When we help someone create a new Living Trust, the second step is to fund the trust. Funding the trust is when you re-title your assets and appoint the trust owner of the assets. For example, asking a bank to change the title on your account(s) from your name to the name of the trust. Our clients often tell us, that many financial institutions claim that in order to effectuate the name change, to the trust, they must provide the institution with a complete copy of the trust.

This is a concern, as trusts are meant to be private and one reason for creating a trust, in the first place, is to avoid the public nature of probate. Fortunately, Arizona law recognizes the private nature of trusts and helps protect private information from being exposed to those who do not need it.

Under (ARS) 14-11013 a trustee of a trust is not required to give a full copy of the trust document to anyone. The statute outlines a method for providing a Certification of Trust to the asking party, such as a bank, and a list of the information that must be contained on the Certification. As long as the required information is provided on the Certification, the statute provides protection for anyone who relies on the document and also describes how a person can be subject to damages if they do not act in good faith, when requesting more information than they need from the trust. What all this means is that the Certification protects the trust from prying eyes seeing birthdates, children’s names, and provisions relating to your beneficiary distributions.

Why Choose Morris Hall:
You have a number of options when it comes to estate planning, so why pick Morris Hall?  First off, estate planning and asset protection are a very complicated endeavor and you should only trust someone who focuses exclusively on those matters.  Also, MH is a proud member of The American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys (AAEPA) which provides us additional support, advanced training, tools and information that is not available to others – which means that we can better protect your assets and your loved ones.  We are one of only two firms in Arizona that belong to the AAEPA and are the only firm in New Mexico that has been granted membership.  If you have assets and loved ones that you want to protect, you are in good hands with MH.  Contact us today at 888.222.1328 to schedule an appointment!

This blog should be used for informational purposes only.  It does not create an attorney-client relationship with any reader and should not be construed as legal advice.  If you need legal advice, please contact an attorney in your community who can assess the specifics of your situation.