If you’ve created a trust, you’ve already taken a major step toward protecting your assets and providing peace of mind for your loved ones. But what happens if life changes? A new marriage, a new child, or even just a change in your wishes can raise the question: Can I make changes to my trust?
In this quick video, we’ll explain when and how amending a living trust is possible, what to consider before making any updates, and why these decisions matter, especially when it comes to estate planning in Roseville, CA. Whether you’ve had your trust for years or are just starting to think about updates, this is information you don’t want to miss.
Transcript:
“Once a trust is set up, it’s built to last. It’s built to change with the laws that change, and so it shouldn’t be that you have to make a change to it. I get a lot of people that come and talk to me and say, hey, this attorney told me I need to update my trust every two years. I don’t agree with that. You don’t need to update your trust unless you need to update your trust. It’s good to review it every few years and make sure that everything that you set in place is still the way you want, but you really only need to change it if something in your life changes. When that happens it’s not too hard to change your trust, it just depends on what you’re changing. Usually it can be a simple amendment or it can be – a lot of people will want to change their guardians but not their trust, and that’s a separate document, so we change that document.
Once it’s set up, setting up the trust plan or setting up the estate plan is really the core document that you need, and then anything after that tends to be a lot more simple and straightforward because you already have the core document in place. You’re just making small changes to it; take this name out, replace it with that one, update this language. It’s a pretty straightforward process. Most of the time I get a lot of people that set up estate plans when their children are minors, and I usually tell them that I plan on seeing them at least one more time because there’s that change from, hey, we’re setting up this estate plan to care for our children, and now our children are at that age where they’re going to care for us, so we’re going to change our estate plan around to dictate that. That’s a common one. Other than that, it’s really easy to update an estate plan and it’s not commonly needed unless something in your life changes such that you need to make those changes.”
Contact Us Today
Your estate plan should grow and change with you. If you’re wondering, “Can I make changes to my trust?”—the answer is often yes, but the process depends on your specific situation.
At Patton Law Group, we specialize in helping families navigate amending a living trust and making sure every detail is aligned with California law and your personal goals. If you need guidance with estate planning in Roseville, CA, we’re here to help.
Watch more helpful videos and get in touch HERE.
