Time and time again I hear from potential clients inquiring about trust administration of their loved one's estate. It all starts out innocently enough. There's a Living Trust. Great. There's a home. Even better. But is the home in the Living Trust? It has to be deeded or transferred into the home for it to be effectively in the Living Trust.
In other words, the successor trustee, the person nominated to manage the assets, can only manage assets in the Living Trust. If the assets, like your home, are not in the Living Trust, there's no way the successor trustee can manage those assets.
What happens is this... you set up a Living Trust. Your home and other real property are transferred into the Living Trust by a grant deed and recorded with the County Recorder. And later on, maybe a few years later, you refinance your home, take out an additional construction loan, obtain a reverse mortgage or purchase a new home.
When you do these kinds of financial transactions involving your home, lenders and title companies will take the property out of the Living Trust.
It is up to you to make sure it is back into the Living Trust once the financial transaction involving your home has been completed. This is where most people get stuck. You have to remember to check on this and ensure that the property is transferred back by recording another grant deed.
