Divorce and Your Living Trust

A living trust is a document that places your assets into the ownership of a trust during your lifetime. After your death, the trust assets are distributed to your beneficiaries according to the terms you have created in the trust. Living trusts are a popular estate planning tool because the assets do not go through probate and the trust remains private and not part of the public record.

When you create a living trust, you name a trustee who is responsible for managing the trust assets. Many people name their spouse as trustee, or name themselves and choose their spouse to be successor trustee after their death. The trustee is responsible for managing and protecting the assets and making sure they are distributed to the beneficiaries.

If you have named your spouse as a trustee of your trust and you get a divorce, you will want to change your trustee as soon as possible. If you have named your spouse as one of your beneficiaries, you will also likely want to change this as soon as possible.

Revocable living trusts allow you to make changes to the trust at any time and are the most common type of living trust. If you have created a trust that is irrevocable, you still may be able to alter your trustee or beneficiary. Talk with your attorney about this. These changes can be made by consent, which may be an agreement you and your spouse settle upon in your divorce negotiations.

The Sampair Group is your divorce firm in Maricopa County. We are prepared to answer your questions and help you achieve the results you need. Call our office to schedule an appointment with one of our skilled attorneys today.