Funding a Revocable Trust
There are many reasons people create revocable trusts. These legal documents are not subject to probate when you pass away, allowing beneficiaries to receive the property you left for them more quickly. However, revocable trusts must be funded with property or they will be ineffective and will not serve their purpose. Funding a trust can be tedious, but it is critical to ensure your loved ones are protected. Below, our Tampa revocable living trust lawyer explains how to do it.
What Does it Mean to Fund a Trust?
Revocable trusts are separate legal entities from the people who create them. While you can still control the property within a trust, it is technically owned by the trust. First, though, you must fund the trust. To fund a trust, you must simply transfer property in your name to the name of the trust. Married couples can retitle assets they jointly own to a joint trust, or they can place the assets into their own trusts in equal or unequal portions.
Property Involved in Funding a Trust
There are many different types of property involved in funding a trust. The most common assets placed into trusts include:
- A business: Your Tampa revocable living trust lawyer can prepare an assignment to transfer your business into a trust. If you only own a portion of the business and it has restrictions on it, a lawyer can advise on obtaining permission to allow the business to be assigned to the trust.
- Real property: Real property, more commonly referred to as simply ‘real estate,’ can also be played into a trust and doing so is fairly straightforward. All that is usually necessary is a Still, the deed must be properly prepared and recorded in the same county of the real estate’s location.
- Personal belongings: You can also transfer personal belongings such as motor vehicles, boats and watercraft, household goods, china, pictures, jewelry, silverware, clothing, and more. This can provide an easy way to leave belongings with great sentimental value to beneficiaries.
- Life insurance: You can name the trust as the beneficiary of your life insurance policy. After you pass away, the insurance company will pay the proceeds of the policy to the successor trustee you have named in the trust. The successor trustee will then use the instructions in the trust to distribute the proceeds.
- Bank accounts: All financial institutions have certain rules for transferring bank accounts to a trust. While these are sometimes straightforward, that is not always the case. You may also consider creating a payable-on-death (POD) beneficiary on the bank account instead.
Our Revocable Living Trust Lawyer in Tampa Can Fund Your Trust
Funding a trust can seem simple but yours will not provide the protection you intended if it is not executed properly. At Messina Law Group, P.A., our Tampa revocable living trust lawyer can ensure your trust is funded and executed properly so you and your family are protected. Call us today at (813) 492-7798 or contact us online to schedule a consultation and to get the legal help you need.
Source:
leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0736/0736.html
