The first consideration as to whether or not a personal bank account is part of that person’s Living Trust: is the bank account expressly named as an account of the Trust. <\/p>\n
To be made or considered part of a Revocable Living Trust, an asset must be transferred to or titled in the name of the Trust (or to the Trustee on behalf of the Trust). <\/p>\n
With bank accounts, the account can be set up or adjusted such that the Trustee (on behalf of the Trust) or the Trust itself is the named owner or holder of such account. <\/p>\n
If a bank account is NOT set up in the name of the Trust, a Pour Over Will may exist to transfer cash to a Trust upon or after the death of the grantor of the Trust. Beneficiaries should look to see if such a document is in place. However, using a Pour Over Will to accomplish such a transfer eliminates a benefit of the Revocable Living Trust: skipping probate. Since the assets were not owned by or titled in the name of the Trust prior to the death of the Grantor, those Pour Over assets would have to go through probate.<\/p>\n