mix of both.
What Our Firm Has Seen
Our firm has reviewed trust packages where the client signed the trust, filed it in a drawer, and never recorded the deed transfers. Three years later, five rental properties were still in the client’s personal name. All five went through probate. The trust existed. It just did not hold anything. The attorney fees and timeline of five separate probate proceedings far exceeded what the deed transfers would have cost.
What It Looks Like When It Is Done
Your six rental properties are titled to your trust at six county clerk offices across Georgia. Your trust document sits alongside six recorded deeds confirming the transfer. Your successor trustee has authority over all six properties from day one after your death. No court. No delay. No frozen properties. No tenant calling about a repair that nobody can authorize.
The work was done once, correctly, during your lifetime. Your family does not have to do it after you are gone — under pressure, during grief, through a court system.
For Real Estate Investor estate planning, deed transfers are the funding step that makes the trust plan real. Learn more about revocable living trusts and how they work. Schedule a Family Protection Audit to confirm which properties are inside your trust and which still need to be transferred.