Those of us who set up "Revocable Living Trusts" do so with at least one of these objectives in mind: 1. To avoid probate court supervision of your property in the event of your disability. 2. To avoid probate court supervision of your property at the time of your death and during the settlement of your estate. 3. To avoid probate court supervision of property which you wish to be managed in trust funds after your death. If your objective in establishing a Revocable Living Trust is solely to avoid probate court supervision of the trust(s) you establish for your family, and these trusts are not intended to come into existence until after your death, then there is no need to transfer title to your property into trust name while you are alive. You may continue to own all of your property in your own name, unless for tax or other reasons we have suggested that rearrangement of title be made as between yourself, your spouse, your children or other forms of trusts. Likewise, if your objective in establishing a Revocable Living Trust is to avoid probate court supervision of your property in the event of your disability, you need only give an appropriate "Durable Power of Attorney" to a family member, trusted friend or advisor. This Power of Attorney should authorize your attorney-in-fact to transfer your property to your Revocable Living Trust after you become disabled or incapacitated. No property need be placed in trust name prior to that time. Despite this, I often recommend funding the trust yourself, while you are alive because successor trustees often have better luck with financial institutions then being empowered under a Durable Power of Attorney. If your objective is to avoid probate of your property at the time of your death and the settlement of your estate, you will be successful only if and to the extent that your property is transferred into the name of the Trustee of your Revocable Living Trust before your death. This Memorandum is intended as a general guide for you to use in making the title transfers that are necessary if you wish to avoid probate of your estate by use of a Revocable Living Trust. Please keep clearly in mind that your Revocable Living Trust can still be an effective form of "Will" for you even if you do not place your property in the trust while you are alive, but you will not have the extra advantages of avoiding probate. Transferring property to a Revocable Living Trust while you are alive is best thought of as a means of avoiding the cost of probate after your death by doing the work yourself while you are still alive. You will not need legal help for most of the transfers, if you are willing to put in the time and effort. To the extent you do not wish to make this effort, we are perfectly willing to take care of these matters for you, but of course we will have to charge for our services at our usual hourly rates for attorneys and paralegals. I. Transferring Title to Property - The First and the Most Important Step It is unfortunate but true that there is no uniformity among the various banks, brokers and other institutions as to how title to property is properly transferred to a Revocable Living Trust. Until the time comes when there is such uniformity, each institution you deal with is apt to have its own requirements, assuming it is familiar at all with the concept of a "Revocable Living Trust." You will save yourself a great deal of time and trouble if the very first step in your program for transferring assets is to CALL THE INSTITUTION INVOLVED AND FIND OUT WHAT IT REQUIRES. When you call, you should say: " I would like to transfer my (description of property) into my Revocable Living Trust. Would you please tell me what I have to do and send me the necessary paperwork. " The institution may be perfectly familiar with this process, and have a quick answer for you. If so, follow its requirements to the letter. Do not attempt to argue with the institution as to whether its requirements are "right," you will most likely be dealing with someone at a relatively low level who has no decision-making capability and can only follow the instructions of his or her superiors. If the person you are calling doesn't seem to know what you are talking about, ask the person to refer you to someone else who might help you. If you still can't get any satisfaction, your best hope is to call us and ask for assistance. II. Completing the Papers Necessary to Transfer Title As we mentioned, each institution will have its own requirements for transferring title. You are likely to be dealing with banks, brokerage firms, insurance companies, companies in which you own stock or bonds, and so on. Some of their requirements may include: A. Identification of the Trust We normally recommend that you use a fairly formal legal title for your Revocable Living Trust, which includes the name of the Trustee or Trustees followed by the word "Trustee," the name of the trust (usually your own name) and the date on which the trust was signed. It might look something like this: "John L. Jones, Trustee of the John L. Jones Revocable Trust under trust dated May 14, 2024." Almost any variation on this name is appropriate, particularly if your Revocable Living Trust itself includes a statement that the trust may be known by a simpler name, such as "The John L. Jones Revocable Trust." However, do not insist on using this name if the institution prefers its own method. Be sure, however, the name chosen at least contains the name of the trust, the Trustee's name, the word "Trustee," and the date of the trust, such as "John Jones, Trustee u/d/t3 dated 5/14/24." B. Tax Identification Number Most institutions will request the trust's taxpayer identification number. If you are a Trustee or a co-Trustee, the tax identification number will be your Social Security number. If you are not a Trustee or a co-Trustee, you will need a taxpayer identification number. You should ask the Law Office of Dale J. Tamburro to obtain a taxpayer identification number for your trust or your accountant. C. Signature Authority If there is more than one Trustee, as, for example, where you and your spouse are co­ Trustees, you may be asked to designate who has power to sign documents on behalf of the trust. It is most likely your trust contains a power to delegate signing authority, in which case, if you wish, you may choose between having either Trustee sign on behalf of the trust or having both Trustees sign. D. Copy of Trust Agreement Occasionally, an institution may request a copy of the Revocable Living Trust Agreement for its files. In general, it is recommended that you provide the institution with a photocopy of the Agreement rather than with an original. If you do not feel comfortable with furnishing the institution with the entire Trust Agreement, ask the institution whether it will accept the first and last pages of the Agreement, which should be sufficient to identify the parties to the Agreement and the date it was signed. III. Transferring Title - Some of the Requirements for Common Types of Property A. Brokerage Accounts; Bank Custody Accounts You probably will find that brokerage firms and banks, in particular, and often other organizations, will ask to have another set of contracts of agreements signed by the Trustees of your Revocable Living Trust. Presumably they will be the same contracts or agreements you signed previously in your individual capacity. B. Registered Stocks and Bonds If you own stocks or bonds in your personal name (i.e., they are not registered in the name of your bank or brokerage firm), they need to be transferred into the names of the Trustees of your Revocable Living Trust. Your broker may ask you to endorse the back of the stock or bond certificate, or to supply what is known as a stock or bond "power" authorizing the transfer agent for the company involved to make the transfer on its books. Occasionally, you may be asked to provide a formal Letter of Instruction requesting the transfer which must be signed by you and guaranteed by an authorized official. C. Unregistered (Bearer) Bonds To transfer bonds which are not registered in your name (i.e., bearer bonds) to your Revocable Living Trust, we suggest that you open a safe deposit box in the trust's name and place the bonds in the safe deposit box inside an envelope which is marked with the trust's name. D. Real Estate You will need the help of an attorney to change title to real estate. The Law Office of Dale J. Tamburro, P.C. would be glad to help, or you can contact the attorney who handled the original closing for you. There is a fair amount to do in transferring title to real estate, but in most cases the charges for residential real estate should not exceed several hundred dollars if you can supply copies of the existing deed and the most recent tax bill for the property. You will be asked to sign new deeds transferring title from yourself to a simple "nominee" trust (the beneficiary of which is your Revocable Living Trust), and those deeds will then be recorded in Registry of Deeds where the property is located. There will be an additional small filing fee by the Registry for recording these deeds. If there is any indebtedness on the property, it may be advisable to obtain the written consent of the lending institution prior to completing the transfer. E. Partnerships Many people have invested in real estate, oil and gas, or other partnerships. Some of those partnerships are publicly traded; others are private. Some partnership agreements require that the consent of other partners be obtained before transferring the property to a Revocable Living Trust; others don't. It is important for you to contact the Managing Partner of the partnership (or the financial advisor or brokerage firm which introduced you to the partnership) and ask for their particular requirements. F. Bank Accounts To transfer a bank account to a Revocable Living Trust, call your bank officer for instructions. Usually all that will be required is to open a new account and have the Trustees sign a new signature card. It is generally not advisable to transfer a checking account into the name of a Revocable Living Trust unless the account consistently contains a large balance. It should also be noted that transferring a Certificate of Deposit to a Revocable Living Trust prior to its maturity may result in a forfeiture of interest. G. Motor Vehicles and Boats Generally, we advise against transferring title to motor vehicles and boats to Revocable Living Trusts, partly because of the time and difficulties involved in dealing with the Department of Motor Vehicles, and partly because of the reasonably quick changeover or properties as one buys and sells them. However, in the case of an antique car of considerable value, or a very substantial boat, it might be worth the effort. Again, you will need to call the Department of Motor Vehicles or other appropriate state or federal agency to find out the transfer requirements. They all differ, and you should be prepared for conflicting advice. H. Contents of Your Home There is a difference of opinion among attorneys as to whether it is practical to transfer the contents of your home (furniture, furnishings and the like) into your Revocable Living Trust. Obviously, the contents of your home are ever changing. It is uncertain whether a transfer of the contents you now own will be effective with respect to furniture and furnishings you acquire later. Some of our clients who are extremely concerned about entirely avoiding probate at all costs have taken the step of assigning their "tangible personal property" to their Revocable Living Trust, following the format shown on Exhibit A to this memorandum. The Law Office of Dale J. Tamburro, P.C. feel it is appropriate to sign such an assignment, so long as you recognize that it can lead to disputes later on as to who owns the property, what types of property are included on the assignment, when ownership is to be determined and similar issues. To minimize such disputes, if you own valuable tangible personal property such as artwork which you wish to transfer to your Revocable Living Trust, we suggest you sign a separate assignment form fully describing the property. I. Insurance Policies on Your Life As a broad general rule, there are greater tax advantages to placing insurance policies in a separate form of trust known as an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust rather than in a Revocable Living Trust. However, even if you elect not to place the insurance policies in an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust, the insurance proceeds will still not pass through probate as long as they are payable to a named beneficiary. Therefore, it is only advisable to name your Revocable Living Trust as the beneficiary of your life insurance if you wish to add the proceeds to trusts established for your family under your Revocable Living Trust which will continue after your death. It would be very rare to name your Revocable Living Trust as owner of the policies, as this arrangement lacks the often considerable tax advantages of an irrevocable insurance trust. If you do decide to designate your Revocable Living Trust as beneficiary of your life insurance, contact the insurance company and request a change of beneficiary form for the policy. On the form, identify the Revocable Living Trust as beneficiary of the policy in the manner described above. J. Pension Plans and IRAs In some cases, it may be desirable to designate a Revocable Living Trust as beneficiary of an IRA or pension plan, particularly if you would like the proceeds to be added to trusts established for family members under your Revocable Living Trust which will continue after your death. Since it may not always be beneficial from an income tax standpoint to make such a designation, particularly if there is a surviving spouse, it is important to consult the Law Office of Dale J. Tamburro, P.C. prior to doing so. If you decide to designate your Revocable Living Trust as beneficiary, you should obtain beneficiary designation forms from the plan administrator or bank, and the Revocable Living Trust should be correctly identified as the new beneficiary on these forms. For some pension plans, a married person must obtain the written consent of his or her spouse in order to designate a Revocable Living Trust as the primary beneficiary of the plan. IV. Other Details to Consider In addition to transferring title to your property into the name of the Trustee of your Revocable Living Trust, you should consider some or all of the following: A. Transferring Insurance Coverage If you transfer some types of property to your Revocable Living Trust, such as your home, household furniture and furnishings, or your automobile, there may be insurance policies associated with this property. Most of us own homeowner's or automobile policies, for example. You should call your insurance agent and ask whether your policies should be rewritten so that they show the legal owner to be the Trustee of the Revocable Living Trust. B. Requesting Confirmation of Transfers Within a few weeks of transferring property to your Revocable Living Trust, you should contact the appropriate institution and request written confirmation that the transfers have been properly completed. Where appropriate, you should request the new documents of title (i.e., newly issued stock or bond certificates, deeds, etc.) and forward them to the Trustees of your Revocable Living Trust. C. Contact This memorandum is intended to provide general guidance with respect to transferring assets to your Revocable Living Trust. If you should encounter any difficulties or questions during the transfer process, you should consult the Law Office of Dale J. Tamburro, P.C. to ensure that the transfers have been properly made so that your objective in avoiding probate court supervision of your property may be accomplished. EXHIBIT A ASSIGNMENT OF TANGIBLE PERSONAL PROPERTY STATE OF ) ) ss: COUNTY OF ) I, John L. Jones, individually, hereby assign any interest I may have in all of my tangible personal property to myself as Trustee (or any Successors in Trust) of the John L. Jones Revocable Trust under Agreement dated May 14, 2011. John L. Jones, Individually ___________________________________________ John L. Jones, Trustee ___________________________________________ Witness ___________________________________________ Address___________________________________________ Witness ___________________________________________ Address___________________________________________ STATE OF ) ) ss: COUNTY OF ) The foregoing instrument was hereby acknowledged before me this day of , 2011, by John L. Jones, Notary Public: My commission expires: