Do I need to retitle ALL of my bank accounts into the name of my trust?

As has been mentioned before, funding a trust is the hand to the glove of trust instrument preparation. Just because you have your revocable trust instrument drafted and executed doesn't guarantee your beneficiaries will not have to probate your estate. You have to actually change title of your assets into the name of the trust to complete the process. It's a critical step and a subject I emphasize and review the process of during each document signing with my clients.

But the question often arises, do I need to transfer ALL of my liquid accounts into the trust? No, so long as you are aware of the consequences. Take a bank account, for instance. You have a couple options. Do nothing and upon the death of the account owners the bank will require a court order appointing the rightful beneficiary to those funds. Depending on the balance of that account and/or the size of the probate estate, the could require a significant amount of expense and time to access those funds.

The next best option is to name a "Payable on Death" (aka POD) beneficiary. Now the account is not a probate asset because, by operation of contract, the funds will pass to the named beneficiary upon presentation to the bank of a death certificate and some signed forms. However, should the owner not die, but merely be incapacitated, the account will be frozen since the owner is unable to access the funds him or herself. Were the account owned by the trust and appropriate language was found in the trust instrument, then the successor trustee could access those funds to pay bills or other needs in the stead of the principal. In addition, should the named beneficiary be financially irresponsible or already subject to execution of a civil judgment, those funds could disappear quickly. Finally, should the undocumented intent of the POD designation be that the beneficiary is to distribute those funds among others, that beneficiary could be stuck with the gift tax bill along with the responsibility of dealing with unhappy potential heirs.

The best way to alleviate the above problems and many more is to retitle all accounts into the name of the trust. Now, of course there are certainly circumstances that call for doing something different, but such a decision should only be made after considering all the ramifications of doing so. In fact, I have advised just such a course of action for a client recently. If I am retained to advise and draft your estate plan, I will walk you through the proper course of action for all of your assets. Call my office to set an appointment.