“Funding” a living trust refers to the process of transferring the ownership of assets from yourself to your trust. When this occurs, the assets are no longer titled to you, individually, but to your trust in care of your trustee.
Funding a living trust can be quite complicated as different assets have different processes for transferring title.
Learn the proper steps for funding a living trust, the challenges you may encounter during this process, and how we can help you if a trust dispute arises.
How to Fund a Living Trust in Georgia
When funding a living trust, the first question you must ask yourself is what assets and property you want to transfer to the trust. Your trust can hold cash, real estate (houses), stocks and bonds, and items of monetary or even personal value, such as artworks.
You should also make sure you have chosen a successor trustee to administer the trust after you pass away or become incapacitated. This is a crucial step; you will want someone responsible who can make the best decisions for you and the other trust beneficiaries..
You should also be sure your trust designates which assets you want each beneficiary to receive after you pass away. Trust disputes often arise when one party believes that they are entitled to more than they have been bequeathed, so it may be beneficial for you to have open conversations with your beneficiaries about what they will be receiving ahead of time and why. .
Challenges You May Face in Funding a Living Trust
There are some common challenges you may encounter along the way when funding a living trust.
Just filing out all of the paperwork correctly can be a cumbersome process. Keeping track of each document and knowing what papers need to be signed and whether they must be notarized can be a challenge..
It is usually best to work with your attorney to ensure that all assets are transferred correctly.
Trust Disputes
Even if you do everything right, a dispute may still arise regarding title to assets or trustee-beneficiary conflict.. Some examples of trust disputes include breach of fiduciary duties, failure to provide accounting, self-dealing, set-aside of trust, and modifications of trust.
If You Ever Find Yourself in a Trust Dispute, We Can Help
If you have found yourself in a trust dispute, call our law office at 404-892-9797 or fill out our contact form here to set up a free consultation with our experienced litigation and mediation team.
Gaslowitz Frankel LLC is the Southeast’s premier fiduciary litigation law firm. Our legal team specializes in all aspects of fiduciary disputes with over 30 years of experience representing individuals, executors, trustees, and more in complex fiduciary disputes involving wills, estates, and trusts.
