General trust information, not a legal or tax opinion. The trust instrument and applicable law control.
The process of transferring ownership, beneficiary rights, or other interests so an asset is legally connected to a trust.
Read the governing terms
- An unfunded trust may not control the assets the grantor expected it to manage or transfer.
- Signing a trust document is different from changing a deed, retitling an account, assigning property, or updating a beneficiary form.
- A trust separates the governing instrument from the assets it actually owns or receives; both pieces must be reviewed.
- Trustee authority comes from the trust terms and applicable law, not from the title 'trustee' alone.
Confirm funding and authority
- the complete trust, amendments, schedules, and certifications
- deeds, assignments, account titles, and beneficiary confirmations showing funding
Administration and exit questions
- Which assets are legally connected to the trust?
- What event activates a successor trustee's authority?
Risks to pause on
- Signing a trust without completing asset-specific funding steps can leave the intended property outside the plan.