Living Trust Agreement - Template, Sample Form Online Pro · US-law
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REVOCABLE LIVING TRUST AGREEMENT OF ________
State of ________
Dated ________
This Revocable Living Trust Agreement (the "Agreement" or the "Trust") is made and entered into on ________, by and between ________ (the "Grantor" or "Settlor"), of ________, and ________ (the "Trustee"), of ________.
For and in consideration of the mutual covenants and promises set forth herein, and for other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, the Grantor and the Trustee agree as follows:
ARTICLE I. NAME OF TRUST
§ 1.1. The trust created hereunder shall be known as the "Revocable Living Trust of ________" (the "Trust"). The assets and affairs of the Trust may be held, titled, and conducted in the name of the Trustee, and, to the extent otherwise permitted herein, in the name of a nominee.
§ 1.2. The Grantor reserves and retains the right to amend or revoke this Trust as set forth herein; accordingly, this Trust is a revocable inter vivos trust within the meaning of the applicable Uniform Trust Code as enacted in the State of ________ (the "Governing State").
ARTICLE II. PURPOSE
§ 2.1. The purpose of this Agreement is to create a trust that will receive, hold, and manage the assets transferred to it for the benefit of the Grantor during the Grantor's lifetime, and thereafter to manage and distribute the assets of the Trust upon the death of the Grantor in accordance with the terms set forth herein.
§ 2.2. It is the Grantor's intention that, during the Grantor's lifetime and while the Grantor is not under a disability, the Grantor shall retain dominion and control over the Trust assets and that the Trust be disregarded for federal income tax purposes as a grantor trust under Sections 671 through 679 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.
ARTICLE III. FUNDING OF TRUST
§ 3.1. The Grantor has transferred, assigned, conveyed, and delivered, and/or will transfer, assign, convey, and deliver, to the Trustee the property described in Schedule A attached hereto and made a part hereof. Said property, together with any and all other property which may hereafter be assigned, conveyed, or delivered to the Trustee by the Grantor or by any other person as provided herein, is intended to constitute the trust estate and to be held by the Trustee in trust for the uses and purposes and subject to the terms and conditions set forth herein.
§ 3.2. The Grantor, or any other person, with the consent of the Trustee, may at any time and from time to time deed, grant, devise, bequeath, gift, or otherwise cause additional property to be transferred to and administered as a part of the trust estate created hereunder. Any such transfer may be evidenced by the receipt of the Trustee, and each such receipt shall be conclusive evidence of the consent of the Trustee to the transfer.
§ 3.3. The Grantor reserves the right to designate this Trust as beneficiary of life insurance policies, retirement accounts, payable-on-death accounts, transfer-on-death registrations, and other assets, the proceeds of which shall be administered and distributed in accordance with the terms of this Agreement.
ARTICLE IV. MANAGEMENT OF TRUST ASSETS
§ 4.1. The Trustee shall manage, invest, and distribute the Trust assets for the benefit of the Grantor and the Grantor's successors in interest in accordance with the terms of this Agreement and the prudent investor standards applicable under the law of the Governing State.
ARTICLE V. TRUSTEE AND SUCCESSOR TRUSTEE PROVISIONS
§ 5.1. If at any time the Grantor serves as Trustee, the Grantor may appoint a successor Trustee, to become effective immediately or upon any stated contingency, by designation in writing. Such designee shall become the successor Trustee upon written acceptance of the terms and conditions of this Agreement.
§ 5.2. If at any time a Trustee is unable or unwilling to serve, ________, of ________, is designated as the successor Trustee, to serve without bond.
§ 5.3. Any Trustee may resign by giving written notice to the beneficiaries to whom income is then being distributed under the provisions of this Agreement. Such resignation shall take effect on the date specified in the notice, but no earlier than thirty (30) days after the date of delivery of such written resignation, unless an earlier effective date is agreed upon by the income beneficiaries.
§ 5.5. The Trustee shall provide an accounting to the beneficiary or beneficiaries no less frequently than the following: ________.
§ 5.6. No bond, surety, or other security shall be required of any Trustee serving hereunder in any jurisdiction.
ARTICLE VI. PAYMENTS DURING THE GRANTOR'S LIFETIME
§ 6.1. During the Grantor's lifetime, the Trustee shall pay all of the net income of this Trust, and also such sums from principal as the Grantor may request, to or for the benefit of the Grantor, or as the Grantor may direct.
§ 6.2. Such payments shall be made at least annually.
§ 6.3. The Grantor may change the amount or timing of payments at any time by delivering written notice to the Trustee.
§ 6.4. Any income not distributed at the Grantor's death shall be added to principal in the discretion of the Trustee.
§ 6.5. During any period in which the Grantor is under a disability, the Trustee may pay to or for the benefit of the Grantor such amounts of income and principal as the Trustee, in the Trustee's sole discretion, reasonably believes to be required for: (1) the Grantor's support, comfort, and welfare; (2) the Grantor's accustomed manner of living; or (3) any purpose that the Trustee believes to be in the best interest of the Grantor.
§ 6.6. In the event of illness or other disability of the Grantor, the Trustee may, in lieu of making payment of income directly to the Grantor, use and apply for the benefit of the Grantor so much of such income and principal of the trust estate as is necessary for the proper care, comfort, medical care, maintenance, and support of the Grantor. The Trustee may, in such discretion, pay over to any relative or legal guardian of the Grantor all or any portion of such income or principal for any of said purposes.
§ 6.7. For purposes of this Trust, "disability" shall mean a legal disability or the inability to manage financial matters by reason of illness or mental or physical disability. The determination of whether the Grantor is under a disability shall be made in writing by the Grantor's most recent attending physician, or by two (2) licensed physicians who have examined the Grantor. The Trustee shall be entitled to rely on written notice of such determination and shall incur no liability for acting in reliance thereon.
ARTICLE VII. TRUST DISTRIBUTION AFTER THE GRANTOR'S DEATH
§ 7.1. To receive a specific distribution under this Trust, a beneficiary must survive the Grantor by thirty (30) days. Any item that fails to pass through a specific gift named herein shall return to the residue of the Trust. All property distributed under this Agreement is subject to any encumbrances or liens attached thereto.
§ 7.2. Upon the death of the Grantor, and prior to distribution, the Trustee shall pay from the trust estate all of the Grantor's legally enforceable debts, last illness and funeral expenses, costs of administration, and all estate, inheritance, and other death taxes payable by reason of the Grantor's death, to the extent the Trustee deems advisable.
§ 7.3. The Grantor's specific distributions are as follows:
________
§ 7.4. To receive any property or gift under this Agreement, a beneficiary must survive the Grantor by thirty (30) days. Beneficiaries of the Trust residue shall share in all of the Grantor's property and assets that have not been distributed by specific gift or otherwise applied to the repayment of debts, expenses, or taxes as provided herein. All property distributed under this Agreement is subject to any encumbrances or liens attached thereto.
§ 7.5. The Trustee shall distribute the residue of the Trust (the "Share Allocations") as follows:
The residue of the Trust shall be distributed to the Grantor's children living at the time of the Grantor's death, in equal shares. If a child of the Grantor does not survive the Grantor, such deceased child's share shall be distributed in equal shares to the children of such deceased child who survive the Grantor, by right of representation. If a child of the Grantor does not survive the Grantor and has no children who survive the Grantor, such deceased child's share shall be distributed in equal shares to the Grantor's other children, if any, or to their respective children by right of representation. If no child of the Grantor survives the Grantor, and if none of the Grantor's deceased children is survived by any children, the residue of the Trust shall be distributed to the following alternate beneficiary: ________. If no beneficiary named above survives the Grantor, the residue of the Trust shall be distributed to the Grantor's heirs-at-law, their identities and respective shares to be determined under the intestacy laws of the State of ________ in effect at the date of the Grantor's death.
ARTICLE VIII. GENERAL TRUST PROVISIONS AND POWERS OF THE TRUSTEE
§ 8.1. The expression "the Trustee" used throughout this Agreement includes the singular and plural, and the masculine, feminine, and neuter gender, as appropriate and required by context.
§ 8.2. To carry out the terms of this Trust, the Trustee shall have the following powers, to be exercised in the Trustee's well-considered discretion at any time in the management of any trust created hereunder, namely:
a. To receive, hold, maintain, administer, collect, invest, and reinvest the trust assets, and to collect and apply the income, profits, and principal of the Trust in accordance with the terms of this Agreement;
b. To receive additional assets from other sources, including assets received under the Will of the Grantor or any other individual;
c. To make expenditures as necessary to carry out the intent and purpose of the Trust;
d. Subject to the Grantor's direction to the contrary, to sell, call in, and convert into money any trust property, including real property, that the Trustee in his or her best judgment deems advisable;
e. Subject to the Grantor's direction to the contrary, to mortgage or pledge trust property where the Trustee considers it prudent and advisable to do so;
f. Subject to the Grantor's direction to the contrary, to borrow money when the Trustee considers it advisable to do so;
g. Subject to the Grantor's direction to the contrary, to lend money to a trust beneficiary if the Trustee considers it to be in the beneficiary's best interest to do so;
h. To make expenditures for the purpose of improving, repairing, or maintaining any property;
i. To exercise all rights and options of an owner of any securities held in trust;
j. To lease trust property, including real estate, without limit as to term;
k. To make investments the Trustee considers prudent and advisable, without being limited to those investments authorized by law for trustees, subject to the prudent investor rule;
l. To receive additional property from any source and in any form of ownership;
m. To employ any third person or persons to conduct any business or perform any actions related to the Trust, including the receipt and payment of money, without being liable for loss reasonably incurred;
n. To settle, waive, or pursue any claims at any time due to or by the Trust to the extent the Trustee considers this to be in the best interest of the trust beneficiaries, and to make binding agreements with respect thereto;
o. To pay himself or herself reasonable compensation out of the trust assets for services in administering the Trust; and
p. To employ and rely on advice and counsel given by any attorney, accountant, investment advisor, money manager, or other qualified professional to assist the Trustee in the administration of the Trust, and to compensate them from the trust assets.
§ 8.3. The above powers granted to the Trustee are in addition to any powers and elective rights granted to the Trustee by state or federal law or statute, including the Uniform Trust Code and the Uniform Prudent Investor Act as enacted in the Governing State, or by any other provision of this Agreement, and may be exercised as often as required and without approval of any court.
§ 8.4. Subject to the terms of this Agreement, the Trustee shall not be held liable for any loss to the estate or to any beneficiary resulting from the Trustee's good faith efforts to manage the Trust and to exercise any discretion granted in this Agreement.
§ 8.5. This Trust shall be administered as independently of court supervision as possible under the laws of the State of ________, which shall have jurisdiction over the Trust.
§ 8.6. If any provision of this Trust is held invalid or unenforceable, such holding shall not affect any other provision that can be given effect without the invalid provision, and to this end the provisions of this Trust are declared severable.
ARTICLE IX. RIGHT TO DIRECT INVESTMENTS
§ 9.1. At any time that the Trust holds investments, and provided that the Grantor is not under a disability as defined herein, the Grantor may direct any Trustee to purchase, sell, or retain any Trust investment, and the Trustee shall act in accordance with such direction without liability.
ARTICLE X. REVOCATION OR AMENDMENT
§ 10.1. During the Grantor's lifetime, the Grantor may revoke or amend this Agreement, in whole or in part, at any time by delivering to the Trustee an appropriate written revocation or amendment, signed and dated by the Grantor.
§ 10.2. If the Trustee consents, the power of revocation, but not the power of amendment, may be exercised by a duly appointed and acting attorney-in-fact for the Grantor for the purpose of withdrawing assets from the Trust.
§ 10.3. Upon the death of the Grantor, this Trust shall become irrevocable and shall no longer be subject to amendment, modification, or revocation, except as may otherwise be permitted by applicable law.
ARTICLE XI. GOVERNING LAW
§ 11.1. This Agreement, and the validity, construction, administration, and enforcement hereof, shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of ________, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles.
§ 11.2. The place of administration of this Trust shall be ________, and any proceeding involving the Trust shall be brought in a court of competent jurisdiction in ________ County, State of ________.
ARTICLE XII. RULE AGAINST PERPETUITIES
§ 12.1. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement to the contrary, each trust created by this Agreement shall terminate, if it has not previously terminated, no later than twenty-one (21) years after the death of the last surviving beneficiary of this Agreement who is living at the time of the death of the Grantor, at the end of which period the Trustee shall distribute all principal and all accrued, accumulated, and undistributed income to the persons then entitled to such distributions, in the manner and proportions stated herein, free of trust.
ARTICLE XIII. SPENDTHRIFT PROVISION
ARTICLE XIV. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
§ 14.1. The titles at the heads of the articles and paragraphs of this Trust are inserted for reference purposes only and shall not be considered as forming a part of this Trust in interpreting its provisions. All words used in any gender shall extend to and include all genders, and singular words shall include the plural and vice versa. Any pronoun shall be deemed to refer to the person or persons intended regardless of gender or number.
§ 14.2. For purposes of determining distributions under this Trust, no person or organization shall be deemed to have survived the Grantor unless such person or entity is surviving or in existence on the thirtieth (30th) day after the date of the Grantor's death.
§ 14.3. No fiduciary who is a natural person shall, in the absence of fraudulent conduct or bad faith, be individually liable to any beneficiary of the trust estate, and the trust estate shall indemnify such natural person from any and all claims or expenses in connection with or arising out of that fiduciary's good faith actions or inactions, except for such actions or inactions which constitute fraudulent conduct or bad faith. No successor Trustee shall be obligated to inquire into, or be in any way accountable for, the previous administration of the trust property.
§ 14.4. The name(s) of the Grantor's child or children is/are: ________.
§ 14.5. The term "child" or "children" as used in this Agreement includes the child or children named above and any children born to the Grantor or legally adopted by the Grantor after the Grantor has signed this Agreement.
§ 14.6. If the value of the Trust is insufficient to fulfill all of the bequests described in this Agreement, the Trustee shall abate each bequest by a proportionate amount according to the Trustee's discretion and best judgment, consistent with applicable law.
§ 14.7. If any beneficiary named in this Agreement contests in court any of the provisions of this Trust, or institutes any proceeding to invalidate or set aside this Trust or any of its provisions, then each and all such persons shall not be entitled to any devise, legacy, bequest, or benefit under this Trust, and such interest or share in the trust estate shall be disposed of as if that contesting beneficiary had predeceased the Grantor without surviving issue, to the maximum extent permitted by the law of the Governing State.
§ 14.8. This Agreement, together with Schedule A and any duly executed amendments, constitutes the entire agreement of the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof and supersedes all prior understandings, whether oral or written.
SIGNATURES
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have signed my name on this ______ day of the month of ___________________ of the year ___________, in the City of ___________________________, the State of ________, declaring and publishing this instrument as my Living Trust, in the presence of the undersigned witnesses, who witnessed and subscribed this my Living Trust at my request and in my presence. I attest that I have signed this instrument willingly (or willingly directed another to sign on my behalf), that I execute it as my free and voluntary act for the purposes expressed in the Living Trust, and that I am eighteen (18) years of age or older, of sound mind, and under no constraint or undue influence.
______________________________________
________, Grantor
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have signed my name on this ______ day of the month of ___________________ of the year ___________, in the City of ___________________________, the State of ________, acknowledging and accepting my appointment as the Trustee in this Living Trust, in the presence of the undersigned witnesses, who witnessed and subscribed this Living Trust at the Grantor's request and in the Grantor's presence. I attest that I have signed this instrument willingly, that I execute it as my free and voluntary act for the purposes expressed in the Living Trust, and that I am eighteen (18) years of age or older, of sound mind, and under no constraint or undue influence.
______________________________________
________, Trustee
SIGNED AND DECLARED by ________ on this ______ day of the month of ___________________ of the year ___________ to be their Living Trust, in our presence, in the City of ___________________________, the State of ________, who at their request, in their presence and in the presence of each other, all being present at the same time, have signed our names as witnesses. We do hereby attest that the Grantor signs this instrument willingly (or willingly directs another to sign for the Grantor), and that each of us, in the presence and hearing of the Grantor, hereby signs this Living Trust as witness to the Grantor's signing, and that to the best of our knowledge the Grantor is eighteen (18) years of age or older, of sound mind, and under no constraint or undue influence.
___________________________
Witness #1 Signature
___________________________
Witness #1 Printed Name
___________________________
Witness #1 Street Address
___________________________
Witness #1 City, State
___________________________
Witness #2 Signature
___________________________
Witness #2 Printed Name
___________________________
Witness #2 Street Address
___________________________
Witness #2 City, State
NOTARY ACKNOWLEDGMENT
STATE OF ________
COUNTY OF ________
Subscribed, sworn to, and acknowledged before me by ________, the Grantor, and by ________, the Trustee,
and subscribed and sworn to before me by ___________________________ and ___________________________, witnesses,
this _________ day of _____________________, 20_____.
(seal)
(signed) ___________________________
Notary Public
My commission expires: ___________________________
SCHEDULE A
List of Assets to be Held in the Trust
The Grantor has transferred, assigned, conveyed, and delivered to the Trustee the following assets, to be held, managed, and distributed under the terms of this Living Trust as described above:
________
Grantor: ______________________________________ Date: ______________________
Trustee: ______________________________________ Date: ______________________
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