How to Create a Trust in Florida

1. Choose Between Revocable or Irrevocable

Decide if you need a revocable living trust, which can be altered during your lifetime, or an irrevocable trust, which cannot be easily changed once established. Your choice depends on your estate planning goals, such as avoiding probate, reducing taxes, or protecting assets.

Most of our clients choose to create a revocable living trust. For people in Florida that have significant assets beyond just their home, a living trust is the best way to avoid probate and ensure that any children are taken care of.

2. Determine the Beneficiaries

Identify who will receive the assets held in the trust. Beneficiaries can include family members, friends, or organizations.

A typical revocable living trust names the surviving spouse as the primary beneficiary, with children as the successor beneficiaries.

3. Select a Trustee

Appoint a person or entity to manage the trust. This can be yourself (for a revocable trust), a trusted individual, or a professional institution like a bank or trust company.

In our experience, most families do not need a professional trustee and are better off with naming family members to serve as successor trustee.

4. Draft the Trust Document

The document should outline the trust’s terms, including its purpose, the assets it will hold, and how and when distributions will be made.

The most common type of living trust we prepare for clients dsitributes assets outright to successor beneficiaries aftr the death of both spouses. However, in our opinion, families with minor children should coonsider holding assets in trust until the children reach a certain age.

5. Sign the Trust Agreement

Execute the trust document in accordance with Florida law. This requires signing the document in front of a notary and two witnesses.

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6. Fund the Trust

A trust does not do anything unless funded. A trust is best funded during the lifetime of the grantor, but it can be funded at deatht as well.

You can put many different types of assets into a trust, such as real estate, bank accounts, investment accounts, and personal property. Retitling the assets in the trust’s name ensures they are governed by the trust’s terms.

7. Update Beneficiary Designations

Financial accounts can be set up to automatically transfer on death to the trust. You can update beneficiary designations for assets like life insurance policies or retirement accounts to align with your trust plan.

8. Record Real Estate Transfers

Real estate must be transferred into the trust to be governed by its terms. You can prepare a new deed and record it with the county where the property is located.

9. Inform Key Parties

You should notify any successor trustees about the trust. While you do not need to provide them a copy, you should let them know where and how to access it.

10. Review and Update the Trust

Regularly review your trust to ensure it aligns with your current wishes and any changes in the law. Amendments may be needed as your family or financial situation changes.

About the Author

Gideon Alper is an attorney who specializes in asset protection planning. He graduated with honors from Emory University Law School and has been practicing law for almost 15 years.

Gideon and the Alper Law firm have advised thousands of clients about how to protect their assets from creditors.