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How do you fund your trust?

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Photo of Professionals at Silverman, Tokarsky & Forman, L.L.C

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How do you fund your trust?

On Behalf of | Jan 7, 2020 | estate planning |

Funding your trust is the most critical part of any estate plan that you make. Having all your affairs in order when you have created a trust and put all the support documents in place is not the end of the story. Your trust or your plan must be funded. Funding your trust in Pennsylvania is a process of transferring title of assets that you own personally, or that you own with your spouse, into your trust. An unfunded trust is the equivalent of a treasure chest without any gold in it. 

A good estate planning attorney, if you have gone to them to get your trust done, will instruct you how to get your assets into your trust, and will maybe do it for you. According to the Balance, your estate planning attorney can prepare all the deeds and any paperwork for other assets to move stocks, bonds, and investment portfolios into your trust. If you fail to complete this critical piece in putting your estate plan together, it could send your estate all the way back to probate or worse. It can undo everything that you so carefully planned and cause a lot of stress to your survivors. 

There are some assets that do not go into your trust. Retirement accounts, any 401K, and IRA annuity type account all have beneficiary designations. Also,you may name your trust as a beneficiary. You should, however, consult a knowledgeable estate planning attorney before you do that. Life insurance, custodial accounts and vehicles normally do not go into the trust. These are assets that are pretty easily transferred at death.