Hello 

 

I keep getting the question "Where do you file a trust?"  The good news is you don’t file your trust. One of the major advantages of a living revocable trust is privacy.  It is very rare to have a trust filed with a government entity or public entity.

I specifically remember when Michael Jackson died.  For about a week the press was salivating over the whole story.  They were predicting fights between the family members, his exes, and a ton of others.  It was wall to wall coverage.

About a week into the whole mess, just when the press was ready to really get down and dirty, there was an announcement that Michael Jackson had a living revocable trust.  The coverage stopped, and the story was gone within 24 hours. 

The press and everyone knew that once the trust was announced, there was no hope of finding out what happened to the “mess” everyone was hoping for.  Nobody would find out the size of the estate, where property went, who got left out, none of it would be public.

I have actually watched the rich and famous over the years.  In some cases, the mess that occurs when someone dies lingers in the press for years.  If there is a living revocable trust, the whole issue is suddenly gone from the public eye, and there isn’t any mess – at least not a public one.

Why put your family through any public scrutiny?  You do have to use your trust well to make it actually “work” when you die, but it can certainly be done.  That’s what I spend so much time on in my Accumulation and Preservation of Wealth course. 

The point is, your trust is private.  You do not have to file it anywhere to make it “legal” or have it own your assets.  Your bank will take a copy of your certification of trust or maybe even the whole trust document.  Your brokerage firm will also make a copy because they have to know what the terms of the trust are in order to govern your brokerage account.

Your trust is private, it’s not secret.  Don’t ever “file” your trust anywhere.  I have a new YouTube out answering the question, Where Do You File a Trust.  I just gave you the bottom line, but if you want more detail view the video at our LegaLees YouTube channel using the following link: https://youtu.be/q9vsebha7xg