Should a Living Trust Be Filed with a County Recorder?

Revocable Living Trusts are not required to be recorded for the document to be valid and effective.

Generally, Revocable Living Trusts are not recorded for several reasons:

1) Recording a document makes it a public record. For many people, the terms of the Trust contain private and sensitive information which the Grantors do not wish disclosed;

2) Since the Trust is revocable, the trust terms and beneficiaries may be changed by the Grantor at any time, thereby eliminating any benefit that would be accomplished by filing of the document.

If a third-party (for instance a bank or title company) seeks verification the existence of the Trust (for verification of the identification of the Grantors and Trustees), a Certificate of Trust will suffice. This Certificate provides general information about the Trust but does not disclose the distribution of the Trust estate.

See the product page at Standard Legal to create a Living Trust with full instructions for its execution.