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There are many of us who are interested to get the title of their home transferred to a simple revocable trust. While this article will give you a general overview, you should always seek competent legal counsel before completing such a valuable transfer of the title of your home.
Before you get started, your trust should own something in order to be valid. You should have some kind of “funding” in your trust account. Your home is one of the main assets that should be owned by your trust in order to avoid any kind of probate formalities after your death.
If the deed clearly mentions that you are legally the individual owner of your home, then your loved one (beneficiaries) will have no legal authority to transfer the titles to themselves after your death. They cannot sign your name to a new deed, even if they have your financial power of attorney. There are certain state laws, for example, in California, the power of attorney is automatically terminated after death. Your beneficiaries will have to go to the court, open up a probate case, and ask the judge to transfer the title. This can be a very long and costly process.
To avoid this problem, the title to your home will be transferred to your trust during your lifetime. There is a trustee in every trust and his job is to manage the assets owned by the trust. If it is your trust, then your name will show up as the “trustee”
Title to all the property that is owned by a trust is actually owned by the trustee of the trust. The new deed in which the title has been transferred to the revocable trust has to be recorded in the Recorder’s office of the county where the house is located.
The trustee of the revocable trust will mention the name of the successor trustee who will step into the position after the original trustee becomes incapacitated or passes away. The successor trustee will then have full legal authority to do whatever the trust terms instruct him or her to do, including transferring title of the home to the trustee’s beneficiaries.
Consult a local attorney to determine the particular type of deed that should be used to transfer title to the trustee. He will complete all the necessary legal formalities and sees that the deed is properly recorded.
Transferring the title of your home into your trust is a relatively simple but important step. You should always seek the advice of a qualified attorney for legal assistance.
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