Funding an Illinois Revocable Living Trust

For a Revocable Living Trust to function property, it is not enough for the Grantor (the individual who made the trust) to simply sign the trust agreement. He must fund his assets in the name of the trust.

Funding refers to taking assets that are titled in the individual Grantor’s name or in joint names with others and retitling them into the name of the Grantor’s Revocable Living Trust, or taking assets that require a beneficiary designation and renaming the Grantor’s Revocable Living Trust as the primary beneficiary of those assets.

The goal of funding a Revocable Living Trust is to insure that the Grantor’s property is governed by the terms of the trust agreement. This allows the Disability Trustee to manage accounts held in the name of the Grantor’s trust in the event the Grantor becomes mentally incapacitated and allows the Death Trustee to easily manage and then transfer accounts held in the name of the Grantor’s trust to the ultimate beneficiaries named in the trust agreement after the Grantor’s death.

The Trustee of a Revocable Living Trust has no power over the Grantor’s property that has not been retitled in the name of the Grantor’s trust. If the Grantor becomes mentally incapacitated, the Grantor’s loved ones will need to establish a court supervised guardianship to manage the Grantor’s assets that are not held in the name of the Grantor’s trust.

This means the Grantor’s property which has not been retitled into the name of the Grantor’s Revocable Living Trust will have to be probated after the Grantor’s death. This defeats one of the main benefits of a Revocable Living Trust which is avoiding probate.

Contact your estate planning or elder law attorney for more information.