[...]... reasonable fee Make Your Own Living Trust is a workbook, not a treasure to cherish unmarked Its purpose, after all, is to help you understand and prepare your own living trust While reading this book, take notes, record information about your own situation, use the worksheets to the extent you find them helpful, and then decide how you want your trust to work Finally, draft your own living trust using... in your Declaration of Trust Then the beneficiary receives the trust property, and the trust ends   |  Make Your Own Living Trust A Mini-Glossary of Living Trust Terms • The person who sets up the living trust (that’s you, or you and your spouse) is called a grantor, trustor, or settlor These terms mean the same thing and are used interchangeably • All the property you own at death, whether in your. .. A successor trustee takes over after both spouses die There is no court or governmental supervision to ensure that your successor trustee complies with the terms of your living trust That means that a vital element of an effective living trust is naming someone you fully trust as your successor trustee If there is no person you trust sufficiently to name as successor trustee, a living trust probably... for your family and their finances You can do it yourself, in most cases, but you must do it right, which means educating yourself about your options so you can make well-informed decisions   |  Make Your Own Living Trust The trust forms in this book have been carefully prepared to be both clear and fully acceptable in the real world There is no standard living trust Anyone who asserts that trusts... Only after your death do the trust beneficiaries you’ve named in the Declaration of Trust have any rights to your trust property Creating a Living Trust When you create a living trust document with this book, you must identify: • Yourself, as the grantor—or for a couple, the grantors The grantor is the person who creates the trust • The trustee, who manages the trust property You are also the trustee,... Registering Your Trust Document 173 12 Making Copies 174 Storing the Trust Document 174 Registering the Trust 175 Living With Your 13 If You Move to Another Living Trust 177 State 178 Adding Property to Your Living Trust 178 Selling or Giving Away Trust Property 179 When to Amend Your Living. .. of Your Estate 56 Should You Do It Yourself? 56 How Nolo’s AB Trusts Work 57 Alternatives to Nolo’s AB Trusts .64 Choosing What in Your Living Trust 67 6 Listing the Property toProperty to Put 68 Be Put in Your Trust Property That Should Not Be Put in Your Living Trust 69 Property You Can Put in Your Living. .. in your living trust or owned in some other form, is your estate • The market value of your property at your death, less all debts and liabilities on that property, is your net or taxable estate The IRS allows your successor trustee to choose market value at your death or six months later • The property you transfer to the trust is called, collectively, the trust property, trust principal, or trust estate... Paperwork Setting up a living trust obviously requires some paperwork The first step is to use this book to create a trust document, which you must sign in 12  |  Make Your Own Living Trust front of a notary public So far, the amount of work required is no more than writing a will There is, however, one more essential step to make your living trust effective You must make sure that ownership of all the... show that the property is owned by the trustee of the trust For example, if you want to put your house into your living trust, you must prepare and sign a new deed, transferring ownership from you to your living trust After the trust is created, you must keep written records sufficient to identify what’s in and out of the trust, whenever you transfer property to or from the trust This isn’t burdensome . the trust ends. 6 | MAKE YOUR OWN LIVING TRUST A Mini-Glossary of Living Trust Terms • e person who sets up the living trust (that’s you, or you and your spouse) is called a grantor, trustor,. that your successor trustee complies with the terms of your living trust. That means that a vital element of an effective living trust is naming someone you fully trust as your successor trustee Property to Your Living Trust 178 Selling or Giving Away Trust Property 179 When to Amend Your Living Trust Document 179 Who Can Amend a Living Trust Document 182 How to Amend Your Trust Document