Funding Your Revocable Trust
- Sep 1, 2017
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 7
Funding Your Revocable Trust:
The Most Important Step Many People Miss
Creating a Revocable Living Trust is only the first step.
If your revocable trust is never funded,
many of your assets may still have to go through probate.
Unfortunately, many people spend thousands of dollars creating a revocable trust and then never transfer their assets into it (i.e., "they never fund it"). As a result, their family may still be forced to open a probate estate—the very outcome the trust was intended to avoid.
Funding your trust simply means changing ownership of your assets so that they are owned by your trust or, when appropriate, naming your trust as the beneficiary.
1. Assets That Are Usually Retitled Into the Trust
Many assets are funded by changing the legal owner from your individual name to your trust.
Common examples include:
Real estate
Bank accounts
Brokerage accounts
Non-retirement investment accounts
Stocks and bonds held outside retirement plans
For example:
Current Owner: Bill Moore
New Owner: Bill Moore, as Trustee of the Bill Moore Revocable Living Trust dated August 1, 2025
Once transferred, you continue to control the property as trustee, but the trust—not you individually— becomes the legal owner.
2. Assets Assigned to the Trust
Some assets do not have a certificate of title but can still be transferred into your trust through an Assignment of Property.
Examples include:
Jewelry
Artwork
Furniture
Collectibles
Promissory notes
Royalties
Copyrights
Patents
Certain LLC interests
Partnership interests
Before transferring business interests, however, review any Operating Agreement, Partnership Agreement, or Buy-Sell Agreement to ensure the transfer is permitted.
3. Assets That Usually Require a Beneficiary Designation
Not every asset should be retitled into your trust. Certain assets transfer by beneficiary designation instead.
Examples include:
IRAs
401(k) plans
403(b) plans
Pension benefits
Health Savings Accounts (HSAs)
Life insurance policies
Changing ownership of a retirement account to a trust during your lifetime can create unintended income tax consequences and is generally not recommended.
Instead, you should carefully review the beneficiary designation.
Whether your spouse, children, or your trust should be named as beneficiary depends upon your estate planning goals and tax considerations.
There is no one-size-fits-all answer.
What About My House?
For many Florida residents, transferring a home into a Revocable Living Trust is an effective way to avoid probate while maintaining complete control over the property during life.
If the home is your Florida homestead, the deed should be prepared carefully to preserve valuable homestead protections.
What About My Car?
We generally do not recommend transferring the vehicle you use for everyday transportation into your trust.
Instead, Florida law provides other probate-avoidance options, including Transfer-on-Death (TOD) designations where available or other planning strategies depending on the circumstances.
What About My Checking Account?
Many clients prefer to keep their primary checking account in their individual name for convenience.
Depending upon the circumstances, adding a Payable-on-Death (POD) beneficiary or coordinating the account with the trust may accomplish the desired result without changing day-to-day banking.
Funding Is Just as Important as Creating the Trust
Signing a trust agreement is only half of the process.
An unfunded trust often provides little or no probate avoidance because assets that remain titled in your individual name may still require probate after your death.
One of the most valuable services an estate planning attorney provides is helping clients properly fund their trusts and periodically reviewing beneficiary designations to ensure they continue to accomplish the client's goals.
A trust is only effective if the right assets are properly coordinated with it.
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