Can I Make Changes To Our Living/Revocable Trust?

rk911

Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
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-Or must I use a lawyer?

The new thread, can a person make their own revocable trust?, got me to thinking. Our RT was prepared by an atty 7-8 years ago. We need to make changes to our sucessor trustee list as well as the POA list. Can I just make pen & ink changes or do I need to have the original atty do it (assuming he is still practicing)?
 
IANAL.

I would not make pen/ink changes to a legal document. The original was probably notarized or witnessed, and your subsequent modifications would be of highly questionable legality as far as I know, because nobody would really know whether the modifications were made by you, if you were of sound mind, and/or if you weren't coerced.

You can amend or restate a trust, but that amendment or restatement document probably should be prepared by an attorney admitted to the bar in your state. It can be but doesn't need to be the original attorney.
 
It MIGHT be okay to do that, but saving a couple of hundred could put the whole thing at risk. Hire an attorney.
 
When we established our trust early this year our cost included a yearly assessment for any changes. Of course there will be a smallish fee for any changes.
 
Attorney it is, but they may be able to restructure the trust so that you can make a certain ranges of future changes without help. In wills, there is a concept of "precatory" language. As I understand it, this is sort of a side letter that can be changed relatively easily. Possibly there is a similar thing for trusts.
 
Attorney it is, but they may be able to restructure the trust so that you can make a certain ranges of future changes without help. In wills, there is a concept of "precatory" language. As I understand it, this is sort of a side letter that can be changed relatively easily. Possibly there is a similar thing for trusts.
Thanks...I'll ask.
 
I'm going to create a 'hot key' for this forum so that when I hit it, it will automatically print out "get an attorney". Will save me a lot of time.
 
IME it depends on the complexity of the trust and the nature of the amendment. We did an amendment of DM's trust to change the trustee's from her alone to 3 co-trustees (DM, DSister and me). We all signed it and put it in the file and were done. Effectively the same as amending a contract.

In that case it was simple enough that we didn't feel a need to run it by a lawyer. If there had been a question then we would have.
 
In IL you can now use a TOD/POD (Transfer on Death) on homes, and no longer need to use a land trust or have a house in a trust simply to avoid probate.
Thanks but there is more to our trust than that.
 
Call the original atty and ask them.
Four years ago DW and I did and found we could amend our trust ourselves provided the changes were notarized. As I recall, our original trust detailed how changes could be made. The change was simply to change our successor trustees from the listed persons to our offspring (who were no longer children).
 
Attorney it is, but they may be able to restructure the trust so that you can make a certain ranges of future changes without help. In wills, there is a concept of "precatory" language. As I understand it, this is sort of a side letter that can be changed relatively easily. Possibly there is a similar thing for trusts.
That sounds like something we did with our trust 20 or 25 years ago. Our lawyer drew up a letter modifying a section, we signed and notarized the change. Later we revised the entire trust.
 
Call the original atty and ask them.
Four years ago DW and I did and found we could amend our trust ourselves provided the changes were notarized. As I recall, our original trust detailed how changes could be made. The change was simply to change our successor trustees from the listed persons to our offspring (who were no longer children).
Already done, Waiting on a call-back. TY.
 
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