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Funding Your Trust – National Estate Planning Awareness Week

A common estate planning mistake many people make – including celebrities with huge estates, like Michael Jackson or Prince – is not ensuring the trust they have created actually holds all their assets.  Unfortunately, after creating trust paperwork for their clients, most lawyers simply do not follow-up to make sure this critical step is properly handled.

If you’ve worked with any law office other than ours, you need to double check that your trust has been funded, and has been funded properly.  If you do not transfer your assets into your trust, it is, essentially, an empty shell and does nothing to accomplish the objectives you had in mind when you established it- unless it is funded.

Here are the proper procedures for funding your trust:

Real estate – a new deed in the name of the trust must be drawn and recorded at the county clerk’s office.

Stocks, bonds, mutual funds – to transfer the ownership of these assets into your trust, you need to contact your broker, investment counselor or transfer agent for the proper paperwork and complete those documents as instructed.

Savings bonds – you will need to obtain a reissue form from the Federal Reserve Bank and re-title the bonds in the name of the trust.

Brokerage accounts – contact your broker for the proper forms that will enable the broker to close the existing accounts and transfer the assets into a new trust account.

Stock certificates – you will need to send a completed “stock power” form as well as a W-9 form with your tax ID number with the original stock certificates to the company’s transfer agent.

Bank accounts, CDs – new accounts will need to be established in the name of the trust.  If your bank cannot transfer CDs until the maturity date, then mark them “in trust for” a beneficiary until the CDs mature and you can transfer them to the trust.

As your partner in planning for the financial security of yourself and your family, we would never let your trust go unfunded.  Our concern for you doesn’t stop with the signing of any legal documents — we will always follow up with you to ensure everything has been done properly so you are fully protected. And, if the idea of doing all of the above makes your eyes roll back into your head for a moment, speak to us about our Wealth Plan, and gain peace of mind as our Funding Coordinator (with a little information from you,) does all of this funding work for you.

We can further advise you on all your options and make things as easy as possible for your family during a Family Wealth Planning Session.  If you would like to move ahead with estate planning for your family, call our office today to schedule a time for us to sit down and talk.

Be sure to like, share or comment on this video on our Facebook page to be entered into our National Estate Planning Awareness Week contest, to win an Estate Planning Package for your family. There will be new information, and a new chance to win, each day.

From our family to yours,

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THE PARENTS ESTATE PLANNING LAW FIRM, PC

At The Parents Estate Planning Law Firm, we answer your questions at your convenience; we stay in frequent communication; and we meet to discuss changes in life circumstances and in the law to ensure that your assets are protected.

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