How to Change a Living Trust

Reasons for changes

There are many reasons that you may find you need to amend a living trust. If you decide to change or add beneficiaries, if you have a new grandchild, or suffer the loss of one of your existing beneficiaries, you may wish to make changes. You might decide you want to change when or how the assets in the trust are distributed (such as deciding you’d like your beneficiaries to reach a certain age before inheriting). You may find you want to change your trustee or successor trustee, or you might choose to change the powers given to your trustee. You can also amend a trust if you decide to add or remove property from the trust. Common situations that lead to a trust amendment are divorce or marriage, birth of a child or grandchild, a move to a state with different laws, a change in tax laws, a change in your financial situation, or the death of a beneficiary.

Note that if you are simply adding property to the trust, you probably do not need to do anything other than transfer ownership of that property into the trust. Add the item to the schedule of assets in the trust and it is owned by the trust. An amendment is not necessary since your trust is set up to accept new assets.

How to change a living trust

The simplest way to make a change to a living trust is with a trust amendment form. A living trust amendment allows you to make changes to an existing trust while keeping the original document active. If you have a joint trust with your spouse, you both must agree to any changes to the trust.

Fill out the form with the name of your trust. If this is the first change you’ve made to the trust, state that. If you have made other changes to the trust, you will need to list them by date. Indicate if this amendment overrides those previous changes or if you want them to remain in effect.

When you write the change you are making, be sure to refer to the original trust document by paragraph number so it is clear what provision you are changing. Be very clear about how you are changing this section of the trust. Make sure you state you are amending this section of the trust. Sign your living trust amendment before a notary. Attach the amendment to your original trust document and to any copies you made.