Wills and Trusts Questions

1. How can I begin the process of setting up a revocable trust?

   There are some good self-help products—both books and software—on and off the Internet that can help you set up a living trust on your own. And the best of them will take you clearly through the steps you need to take to finalize the trust and make it legal in your state and your circumstance.
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2. How can I convince my mother and sister to step back without hurting their feelings?

   You're in wonderful position to have you sister's trust during this trying time in her life. She must feel very comfortable with you. At the same time, you're in the difficult position of being a family member she wants to be around more than others...
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3. What is the best way for my five brothers and me to contribute toward paying for my mother's care?

   First, I must commend you on the spirit of cooperation that your family seems to have embraced. Getting any five people to cooperate seems like a superhuman task, much less five brothers, much less for such a grandly altruistic cause. And I'd like to cooperate with a simple answer to the question you pose...
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4. Is it true that an irrevocable trust does not take effect for five years?

   Get some peace of mind for your friend during her final months by finding the original trust document. Concentrate on her concerns -- and how you can help relieve them. There is no blanket rule that irrevocable trusts do not become effective for five years, but there are many different kinds of trusts...
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5. Does our irrevocable trust become invalid if it contains the words "may be amended from time to time"?

   The prudent lawyerly answer here would be that it’s impossible to give a complete answer without being able to eyeball the entire trust document—and possibly other related estate planning documents, too.
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6. How can we guarantee that the secondary trustee follows our wishes after we are both gone?

   Whether the secondary trustee (often called the "successor trustee") can change the distribution of trust assets after the two original trustees are gone depends on the terms of the trust document. I assume that you are talking about a living trust...
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7. Do all trustees have to agree before the trust can be revoked?

   Whether both primary trustees can revoke a living trust, or it can be revoked by one of those trustees depends on the term of the trust document. Any properly drafted revocable trust contains provisions regarding revocation. You need to read your trust document to see what it provides regarding revocation...
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8. If you have an irrevocable trust, can you never sell your house if things change?

   If you put your house in an irrevocable trust, that means the trust owns the house. Period. "Irrevocable" means what it says—can not be changed. Whether the house can be sold by the trust depends on whether the trust document permits that or not. Even if the house can be sold, the proceeds must remamain in the trust...
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9. Do we really have any ownership of my father's home?

   To find out the real owner of the home, you’ll need to closely check the documents that may affect its title.
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10. What is a trust certificate and how can I get on a trust one that was made a year ago?

    I think that by "trust certificate" you mean a "certification of trust." [I don't know the term "trust certificate".] A certification of trust is basically a shorthand version of the full trust document. The certification omits the beneficiary and other personal provisions of the trust...
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11. Will anything have to be done about this trust when I die?

    I doubt if you will have to do anything about the trust to have trust payments handled after you die. But I can't be sure without knowing what the trust itself says. It is the trust document that defines how trust money is to be distributed. I gather that the trust provided that you and your brother received trust money after your mother died...
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12. How Can I Find a Will That Has Disappeared Now That the Person Who Made It Has Died?

    If you have access to the will maker's living space and property, the first sensible step is to look in the obvious places: desk drawers, file cabinets, closets. You'll generally be able to identify the will once you see it; most are stapled onto a distinctive colored cardboard backing and are clearly...
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13. Can the trustee of an irrevocable trust be changed?

    It depends. The first thing to find out is whether that irrevocable trust permits the changing and replacing the trustee, and on what grounds such a change can be made. If so, it may spell out an easy way to remove and replace the trustee. If not, you had best consult with an estate planning attorney...
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14. What are the advantages or disadvantages of adding my name to my father's home?

    First doublecheck the trust document. The prime reason most people set up living trusts is to pass valuable assets free from probate—and their houses are usually included as one of the most valuable assets they possess.
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15. Can I pay his IOUs out of his trust fund?

    I understand your reluctance to incur expenses which, by the way, can be an expense of the trust and therefore paid from the principal. However, I think it would be a small amount of money well spent for you to sit down with a lawyer and precisely determine what protocols you need to follow in accordance...
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16. Does Grandma's Family Trust go to my Dad's new wife in the event of his death, rather than me?

    Sorry to be wishy-washy, but the answer depends on the exact wording of the trust and possibly, any other estate planning documents that may be involved, such as wills or other trusts that might come into play.
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17. How much does a trust cost? And should there be an alternate trustee?

    I believe that you are asking how much a living trust costs. A living trust is one designed to avoid probate. You create a living trust while you are alive. It functions after your death to transfer the trust assets to the people or institutions you named to receive them, your beneficiaries.
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18. If trustees are changed, who notifies the removed ones?

    You ask who notifies removed trustees of trust. I take it that the trust is a living trust, and that your step-mom is now the trustee of that trust and that she has decided to remove some or all of the successor trustees.
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19. Can funds from a trust be distributed before my father dies?

    I can not answer your question because I do not know what "the family trust account left by your father" is, or what the terms of that trust document are. Whether the trustee can legally distributed money to trust beneficiaries from a trust created by a person who is still alive depends entirely on what the trust document provides...
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20. What exactly is an irrevocable trust and why would one need one?

    An "irrevocable trust" means what it says. Once the trust is established, it can not be revoked or changed. It is irrevocable, ie permanent. This is in contrast to a revocable trust, often called a revocable living trust, which can be revoked or changed at any time by the person who set it up, as long as that person remains mentally competent...
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