What do I do if I can't find my Original Revocable Living Trust Agreement but I still have the Copy?
Posted on Feb 26, 2018 8:01pm PST
That is a great question! Many people face this issue and don’t know
what to do. It is extremely important to contact a knowledgeable Estate
Planning Attorney if you happen to experience this dilemma. A good Estate
Planning Attorney will make sure to assess your specific situation to
determine whether the best plan of action would be to restate your Revocable
Living Trust (as a Restatement); and/or whether you would absolutely need
to create a new Revocable Living Trust.
It is always advised, to the extent possible, that an individual not create
a new Revocable Living Trust if a prior Trust already exists. This is
because there are certain assets that are funded into the Revocable Living
Trust (shortly after execution) and creating a new Revocable Trust would
require title to those assets to be transferred to the new Trust (i.e.
via assignment and/or transfer deed). Individuals who forget or don’t
realize this “second funding” event needs to happen may risk
having their assets enter probate or be distributed to unintended beneficiaries.
An alternative to creating a new Revocable Living Trust, where a copy of
the old Trust exists, is to Restate the terms of the Revocable Living
Trust. Restating a Revocable Living Trust requires an individual to execute
a new Trust document, under the same formalities as the original Trust
document, and the terms of said Restated Trust Document will state that
the new terms supersede and/or replace any prior terms. In other words,
all of the Trust terms are replaced, however, the Titling (or name and
date) of the Trust stays the same (as to not trigger a second funding
event). In this case, an individual would typically need to know the name
of the Trust and which Article of the Trust allows for Amendments/Restatements.
Contact The Presser Law Firm, P.A. to obtain a complimentary consultation
on Asset Protection, Estate Planning and/or Business Law. Our attorneys
are knowledgeable in Estate Planning, Asset Protection and Business Law.
Call us today – (561) 953 1050 or e-mail
info@assetprotectionattorneys.com.
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