To understand various aspects of revocable trust, we need to understand what a revocable living trust is. It is a flexible legal document through which one can place the assets such as real estate and bank accounts into a trust while a person is still alive.
The best thing with the living trust is that one can uphold full control, can amend or cancel the trust as per their need whenever they want. The heirs can avoid the public and court proceedings after one is not in this world. Revocable living trust in Texas functions with respect to the roles and funding the trust. In the role a person act the grantor who is also called creator, the trustee, known as manager, and the beneficiary who is the recipient of the assets during the lifetime.
So, apart from document creation, there is need to transfer the titles, deeds, and account names also into the name of the trust. Now the question is what happens when a grantor passes away? Whether the revocable living trust becomes a public record?
The living trust does not become a public record as they are private agreements. There is no formal process which passes the court-supervised probate process. The trust is a legal document which describes the distribution of assets and is confidential.
Features of Trust & its Privacy
- Privacy from the Public: In case of last of Last Will and Testament, it is necessary to that it should be filed with the probate court and hence it is a public record. Anyone can see the same. While in case of a trust, there is a bypass of the court system.
- The authority to see: The general public cannot see the living trust. However the successor trustee is allowed to give copies of the trust agreement to the named beneficiaries and the legal heirs if requested.
- Business Transactions: In case of any business transaction such as selling of trust property by successor trustee, third party such as banks or title companies verify the trustee's authority. The power is confirmed.
However there are some exceptions under which the trust can be made public. Although the trust itself is private, trust details can be made public in some cases. The first one is Pour-Over Will. It is used to transfer assets not properly funded into the trust. The same is submitted to probate court and becomes public. The second one is trust litigation. When there is breach of fiduciary duty, the beneficiaries can sue the trustee and can file a lawsuit in court. The trust document can be taken as evidence. Download legal forms now! Click here.