What does it mean to put assets into my trust?

Once you set up your trust (which I sometimes refer to as a treasure box), you have to fill your treasure box with your assets. If you have an empty treasure box, then your trust isn’t doing what you set it up to do! In other words, if you set up a trust to avoid probate, then you have to USE the trust.

How on earth do you do that?

If you have a checking account or a savings account, you’ll need to contact your bank to tell them that you want to move your accounts into your trust. Usually that means taking your trust documents (take the whole binder!) to the bank, and talking to them. Typically, the bank will ask for either the Certificate of Trust or the whole trust, and they will scan it. They do some work on the back end, and voila! That’s it. Putting your account into a trust won’t change your account number (or how your checks look). The account is still yours and still uses your social security number.

If you have a house, then (unless otherwise agreed with your attorney) you need to make sure you retitle your house through a deed. The deed would be moving the house from “Joe Smith,” to “Joe Smith, Trustee of the Smith Living Trust, dated October 22, 2023.”

Different assets have different requirements to transfer into the trust. It’s really important that all of your assets either go into the trust or have a beneficiary on them. If you have any questions, please contact your attorney.