I am unclear on how to proceed with getting this CD into the trust.
Full Question:
Answer:
A living trust is a trust established during a person’s lifetime in which a person’s assets and property are placed within the trust, usually for the purpose of estate planning.
It is not created at the time of death. Therefore, for purposes of this answer, we will assume that she created a trust before she died.
A living trust owns and manages the property held by the trust through a trustee for the benefit of named beneficiary, usually the creator of the trust (settlor). The settlor, trustee and beneficiary may all be the same person. In this way, a person may set up a trust with his or her own assets and maintain complete control and management of the assets by acting as his or her own trustee. Upon the death of the person who created the trust, the property of the trust does not go through probate proceedings, but rather passes according to provisions of the trust as set up by the creator of the trust.
Any assets that were not placed into the trust prior to death, are not part of the trust. Therefore, they are subject to the laws of probate.
However, if the value of the remaining estate (anything not in the trust), is less than $75,000, heirs of the decedent may petition the probate court for small estate administration.
