Currents
July 2016
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legal red tape before being able to take over an asset
of the Trust for the benefit of the disabled Trustee.
Therefore, if you are the sole Trustee of your
Trust, you should seriously consider an Amendment
to your Trust adding a trusted family member as
your Co-Trustee rather than your Successor Trustee.
This will allow that family member (or close friend if
you trust that person) to take over any asset which is
in the name of your Trust without the need for written statements from two doctors or Court intervention.
If you are married and your spouse is your CoTrustee, but your spouse is beginning to have short
term memory loss or other signs of dementia, it may
also be a good idea to replace your spouse as CoTrustee with that trusted family member or friend.
If you have accounts in the name of your Trust
with a bank, brokerage or other institution, you will
need to provide the Amendment to that institution,
so that proper documentation can be put into place
(signature cards, copy of drivers license, etc.) in
order to allow your new Co-Trustee to access funds
in that account.
A Durable Power of Attorney is
still important as a supplement to
your Trust in order to cover all
finances that are outside of the
Trust, as well as the ability to sign
contracts, leases and other legal
documents on your behalf which
may have nothing to do with the
Trust.
For example, if you
become incapacitated and need
to go into an assisted living facility, the person you designate
under your Durable Power of
Attorney would be able to sign a
lease for you.
Therefore, for full protection,
it is important to have a Durable
Power of Attorney and a Revocable Living Trust. A Designation of
Health Care Surrogate and Living
Will are also important for someone to make medical decisions if
you are unable to communicate
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