Now this is a detailed question, but I’ll talk about some general categories of assets that should always be put into a revocable living trust.
The first asset that should go into a revocable trust is your real estate. You likely own your own home, and your home should always go into a revocable trust. If you own other real estate, such as a vacation home or rental property, those assets should also go into your revocable trust.
If you have any financial accounts, such as a bank account, a checking account, or what I call a pure investment account where you invest in stocks, bonds, and mutual funds, those financial accounts should also go into your trust.
Generally, retirement accounts do not go into your revocable trust. But that is an area that is extraordinarily complex, and I would recommend that you schedule a time to meet with us to discuss whether your retirement accounts should go in your trust or not.
Now, a lot of people ask about their cars. Should cars go into a trust? We generally advise against cars going into your revocable trust. Now there are two reasons for this. The first reason is the legal reason. You don’t want your car to go into your trust and then potentially have the privacy protections that your trust provides violated if your vehicle is involved in an auto accident. If your vehicle is involved in an auto accident, the injured party could hire a lawyer. The lawyer could sue. They’ll find out that the vehicle is owned by a trust, and then they’ll want a list of every asset that’s owned by the trust. So you don’t want to do that. You don’t want the privacy of your trust to be breached. The second reason is the practical reason. You don’t want to be the person who takes your trust document into the DMV and holds up the line while other people are fuming at you because you’re taking all of the DMV clerk’s time.
If you’d like to schedule a time to talk about whether a revocable living trust is right for you, please click the link below and we’d be happy to schedule up a time to meet.
