While we cannot provide legal advice on whether to restate, create, or revoke a trust, we’re happy to offer educational guidance and explain what’s possible through the platform.
Restating a Trust
A restatement replaces your original trust document entirely with a new version using the Wealth.com form, consolidating all changes into one document.
Key Advantage: You keep your existing trust name while changing other terms and inputs.
Trust Funding: Because the name stays the same, any assets already transferred into the trust (like real estate or bank accounts) do not need to be retitled. This is often the preferred path if re-titling assets would be a significant hassle.
The most important consideration is whether you should retain the name of your existing trust. If you have already transferred assets into your trust and re-titling will be a hassle (for example, real estate or a bank account), consider keeping the trust name and modifying the trust, rather than creating an entirely new trust.
How to Start a Restatement
To update your existing revocable trust using the Wealth.com workflow, follow these steps:
Navigate to the Document Center in the top header.
Locate the trust type you are restating (Joint or Individual Revocable Trust).
Click Start (for Joint Trusts) or click your Name (for Individual Trusts).
Select Begin My Trust to enter the workflow.
When prompted with "Do you want to create a New Trust or restate a Trust?", select Restate a Trust.
Follow the prompts to enter your existing trust name and provide your updated terms and inputs.
Creating a New Trust
You can choose to create a brand-new trust with a different name.
Trust Funding: If you are certain that the existing trust does not contain any assets that are difficult to title, you can create a new trust with a different name. A restatement of the trust replaces the original trust document entirely; however, you can choose to retain the same name, which means that the assets do not need to be retitled. However, if you have assets currently held in an existing trust and plan to transfer these assets to a new trust with a different name, you will need to retitle them under the new trust’s name. This step is essential to ensure that the assets are correctly transferred to the newly named trust.
Revocation: If your current trust holds no assets and you choose to start fresh, we recommend formally revoking the old trust. This typically involves signing a revocation document and notifying trustees; you should consult an attorney for this process.
If your current trust does not hold any titled assets, you can choose to create a new trust with a different name or keep the name the same-that is up to you! We strongly recommend formally revoking the old trust after confirming it is revocable. This typically involves signing a revocation document and notifying any other trustees. If you need to revoke a trust, please consult an attorney to understand the proper procedures for doing so.
Revocable trusts created outside our platform cannot be amended, but they can be uploaded to the Vault for safekeeping. Please note that you cannot upload an existing estate plan and modify it on the platform. Instead, you can either restate an existing revocable trust or create a new estate planning document within the Wealth.com platform and adopt the wealth form.
Here is a helpful article that provides further guidance on How Often Should You Update Your Estate Plan?: A Comprehensive Guide
Each situation is unique, and while we cannot provide legal advice, if you are seeking guidance tailored to your needs, we recommend consulting an attorney to ensure your wishes are properly carried out.