As a crucial part of your overall estate plan, you should regularly review your living trust to make sure that it still aligns with your wishes and meets your needs. As your life situation and circumstances change, you might need to update your living trust. Thankfully, making updates to your trust is generally fairly straightforward. Keep reading below to learn exactly how to update your revocable living trust.
What Is a Revocable Living Trust?
As the name implies, a revocable living trust is a trust that can be revoked or modified at any time. On the other hand, irrevocable trusts generally cannot be modified or revoked. A revocable living trust allows you to maintain control over your assets during your lifetime and provide for a smooth and seamless transfer of those assets to your beneficiaries upon your death.
Steps Required to Update Your Revocable Living Trust
Updating a revocable living trust is typically not too difficult, especially if you get help from an experienced trust attorney in Oklahoma City. The process starts by determining what type of update is required. There are generally two main types of modifications:
- Amendment: Used when the change to your trust is minor, such as updating beneficiary information.
- Restatement: Used when major changes are needed. A restatement can be a total overhaul of the trust.
Once the type of modification is determined, the steps for updating your trust are fairly simple. You should:
Prepare the Documents
You (or your attorney) will draft the necessary documents to make the update. Amendments should clearly identify which part of the trust is being updated, and it should reflect all the updates that you wish to make. Restatements should include clear language that they are superseding and replacing all previous trust documents.
Distribute the Documents
It is important that you make all necessary parties aware of the changes to your trust. This includes parties such as your successor trustee and others who may be affected by the changes. You should also maintain a copy of the updates in a safe location along with your original trust documents.
Update Beneficiaries or Asset Ownership
A common mistake that some people make when updating their trust is forgetting to update beneficiary details or asset ownership. If ownership of assets needs to be transferred to the trust or updated, be sure you take the necessary steps to implement those changes. Forgetting this part can keep your trust from functioning the way that you intended.
Get Help Updating Your Revocable Living Trust in Oklahoma City
Trusts are complex documents, and they can have a substantial impact on your estate plan and beneficiaries. For most people, updating a trust is not something that you should tackle on your own. An experienced trust attorney can help you ensure that your trust is updated properly and according to the laws in Oklahoma. If you need help updating a revocable living trust, contact the team of estate planning lawyers at Helton Law Firm today and let us help you move forward with confidence.