Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Unless you are the trustee of the trust in which the property is held, there is nothing you can do to transfer any interest in it. You can disclaim an interest in a trust, which is not a recorded document, but only the trustee can transfer ownership interests, and only consistent with the trust documents. If you are the trustee, then you have a situation that requires a lot more information before anyone could properly advise you on how to transfer interests and what you are legally permitted to transfer to whom under what circumstances. You will need to consult with the attorney who prepared the trust for guidance. To address your base question, however, a deed never has to be recorded to be effective as between any persons who have knowledge of the deed, as long as it is signed, notarized, and delivered to the grantee. If it is not recorded, however, all kinds of problems eventually develop down the line and anyone who does not have notice of the deed is entitled to rely on record title in dealing with the property, meaning as to the wide world the deed would not legally exist.

If you are the trustee, and the trust is revocable by you, youu can arrange to sign a deed. Get an attorney to avoid documentary transfer tax, property tax reassesment or title problems. These are very expensive to fix.

If you are not the trustee and/or the trust is not revocable, you have much greater problems. You need to have counsel review the trust and title.