Living Revocable Trust Form: Fill & Download for Free

A revocable trust and living trust are separate terms that describe the same thing: a trust in which the terms can be changed at any time. An irrevocable trust describes a trust that cannot be modified after it is created without the consent of the beneficiaries.A trust is a separate legal entity a person sets up to manage his assets. Trusts are set up during a person's lifetime to assure that assets are used in a way in which the person setting up the trust deems appropriate. Once assets are placed inside a trust, a third party, known as a trustee, manages them. The trustee determines how the assets are invested and to whom they are distributed when the owner of the trust dies, though a trustee must manage the trust in accordance with the guidelines laid out when the trust was formed. It is common for a wealthy person to use a trust as opposed to a will for estate planning and for stipulating what happens to his wealth upon his death. Trusts are also a way to reduce tax burdens and avoid assets going to probate.Revocable Trust (Living Trust)The two basic types of trusts are a living trust taxes[1], also known as a revocable living trust or simply a living trust, and an irrevocable trust. The owner of a revocable trust may change its terms at any time. He or she can remove beneficiaries, designate new ones, and modify stipulations as to how assets within the trust are managed.Given the flexibility of revocable or living trusts in contrast with the rigidity of an irrevocable trust, it seems all trusts should be revocable. The reason they are not is that revocable trusts come with a few key disadvantages.Because the owner retains such a level of control over a revocable trust, the assets he or she put into it are not shielded from creditors the way they are in an irrevocable trust. If he or she is sued, the trust assets can be ordered liquidated to satisfy any judgment put forth. When the owner of a revocable trust dies, the assets held in trust are also subject to both state and federal estate taxes.Irrevocable TrustThe terms of an irrevocable trust, in contrast, are set in stone the minute the agreement is signed. Except under exceedingly rare circumstances, no changes may be made to an irrevocable trust.Footnotes[1] Revocable Living Trust Taxes

A2AI can answer this question only with respect to California, where I practice.Some people have written about sophisticated identity-avoidance schemes based on trusts or limited liability companies. See, e.g., the Forbes article How To Remain Anonymous If You Win The $1.5 Billion Powerball Lottery.However, such approaches will not work in California, which expressly requires identification of the winning individual (or group of individuals).Here is what the Winner’s Handbook says about assigning payments to a trust (emphasis added):Can the Lottery Assign Prize Payments to a Trust Established by a Winner?The Lottery will make installment payments to your qualifying trust if you have properly assigned your prize to the trust. A Declaration and Assignment of Lottery Prize to Revocable Living Trust Form can be requested from the Lottery’s Prize Payments – Annuity Desk. For the Lottery to make payments to a trust, the prize winner must be the grantor of the revocable trust and the trust must be linked to the winner’s social security number. The trust must be governed by the laws of the State of California. Upon a winner’s death, if prize payments were properly assigned, the trustee must notify the Lottery of the winner’s death and of the proper distribution of the payments under the trust. The Lottery may make payments to irrevocable trusts or subtrusts which were established in a winner’s qualifying trust so long as the appropriate form is on file prior to the winner’s death. If this form is not on file, the Lottery will make payments pursuant to established Lottery procedures or as ordered by the court. Keep in mind, a trust cannot claim a Lottery prize.

Does a living trust supersede a will?A living trust, aka a revocable trust, is a will substitute. A revocable trust’s primary purpose is to pass the decedent’s property to his/her heirs outside of the probate process. Given this question, a revocable trust will accomplish this purpose together with superseding a will made before creation of the trust under two primary conditions:The maker of the trust must revoke the will - very important.The trust must be fully funded, i.e. all assets owned in the grantor’s name (who was the testator under the will, but keep reading) must be retitled in the trust’s name. This step cannot be overemphasized; otherwise, all the effort and expense in making a revocable trust will have been wasted!The trust takes precedence over the will because it is already operating - a “living trust.” A will becomes operative at testator’s death. Until then, a will is simply a document and is inoperative. What happens when a will and a revocable trust conflict?In the meantime, even though grantor has made a beautiful revocable trust, s/he still needs to make another will. Not the usual type of will: s/he needs to make a pourover will leaving all property that was not otherwise retitled in the trust’s name to the revocable trust; hence the name of the document - it “pours over” the remaining assets into the revocable trust. Otherwise, this unaccounted-for property will have to go through probate. Therefore, it is very important to retitle as much property as possible in the name of the trust to minimize property which must go through probate en route to the trust. (Some property could be retitled into other ownership forms to avoid probate.)The point of the above paragraph is a pourover will should be part of a well prepared estate plan that uses a revocable trust. As with any other will, a well drafted pourover will will include a statement the testator revokes all prior wills.