• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Our Firm
    • About Our Firm
    • Attorney and Staff Profiles
  • Services
    • Asset & Business Planning
    • Dental Practice Law
    • Estate and Gift Tax Figures
    • Estate Planning Services
    • Family-Owned Businesses & Farms
    • Financial Planning Assistance
    • Incapacity Planning
    • IRA & Retirement Planning
    • Legacy Planning
    • LGBTQ Estate Planning
    • Medicaid and Elder Law
    • SECURE Act
    • Special Needs Planning
    • Trust Administration
  • Elder Law
    • Coping With Alzheimer’s
    • Emergency Medicaid & Nursing Home Planning
    • Guardianship & Conservatorship
    • Hospice Care
    • Medicaid Planning
    • Veteran’s Benefits
  • Resources
    • DocuBank
    • Elder Law
      • Elder Law & Medicaid Definitions
      • Elder Law Reports
      • Elder Law Resources
        • Carmel, Indiana Elder Resources
        • Fishers Indiana Elder Law Resources
        • Greenfield, Indiana Elder Law Resources
        • Greenwood Elder Resources
        • Indianapolis Elder Law Resources
        • Lawrence Elder Law Resources
        • Plainfield Elder Resources
        • Zionsville Elder Law Resources
    • Estate Planning
      • Estate Planning Checkup
      • Estate and Gift Tax Figures
      • Estate Planning Definitions
      • Estate Planning Reports
        • Advanced Estate Planning
        • Basic Estate Planning
        • Estate Planning for Niches
        • Trust Administration
      • Incapacity Planning Definitions
      • Is Your Estate Plan Outdated?
      • Top 10 Estate and Legacy Planning Techniques
    • Free Estate Planning Worksheet
    • Frequently Asked Questions
      • Asset Protection Planning
        • Business Succession Planning
      • Elder Abuse
      • Elder Law
        • Medicaid
        • Medicaid Planning
        • Planning for Long-Term Care
      • Estate Planning
        • Avoiding Estate Taxes
        • Estate Planning for Parents
        • Frequently Asked Questions for Families Without an Estate Plan
        • LGBTQ Estate Planning
        • Women and the Need for Estate Planning
      • Financial Planning
      • Incapacity Planning
      • Legacy Wealth Planning
      • Pet Planning
      • Philanthropy in Your Estate Plan
      • Probate
      • Power of Attorney
      • Small Estate Administration
      • Trusts
        • Trust Administration
        • Trust Administration
        • Serving as Executor
      • Understanding Your Social Security Retirement Benefits
      • Wills
        • Contesting a Will
    • Newsletter
    • Pre Consultation Form
    • Probate and Trust Administration
      • Bereavement Resources
      • How to Know if You Need Extra Help With Your Grieving
      • Loss Of A Loved One
      • Probate Resources
        • Carmel, Indiana Probate Resources
        • Greenfield Probate
        • Greenwood Probate
        • Indianapolis Probate
        • Plainfield Probate
        • Indiana Probate
        • Zionsville Probate
      • Things You Need To Do When a Loved One Passes Away With a Trust
      • The Mourner’s Bill of Rights
      • Things You Need To Do When a Loved One Passes Away With a Will
      • Trust Administration & Probate Definitions
  • Reviews
    • Our Reviews
    • Review Us
  • Areas We Serve
    • Boone County
      • Lebanon
      • Zionsville
    • Hamilton County
      • Carmel
      • Fishers
    • Hancock County
      • Greenfield
    • Hendricks County
      • Brownsburg
      • Plainfield
    • Johnson County
      • Franklin, Indiana
      • Greenwood
    • Marion County
      • Central Indiana
      • Indianapolis
  • Blog
  • Contact Us

Frank & Kraft, Attorneys at Law

Indianapolis Estate Planning Attorneys

CONNECT WITH US TODAY(317) 684-1100

Attend a Free Workshop
Home » Revocable Living Trust Checklist

Revocable Living Trust Checklist

March 4, 2016Estate Planning, Living Trusts

living trust

One of the most important things to understand about estate planning is the fact that you have options. Even if you are not extremely wealthy, a last will may not be the best choice for you. There are different types of trusts that can provide various respective benefits.

A trust that can be ideal for a wide range of people is the revocable living trust. You can take a look at this checklist to find out some of the steps that you would take if you decide to utilize a living trust.

1.) Start a relationship with an estate planning attorney.

When it comes to creating legal documents, you are probably going to want to work with a licensed estate planning attorney. While a living trust can be a great choice for a wide range of people, it is not the only choice, and is not always the best choice.

If you discuss everything in detail with your attorney, you can gain an understanding of the reasons why you may want to use a living trust. Your own objectives will be evaluated by your attorney, and you can move forward to create the trust if you come to the conclusion that this type of trust is in fact the best centerpiece for your estate plan.

Assuming a living trust is decided upon, here are the next steps to consider.

2.)  Will it be an individual trust, or a shared trust?

The first thing to determine when you are actually creating the trust is the nature of the ownership. If you are married, you have a choice of creating a joint or shared living trust, and this could be the right choice if you and your spouse own most of your valuable property together as a couple.

It is also possible to create two different individual trusts, even if you are married. Of course, if you are single, you would be creating an individual trust.

3.) What are you putting into the trust?

The next order of business will be to determine exactly what you want to convey into the trust. Items of relatively small value don’t necessarily have to be conveyed into the trust. You would probably want to fund the trust with the assets that you have that have significant monetary value.

4.) Who are the beneficiaries?

Who are the inheritors going to be? You have to make this decision when you are creating your living trust.

5.) Who will administer the trust after your passing?

As the grantor or creator of a living trust, you can act as the trustee while you are living. If you are creating a joint living trust with your spouse, you and your spouse can act as co-trustees.

When are developing your outline, you have to determine who will be administering your trust after you pass away. This would be the successor trustee. It can be a family member or someone else that you know personally, but many people use a corporate trustee like a trust company or the trust section of a bank.

6.)  Make it official.

Once you have made all of these decisions, you record them in the trust declaration, you sign the document, and you get it notarized.

7.) Transfer property into the trust.

You have to make the trust the new owner of the property that you want to convey into it. This is done by changing the ownership registration on the title or deed of the property, and you can list the property in the trust declaration on a separate document called a schedule.

Attend a Free Living Trust Seminar

In this blog post, we have provided a basic outline with regard to the way that a living trust is created. When you hear all the facts about living trusts, you may decide that this is the ideal estate planning vehicle for you given your goals and your family dynamic.

We feel very strongly about the value of revocable living trusts, because we have seen them help so many families here in the Indianapolis area. As a response, we offer living trust seminars on an ongoing basis at various different locations in the area.

People live busy lives, and they have different schedules, so we also endeavor to offer seminars that begin at different times, so you should be able to find a session that fits into your schedule.

The seminars are free to attend, but they fill up quickly, so we ask that you register for the session you are interested in so that we can reserve your space in advance. To see the list of the upcoming seminars, visit this page: Free Living Trust Seminars.

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Paul A. Kraft, Estate Planning Attorney
Paul A. Kraft, Estate Planning Attorney
Paul Kraft is Co-Founder and the senior Principal of Frank & Kraft, one of the leading law firms in Indiana in the area of estate planning as well as business and tax planning.

Mr. Kraft assists clients primarily in the areas of estate planning and administration, Medicaid planning, federal and state taxation, real estate and corporate law, bringing the added perspective of an accounting background to his work.
Paul A. Kraft, Estate Planning Attorney
Latest posts by Paul A. Kraft, Estate Planning Attorney (see all)
  • What Happens to an Inheritance If No One Claims It? - March 16, 2023
  • How to Protect Your Blended Family Using a QTIP Trust - March 14, 2023
  • Estate Planning Tips to Prevent Sibling Disputes - March 9, 2023

Other Articles You May Find Useful

How to Protect Your Blended Family Using a QTIP Trust
Indianapolis estate planning attorneys
What Might Be Missing from My Estate Plan?
Top 10 Estate Planning Tips
Indianapolis estate planning attorneys
The Pros and Cons of Sharing Your Estate Plan with Loved Ones
question mark
Answers to 5 Common Estate Planning Questions
Inheritance and bequest
Is an Inheritance and a Bequest the Same Thing?

Primary Sidebar

Frank & Kraft, Attorneys at Law

Download our free Estate Planning Worksheet

There's a lot that goes into setting up a comprehensive estate plan, but with our FREE worksheet, you'll be one step closer to getting yourself and your family on the path to a secure and happy future.

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Linkdin
  • Youtube

Blog Subscription

Where We Are

Frank & Kraft Attorneys at Law
135 N. Pennsylvania Street Suite 1100
Indianapolis, IN 46204-2485
Phone: (317) 684-1100
Fax: (317) 684-6111

See Larger MapGet directions

Office Hours

Monday8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Map

frankkraft_sidbr_map

Footer

  • Advantages of Working With Our Firm
  • About The American Academy
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap
  • Contact Us

Connect with Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Linkdin
  • Youtube
footer-logo

Frank & Kraft Attorneys at Law
Attorney Advertisement

© 2023 American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.

© 2023 · American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc. | Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Sitemap | Contact Us