Congratulations on Funding Your Trust!
You've completed one of the most important steps in making your estate plan effective. This page includes helpful resources for maintaining your estate plan, answers to frequently asked questions, and guidance for keeping your plan up to date as life changes.
What’s Next?
Future Updates and Family Conversations
Now that your estate plan is complete, it's important to keep it current as your life and circumstances change. This page provides guidance on maintaining your plan over time and resources to help you have meaningful conversations with the people you've chosen to carry out your wishes.
Like we said, we pride ourselves in creating long-standing relationships with clients. We recommend reviewing your estate plan every three to five years even if you think nothing has changed. We encourage clients to connect with us whenever there is a major life event.
Sometimes it’s difficult to share your plan with family members. We are happy to schedule one-hour family consults to introduce ourselves to family members and provide high level explanations of what you planned for in the case of your incapacity or death.
To-Do List
We’ve provided a helpful guide with step-by-step instructions to walk you through the funding process. Please use the link below to learn more about which assets may need to be retitled or otherwise connected to your trust.
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Frequently Asked Questions
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Funding your trust is an important step in ensuring that your estate plan works as intended. This process generally involves transferring ownership of certain assets into the name of your trust or updating beneficiary designations where appropriate.
We've created detailed funding instructions to guide you through the process, including information about common asset types and the steps required for each. Please refer to our Trust Funding Guide using the link below.
If you have questions about funding your trust or need assistance with a specific asset, please contact our office. We're happy to help you understand the process and determine the next steps.
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We recommend keeping your estate planning portfolio in a secure location in your home where it is protected but easily accessible when needed. Many clients choose to store their documents in a fireproof safe. It's also important to let your trustee or another trusted individual know where your portfolio is located.
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To retrieve PDF scans of your documents, log in to your Clio for Clients portal and navigate to the Documents tab. You will see three folders, Trust Documents, Funding and Health Care Documents. We separate these three sections so you can share specific portions of your estate planning portfolio with the appropriate individuals without needing to share your entire portfolio.
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Your estate plan is designed to account for many of life's common changes, so you may not need to update your documents for several years. Built-in contingencies often allow your plan to continue working as intended without requiring immediate revisions.
Some changes, such as adding or removing a trustee, can often be handled with a straightforward trust amendment. More significant changes—such as major changes to your family, financial situation, or estate planning goals—may be better addressed through a trust restatement, which is a comprehensive update to your trust while preserving the original trust's name and date.
If you're unsure whether your estate plan should be updated, please contact our office. We'll review your circumstances and help determine whether an amendment, a restatement, or no changes at all are appropriate.