About Trust Funding
Trust funding is foundational to a trust plan that works. Trust funding is the process of transferring assets to the trust's control. This involves retitling an asset's legal title or changing its beneficiary designation, depending on the type of assets being transferred and the client's estate planning goals. It can complicated to complete and requires expertise in knowing how to make the transfers accurately. When you don't fund assets properly, the trust plan rarely accomplishes client's goals or works as it was intended.
The Challenge of
Trust Funding
Trust funding doesn't receive enough attention. That's because trust funding is daunting to accomplish. Accurately transferring assets to trusts requires time and expertise – resources clients often lack. Trust funding is not emphasized enough in the planning process. Clients don't understand how important it is to the success of their estate plans. Clients also aren't typically offered help or guidance with trust funding. In short, adequate trust funding is typically absent from most estate planning. If trust settlement at death is to proceed as designed in the trust documents, the trust must be current, funded, and up-to-date. Having a routine process for updating estate plans and verifying the trust funding is essential to plan effectiveness.
The Solution to
Trust Funding
The FundingPro™ Software System overcomes the challenges that trust funding presents. The FundingPro™ system accurately and efficiently transfers assets to trusts, making it possible for attorneys to offer these critical services to clients. FundingPro™ also facilitates routine trust funding reviews, making it feasible for attorneys to conduct effective estate plan maintenance and routine plan updating. FundingPro™ identifies areas that need attention by monitoring trust funding and asset values to uncover outdated or incomplete planning. By keeping tabs on the plan's funding, FundingPro™ helps the attorney capture opportunities for routine maintenance, advanced planning, trust settlement, and generational estate plans.
