Category - Funding Your Trust

Funding your trust is the process of transferring legal ownership (or beneficial interest) in a piece of property to the Trust. Without funding an asset to the Trust, generally the Trust will not have jurisdiction (or authority) over the asset.

Funding the Trust is one of the most overlooked part of the Estate Planning process.

There are three primary ways that a Trust is funded: (1) Changing legal ownership (or beneficial interest) in the asset to the Trust; (2) Using a Heggstad petition, when the Asset was listed on the Trust Schedule of Assets but not funded during the Grantor’s life; and (3) Using the Pour-Over Will features of your Last Will and Testament to pour-over the asset to the Trust. Both the Heggstad Petition and the Pour-Over Will process involve Court supervision and approval.