As trustee of your revocable trust, you have the right to take assets in and out of your revocable trust. Most likely, one of those assets may be your home. With current home values, refinancing may be something you are considering or have already done to obtain more favorable interest rates.
But remember, what you take out must go back in. One of the most common mistakes made by trustees is the removal of a home for refinancing and failing to re-deed it back into the trust. In other words, you must re-fund your trust.
If you fail to re-fund your trust, your trustees will be left to administer a trust without this asset. This asset is then subject to probate laws – exactly what you were trying to avoid when you created the trust! You have the option of a Heggstad petition, in which your beneficiaries must show in Probate Court that you had the intent of re-funding your trust. This is a costly and time-consuming process.
Funding your trust after refinancing is necessary to protect your assets. At Chauvel & Glatt, we will transfer your assets to your revocable trust and help you to make sure that your trust is property funded.
To learn how our attorneys can help you and keep your beneficiaries out of probate court, contact us today.
