The home
Sign a deed from you to you as trustee, and record it in the county where the home sits.
- Your mortgage. 12 USC 1701j-3(d)(8), part of the Garn-St Germain Act, bars a lender from calling a due-on-sale clause on a home of fewer than five units when the transfer is into an inter vivos trust, the borrower is and remains a beneficiary, and the transfer does not move rights of occupancy.
- Insurance. Tell your homeowner's insurer and ask your title insurer whether the policy follows the transfer.
- Homestead. Some states want specific deed language to keep homestead protections. Read your state's deed form before you record.
Bank accounts
Retitle each account in the trust's name, or name the trust as the payable-on-death beneficiary.
Your bank has a form for both.
Brokerage accounts
Retitle the account to the trust, or add a transfer-on-death designation that names the trust.
Retirement accounts
Leave an IRA or a 401(k) in your name and use the beneficiary form.
Section 408(d)(1) includes in gross income any amount paid or distributed out of an individual retirement plan, except where that subsection says otherwise. Name people, or the trust, on the beneficiary form.
Life insurance
A policy pays the person or trust named on the beneficiary form.
Confirm the form matches your plan. If ownership of the policy is the question, compare trust types on the family shortlist.
Vehicles
Ask your state's motor vehicle office whether a car or truck can be titled to the trust or carry a transfer-on-death title.
A shop, a farm or a business interest
Assign the interest to the trust in writing, after you read the agreement that governs transfers.
An operating agreement, partnership agreement, or set of bylaws often requires consent before an interest moves.
Everything else
An assignment of personal property covers furniture, tools, jewelry, and other items that carry no title.
Keep the funding list with the trust. Note what moved and the date it moved.