What Does it Mean to Fund a Trust?
In order for a Revocable Living Trust to function properly, it’s not enough for the Trustmaker to simply the sign trust agreement. After the agreement has been signed, the Trustmaker must “fund” his or her assets into the trust. What Does “Funding a Trust” Mean? What does it mean to “fund” a trust? This refers to taking assets that are titled in the individual Trustmaker’s name or in joint names with others and retitling them into the name of the Trustmaker’s Revocable Living Trust, or taking assets that require a beneficiary designation and naming the Trustmaker’s Revocable Living Trust as the primary or secondary beneficiary of those assets. The ultimate goal of funding a Revocable Living Trust is to insure that the Trustmaker’s property is governed by the terms of the trust agreement. This, in turn, will allow the Disability Trustee to manage accounts held in the name of the Trustmaker’s trust in the event the Trustmaker becomes mentally incapacitated and the Death Trustee to easily
