Living Trust Merge For Free

The trustee may combine trusts if the terms of the trusts and state law allow it. By doing so, your family takes advantage of economies in trust administration.

All assets are simply owned by the Joint Trust. Since only one trust is ever created, no transfers need to be made after the death of the first spouse to die. This simplification in the administration process minimizes advisors' fees and other costs and is a key advantage of using a Joint Trust.

The result is that everything goes to the surviving person when one of them passes away. The two people will also generally agree on where everything goes when the second person passes away or if they die at the same time.

Generally, the statutes allow a merger with another trust so long as there is no material change in the beneficial interests of the trust beneficiaries. Many trust instruments include express merger provisions and this is also generally true of such provisions.

Yes, once the trust grantor becomes incapacitated or dies, his revocable trust is now irrevocable, meaning that generally the terms of the trust cannot be changed or revoked going forward. This is also true of trusts established by the grantor with the intention that they be irrevocable from the start.

The surviving spouse is the sole Settlor/Trustee/Beneficiary if one dies. In short, nothing changes. The surviving spouse manages the Trust and its assets as they see fit. For example, if the surviving spouse desires to, they can amend the Trust, add or remove assets, change future beneficiaries, etc.

The surviving spouse is the sole Settlor/Trustee/Beneficiary if one dies. In short, nothing changes. The surviving spouse manages the Trust and its assets as they see fit. For example, if the surviving spouse desires to, they can amend the Trust, add or remove assets, change future beneficiaries, etc.