Do you plan on creating a living trust in Los Angles or throughout Southern California this year? We have put together the top questions we receive about funding living trusts. A Lot of people are familiar nowadays with the benefits of a living trust; but having a LIVING TRUST is not enough. If you don’t transfer real estate properties, companies, accounts, etc. into your living trust, it will be like having an empty container. Here some of the FAQ we get asked regarding funding your living trust in southern California.
HOW TO FUND A BOAT INTO A LIVING TRUST
Q: How do I fund a boat when setting up a living trust? Should the Coast Guard get involved?
A: Treat your boat like you would treat your car. Whoever titles the boat, which I would think is the DMV (not the Coast Guard), can just transfer title of the boat to the trust. If the boat is financed (meaning there is a loan on it), make sure check with the lender to make sure the transfer to a trust won’t trigger an acceleration clause, where the entire loan amount becomes due.
HOW TO FUND VEHICLES WHEN SETTING UP A LIVING TRUST?
Q: How do I transfer vehicles owned in the trustee name – not the trust – at the death of the trustee?
A: The reason not to put cars in the living trust is that most of the time people change their cars between creating the trust and passing on. So the successor trustee spends time trying to track down non-existent property. Also, insurance companies don’t like to insure cars owned by a trust. If nothing else is done, there is a pretty simple Affidavit of Transfer without Probate form from the DMV. There is also a way to complete a transfer-on-death registration, so that a named beneficiary takes the car immediately upon the owner’s death. That’s just another DMV form, with a small filing fee.
HOW TO FUND STOCK CERTIFICATES INTO LIVING TRUSTS
Q: I’m helping my mom put her assets in her living trust. She owns an interest in the coop she lives in. It looks like a stock certificate, and I’d be tempted to just have it signed over to the trust in the back), but I might be wrong. What are your thoughts?
A: A stock assignment seems to be in order. Not that dissimilar from an Assignment of Business Interest. She should also endorse the back of the certificate over to the trust as well as checking with her HOA rules to see how transfers work and make sure that a transfer to trust doesn’t cause any problems. The Assignment should not have to be notarized, though it is always advisable.
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