You Have A Trust. Is Anything Actually In It?

In short

A living trust only controls what has been put into its name. If the deed to your house still reads the way it did before you signed, the house is not in the trust; if a bank account still lists only you, that account is not in it either. Pull the first page of the deed and check how each account is titled; anything that does not name the trust is a phone call to fix, not a crisis.

Key points

• Signing the trust does not move anything into it; retitling does.
• Check the deed: the owner line should name the trust, with you as trustee.
• Check account titling or beneficiary designations for bank, brokerage and retirement accounts.
• An unfunded asset usually ends up in probate, which is the result the trust was meant to avoid.

Full written answer: How to fund your trust, step by step