On Friday, July 26th, attorney Candice Joy discusses the trust administration process after the first spouse passes.

When a couple has a joint revocable living trust and the first spouse dies, there is common misconception that there is nothing that needs to be done. However, there are at least a few things to address.

In a trust where are all assets are left to the survivor, as long as all assets were titled in the trust it shouldn’t be an issue. You will want to get an appraisal for a date of death value of the property. You will also want to make sure to update the SSN of the trust if the one being used was the one of the now deceased.

There may be some estate taxes to address if you exceed the federal or state limits. You may also want to consult an attorney if you want to elect portability which is if the survivor’s estate may exceed threshold.

The other type is one where the trust splits. Usually about half goes into a survivor’s trust the benefit of the second spouse and the other half goes into the family trust for the benefit of their children after the death of the second spouse.

There are a few more steps with this one. Make sure everything is titled correctly. You will need to obtain a separate tax ID for the family trust. Also, the family trust is an irrevocable trust and the children become qualified beneficiaries. If a tax return needs to be filed, it would be separate from your personal finances.

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