There is nothing worse than checking something off of your list and knowing that you took care of it only to find out at the end of the day that it didn’t actually work like you expected. Many clients will establish Trusts as part of their estate planning for various reasons.

The purpose of this blog is not to talk about the purposes but the importance of making sure that the assets are funded into the Trust appropriately. Anyone who has ever worked with our law firm knows that we use a Radio Flyer red wagon in our workshops and in our meetings to show how to properly fund a Trust by taking the assets that you own and put them into the “wagon”, your Trust, to ensure that your Trust works properly.

We recently had a client who came to us after a family member had passed and the Trust was very specific as to what the individual wanted to have happen with their assets once they were gone. Unfortunately, no assets were actually owned by the Trust or, said another way, none of the boxes were put into the “wagon” like they were supposed to be.

Unfortunately, because of the oversight, none of the assets went in the direction or to the people that the client intended. In my opinion, this is another reason why the financial professionals and attorneys need to work together and to be at the table together to make sure that your plan works according to your wishes and to the documents. One simple step of not taking the time to put the assets into the “wagon” appropriately completely nullified the entire Trust and plan that the person had set forth in the documents.

If you already have a Trust, please take the time to verify that the assets are properly titled in the name of the Trust and owned by the Trust or that the beneficiary is pointing to the Trust if that is what the plan intended. The bottom line is to make sure that you close the loop to make sure that the plan is going to work the way that you intend and the way that you hope it will. Taking a few minutes now will save a lot of heartache later.

Make sure your Trust is properly funded and that the assets are in your wagon so your plan comes to fruition and you take care of your family.   

If you have a trust and want to learn more join us for one of our upcoming workshops.  You can find a day and time that work for you by clicking here.