Personal Property In A Trust In Texas
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FAQ
One disadvantage of placing your house in a trust is the loss of direct ownership. Transferring your property to a revocable living trust makes the trust the legal owner. While you retain control as the trustee, this change in ownership may affect your ability to mortgage or refinance the property.
Putting assets, such as real estate, financial accounts, investments, insurance policies, and personal properties, in a living trust involves certain steps depending on the type of asset. These assets can be moved into the trust through legal documents such as deeds, title transfers, or assignments.
To transfer real property into your Trust, a new deed reflecting the name of the Trust must be executed, notarized and recorded with the County Recorder in the County where the property is located. Care must be taken that the exact legal description in the existing deed appears on the new deed.
The transfer document should list assets you're transferring to the Trust. It's good to be specific, but you can use broad categories (like “furniture,” “clothing,” “jewelry,” etc.) without listing every item in each of those categories.
Transferring real estate to a living trust in Texas involves signing a deed that transfers the interest in the property to the trust and then recording this deed with the county to formalize the transfer. A wide range of financial accounts, including bank accounts, can also be transferred to a living trust.
A trust cannot own, manage, or sell real estate or other property. However, the trustee administering the trust may hold legal title to the property on behalf of the individual or individuals that the trust benefits.
When you buy a home, you may have the option of buying it in a trust. Legally, that means the trust, rather than you, owns the home. However, you can be the trustee of the property and have significant control over it and what happens to it after you die.
A living trust does not protect your assets from a lawsuit. Living trusts are revocable, meaning you remain in control of the assets and you are the legal owner until your death. Because you legally still own these assets, someone who wins a verdict against you can likely gain access to these assets.
To find out who owns the assets in a revocable trust, look to whoever is the trustee. If the trustee is also the grantor, then the grantor still owns and controls the assets. If the grantor assigned another person or entity as the trustee, the trust owns the assets, which are managed by the trustee.
