Oklahoma Trust

Q: Can a person have more than one trust? A: Yes, it is not that uncommon for a person to be the beneficiary of multiple trusts. However, caution should be used. Trusts come in many shapes and sizes and can serve multiple purposes and can be established by you or by someone else for your benefit.

Typically, when a married couple utilizes a Revocable Living Trust based estate plan, each spouse creates and funds his or her own separate Revocable Living Trust. This results in two trusts. However, in the right circumstances, a married couple may be better served by creating a single Joint Trust.

Married couples should consider whether they live in a community property or a separate property state before deciding what type of trust to create. For many married couples, a basic joint living trust will meet their needs. Each person can act as both a grantor and a trustee of the trust.

Separate trusts may offer better protection from creditors, if this is a concern. For example, at the death of the first spouse, the deceased spouse's trust becomes irrevocable, which makes it harder to access by creditors. And yet the surviving spouse can still access it for income and other needs.

Joint trusts are easier to fund and maintain.In a joint trust, after the death of the first spouse, the surviving spouse has complete control of the assets. When separate trusts are used, the deceased spouses' trust becomes irrevocable and the surviving spouse has limited control over assets.

Separate trusts provide more flexibility in the event of a death in the marriage. Since the trust property is already divided, separate trusts preserve the surviving spouse's ability to amend or revoke assets held within their own trust, while ensuring that the deceased spouse's trust cannot be amended after death.

Single and Joint Revocable Living Trusts Trusts can be both single and joint.Joint trusts are particularly useful in community property states, such as Arizona, California, Nevada, Idaho, New Mexico, Louisiana, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin.

In California, surviving spouses already receive all of the community property upon the death of their spouse.However, creating a joint will is still an option in California, and while it might help a couple save some time and money on their estate plan, it can also lead to some complex problems.