When it comes to the process of setting up a living trust, most people focus on the initial steps: establishing goals, creating documents, and signing documents. But there’s a critical final step that’s often overlooked — changing the name of your bank accounts to reflect your new trust.
For a living trust to work, it must be funded with assets. Otherwise, your assets may be vulnerable to probate, costs, and legal complications. One of the simplest ways to fund a trust is by transferring existing checking, savings, or investment accounts into it. However, you must also change the name of your accounts to ensure they are legally owned by the trust and not you personally.
This small change now saves big headaches later
Updating a bank account name — or bank account title — is one of the simplest but most important steps in establishing a trust. Without it, your funds in those accounts may not legally belong to the trust and could be subject to probate.
The good news is most banks don’t require the entire trust document. Instead, you may only need to provide basic information on a Certificate of Trust like:;
- the name and date of the trust;
- the current trustee;
- your account number;
- your mailing address and contact information; and
- the first and last pages of the trust document for verification.
This way, the details of your trust remain confidential and known only to you and your trustee.
San Diego Estate Planning
San Diego Estate Planning
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Once you’ve decided to start the transfer process, contact your bank to find out what is required. Financial institutions generally have their own transfer forms to complete and sign.
Your attorney can help
When you have confirmed the changes you want, your bank will initiate the change of ownership. Most banks can keep the same account number, changing only the ownership title.
Next, the new trustee will need to sign a new signature card for the re-titled account. If that’s you, then simply sign the signature card to designate yourself and ensure your automatic payments and deposits continue without interruption.
If you need help writing a letter to the bank, completing a form, or understanding what’s needed for changing the account names, then a living trust attorney or trust administration attorney in San Diego can guide you through the logistics — and make sure it’s done correctly.
With the right kind of support, estate planning can be straightforward, easy, and one step closer to giving you and your family real peace of mind.
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