How to Put Your House in a Living Trust in Pennsylvania
A living trust with nothing in it does nothing. The step that makes it work is a recorded deed from you to yourself as trustee, and in Pennsylvania that deed is excluded from realty transfer tax if it is drafted and filed correctly. Here is the whole process, with the section numbers.
The rules, in one table
Each row was checked against the primary source on the review date above. The transfer-tax rows come from the Department of Revenue's regulations in Title 61 of the Pennsylvania Code; the trust rows from the Uniform Trust Act in Title 20.
| Question | Pennsylvania answer | Source |
|---|---|---|
| What creates a trust | A settlor with capacity signs a writing that shows intent and contains the trust terms; a definite beneficiary; a trustee with duties | 20 Pa.C.S. § 7732(a) |
| Can I change or undo it | Yes, unless the trust says it is irrevocable | 20 Pa.C.S. § 7752(a) |
| How to amend or revoke | By the method in the trust, or by a later signed writing (not a will) that refers to the trust | 20 Pa.C.S. § 7752(c) |
| Deed from settlor to own living trust | Excluded from realty transfer tax when for no or nominal consideration | 61 Pa. Code § 91.156(c)(1); § 91.193(b)(32) |
| Deed to the trust from someone else | Fully taxable unless a direct transfer to the settlor would also be excluded | 61 Pa. Code § 91.156(c)(2) |
| Proof the Recorder needs | A copy of the trust agreement, or no exemption is granted | 61 Pa. Code § 91.156(g) |
| Statement of Value | Filed in duplicate with any deed claiming an exclusion | 61 Pa. Code § 91.112 |
| State transfer tax rate if not excluded | 1% state, plus a local tax collected by the Recorder; grantor and grantee jointly liable | PA Department of Revenue, Realty Transfer Tax |
| Lender's due-on-sale clause | Cannot be enforced for a transfer into a living trust where you remain a beneficiary and keep occupancy (residential, under five units) | 12 U.S.C. § 1701j-3(d)(8) |
| Inheritance tax on trust assets | Same rates as a will: 0% spouse · 4.5% lineal · 12% siblings · 15% others | PA Department of Revenue, Inheritance Tax; trust inclusion pending counsel confirmation |
| House owned jointly by spouses | Exempt from inheritance tax whether or not in a trust | PA Department of Revenue, REV-584 |
| Property tax and homestead relief after the deed | Notify the county assessor; treatment varies by county | Pending counsel confirmation |
What does "putting the house in a trust" actually mean?
It means changing the name on the deed. Today the county records show the house owned by you. After the transfer, the records show it owned by you as trustee of your trust. You still live there, pay the taxes, and decide everything. The label on the title changed; the control did not.
Under 20 Pa.C.S. § 7732, the trust itself is created when you sign a writing that shows you intend a trust and sets out its terms. That signature creates an empty container. Property enters it only by a separate act, and for real estate that act is a recorded deed.
Because the trust is revocable under 20 Pa.C.S. § 7752, you can amend it or undo it at any time, and you can deed the house back out. That flexibility is why the transfer is treated as a change of form rather than a sale, which is the whole basis for the tax exclusion below.
The trust agreement is signed and kept. The deed is signed, acknowledged before a notary, and recorded with the Recorder of Deeds in the county where the house sits. Only the deed is recorded. Skipping it is the most common way a Pennsylvania trust plan fails.
Do I pay realty transfer tax on the deed?
Not if you do it right. Pennsylvania charges a 1% state realty transfer tax plus a local tax on most deeds, and grantor and grantee are jointly liable. But the Department of Revenue's regulations exclude a transfer for no or nominal consideration from the settlor to the trustee of the settlor's living trust, at 61 Pa. Code § 91.156(c)(1).
The exclusion has conditions. The deed must be from you, the settlor. A deed to your trust from anyone else is fully taxable under § 91.156(c)(2), unless a direct gift from that person to you would itself be excluded. And the Recorder must be given a copy of the trust agreement, or under § 91.156(g) no exemption is granted at all.
The deed must also recite no or nominal consideration. A deed that recites a sale price, even a token one dressed up as a purchase, invites the Recorder to tax it. And under 61 Pa. Code § 91.112, a Statement of Value must be filed in duplicate with any deed that claims an exclusion. That form is REV-183.
The exclusion is conditioned on the deed saying, in effect, "no consideration, settlor to own living trust." A deed drafted from a sale template that recites valuable consideration defeats the exclusion on its face. The Airlooms prepared deed into trust is drafted with the exclusion statement the Recorder expects.
What are the steps, in order?
- Sign the trust first. A deed to a trust that does not exist yet conveys to nobody. Sign and date the trust agreement, then prepare the deed.
- Prepare a deed from you to yourself as trustee. Use the exact trust name and date from the trust agreement, the full legal description from your current deed, and a no-consideration recital.
- Sign the deed before a notary. Pennsylvania deeds are acknowledged, not witnessed. Every current owner on the deed must sign.
- Complete the Statement of Value (REV-183) in duplicate, marking the living trust exclusion, and attach a copy of the trust agreement or the pages the Recorder asks for.
- Record at the county Recorder of Deeds. Recording fees vary by county. Some counties accept e-recording; others want the original with a cover sheet.
- Tell three people: your insurer (the named insured or an additional insured changes), your mortgage servicer, and the county assessor if you receive a homestead exclusion.
- Add the house to the trust's schedule of assets so your successor trustee can find it.
Preparation and recording are separate jobs. Airlooms prepares the deed as its own purchase; a recording service that files it with the county is piloting in Pennsylvania as a separate service, priced per property plus county fees. The deed into trust page explains where one ends and the other begins.
What about the mortgage?
Most mortgages contain a due-on-sale clause that lets the lender demand full payment if the property is transferred. Federal law limits it. Under 12 U.S.C. § 1701j-3(d)(8), for a residential loan on a property with fewer than five units, a lender may not enforce the clause because of a transfer into a living trust in which you remain a beneficiary and which does not transfer the right to occupy.
That protection is automatic, but servicers do not always know it. Send a short written notice after recording, keep the confirmation, and continue paying exactly as before. The trust funding suite includes a mortgage servicer notice for this purpose.
Refinancing is the exception. Some lenders will not close a new loan with a trust on title and ask you to deed the house back to yourself first. That means a second no-consideration deed, a second Statement of Value, and a second recording fee, followed by a third deed back into the trust when the loan closes.
What changes after the house is in the trust?
Less than people expect. You keep living there. You sign contracts as trustee. Property tax bills arrive in the trustee's name. Your homeowner's policy should list the trust or the trustee as an insured, which is a phone call, not a new policy.
Selling works the same way; the buyer's title company will ask for a certificate of trust showing you have the power to sell. When you die, your successor trustee signs the deed to whoever the trust names, with no Register of Wills filing for the house.
If you and a spouse own the house together, talk to an adviser before deeding it out of a tenancy by the entireties. That form of ownership carries creditor protection between spouses in Pennsylvania that a trust may not replicate, and whether it matters depends on your situation.
What does the trust not do?
It does not reduce Pennsylvania inheritance tax. The house passes to your children at 4.5%, to siblings at 12%, to others at 15%, whether it comes out of a trust or an estate. A house owned jointly by spouses is exempt either way. Our inheritance tax guide has the details.
It does not protect the house from your creditors, because you can revoke it. It does not change your income tax or your capital gains treatment on a later sale of your home. It does not help with Medicaid planning; that needs an irrevocable structure with real trade-offs.
And it does not replace a will. You still need a pour-over will to catch anything never retitled, and it is the only place to nominate a guardian for minor children. The will vs. living trust guide is the honest comparison.
What if I never record the deed?
Then the house was never in the trust. It stays in your name, passes under your will if you have one, and goes through probate at the Register of Wills as if the trust did not exist. The successor trustee has nothing to distribute.
A pour-over will catches the house and directs it into the trust, but only after probate, which is the step the trust was meant to skip. Trusts fail at funding far more often than at drafting. Record the deed, then check the county's online index a few weeks later to confirm it shows the trustee as owner.
Common questions
Do I pay Pennsylvania realty transfer tax when I deed my house to my living trust?
Not for a no-consideration deed from you to your own living trust, under 61 Pa. Code § 91.156(c)(1). File the Statement of Value and give the Recorder a copy of the trust.
Does signing the trust move my house into it?
No. Only a recorded deed does. Until then the house is still in your own name.
Will my lender call the loan?
Federal law bars enforcing a due-on-sale clause for a transfer into a living trust where you remain a beneficiary and keep occupancy, for residential property under five units. Notify the servicer anyway.
Does the trust avoid inheritance tax on the house?
No. Same rates as a will.
Can I still sell or refinance?
Yes, as trustee. Some lenders require the house to come out of the trust for a refinance and go back in afterwards.
Do I need a trust at all?
Not for the house alone. Read do I need a will after buying a house first; for many Pennsylvania homeowners a will plus correct beneficiary forms does the job.
Trust, pour-over will, and the deed that funds it
The Trust & Property package includes the revocable living trust, its pour-over will, and the funding paperwork; the prepared deed is the document that moves the house. Compare packages on the plans page.