Updating Living Trust After Death of Spouse

When we create Living Trusts for our clients, we always caution them that there’s a reason these are referred to as Living Trusts---these are living documents that need to be updated with important life events.

So what are life events?

A good way to think of this is anything that would affect the inheritance of those who are included in the Trust: Births, deaths, divorce, the acquisition of significant assets, including real property.

A good example of someone’s updating his Trust is Mike, from Pleasant Hill, who came in to update his Trust after his wife, Mary, died from a long battle with breast cancer. Mike and Mary originally created their Trust in 1997, when their daughter Lucy was 15 and their son Joey was 17. They had named Mike's older brother, Bob, as the Successor Trustee, and his wife's twin sister, Jennifer, as the Backup Successor Trustee. Lucy and Joey were equal beneficiaries when they reached 25.

Amending their old AB Trust

Mike and Mary had a complex AB Trust, fairly common at the time, that was to be divided into two Trusts when the first spouse died. But according to Article 7.3 of their Trust, at the death of the first spouse, the surviving spouse can amend or revoke any part of the entire Trust. As the lone Trustee, Mike had permission to amend his Trust.

Needs had changed; Mike now wanted adult children to serve as Trustees

When Mike and Mary had originally created their Trust, their kids were young, and they needed to include adult Trustees in the event something happened to them. But those kids were now grown and married, with lives of their own. Mike wanted to remove Bob and Jennifer as Trustees and make Lucy, a CPA in San Jose, the Trustee—she was most able to take care of him and manage his affairs if he became incapacitated. Joey, a graphic designer, would be Lucy’s backup.

Mike’s home was in the Trust, and he had inherited his mother's home from her Trust when she died. His mother's home was in Washington state, and while he had added Mary to the title, he had never moved this home into their Trust. He wanted to move his mother’s home into his and Mary's trust.

How California Document Preparers assisted Mike

• Amendment to Living Trust. Mike amended their Trust, converting it from an AB Trust.
• A change of Trustees. He amended the Trustees, making his CPA daughter Lucy the first Successor Trustee and Joey her backup. Lucy also became his Agent with Power of Attorney for financial matters and the Agent for his Advance Healthcare Directive.
• Affidavit of Death of Joint Tenants. We created an Affidavit of Death of Joint Tenants, informing Washoe County, Washington, that Mike’s wife had died and prepared a Deed to transfer his mother’s home into his and Mary's Trust.
• Pour Over Will. A standard part of our Trust package is a Pour Over Will, which Mike created. There is a lot to think about when preparing legal documents, and clients are often concerned that they will have forgotten to include some of their assets in their Living Trusts. The Pour Over Will acts as a safety net, stating that any remaining assets or property not previously transferred into the Trust “pours over” into the Trust so they may be distributed according to the terms of the Trust.
• Personal Organizer. We also included a personal organizer, a place for listing contact information of healthcare providers, insurance agents, financial advisers, veterinarians, etc. We also encourage our clients to include login information to their digital assets.

Mike's total fee was $949. This fee included amending and updating his Living Trust, the Will, Power of Attorney, Advance Healthcare Directive, Affidavit of Death and Deed Transfers. The fees for our Living Trusts and Deeds are fixed rates--no surprises.

We were delighted when the following week Mike’s daughter, Lucy, came in to create a Living Trust for herself and her husband, Jake.

Call California Document Preparers today at one of our three Bay Area offices today to schedule an appointment to update your Living Trust. We’re helpful, compassionate, affordable.