Apre ou siyen trust Illinois ou a

Funding: a trust governs what is titled to it

A trust is created by transferring property to a trustee during the settlor's lifetime or at death, by the owner's declaration of holding identifiable property as trustee, or by the other methods the statute lists (760 ILCS 3/401). Retitle accounts to the trustee, and review beneficiary designations so they agree with the plan.

The transfer of real property to a trust requires a transfer of legal title to the trustee evidenced by a written instrument of conveyance (760 ILCS 3/115) — a recorded deed. A certification of trust gives the title company the facts it needs without the instrument (760 ILCS 3/1013). Illinois assesses property each year on its value, and no statute in the Illinois statute library reassesses a home because it was deeded to its owner's trust.

While you are living: your trust, your control

You may revoke the trust only if the instrument expressly provides that it is revocable or that you have an unrestricted power of amendment, and amend it only if the instrument expressly provides that it is revocable or amendable (760 ILCS 3/602(a)) — by the method the instrument provides or, where none is exclusive, by a later signed writing other than a will that refers to the trust (760 ILCS 3/602(c)). While the trust is revocable and you have capacity to revoke it, the beneficiaries' rights are subject to your control, the trustee's duties are owed exclusively to you, and the trustee may follow your direction even where it differs from the terms (760 ILCS 3/603(a), (b)).

Your successor trustee

The person your trust names steps in when you can no longer serve. A designated successor accepts by the trust's method or by acting as trustee, and is deemed to decline after 120 days' silence (760 ILCS 3/701), and then has the duties of a trustee — among them, within 90 days after accepting and within 90 days of the trust becoming irrevocable, notices to each qualified beneficiary (760 ILCS 3/813.1(d)(1)(A), (b)(1)). A successor is under no duty to inquire into your acts as trustee and is not liable for them (760 ILCS 3/812). Tell the person you named where the trust is.

Keeping it current

Review the trust after a marriage, a divorce, a birth or a move. Unless the instrument or the judgment expressly provides otherwise, a judicial termination of your marriage revokes every revocable provision for the former spouse — gifts, powers of appointment and fiduciary nominations — in an instrument executed before the judgment, and the trust is administered as if the former spouse had died (760 ILCS 3/605). A will can pour property left in your name into the trust (755 ILCS 5/4-4).

If you can no longer manage it

While you lack capacity to revoke the trust, the trustee's duties are owed to you and to the current beneficiaries, with your interests first (760 ILCS 3/603(c)). An agent under a power of attorney may exercise your powers over the trust only to the extent the power of attorney expressly authorizes it (760 ILCS 3/602(e)). A statutory short form power of attorney for health care covers medical decisions (755 ILCS 45/4-10).

What happens at your death

The trust becomes irrevocable. Your successor trustee secures the property (760 ILCS 3/809), sends the 90-day notices (760 ILCS 3/813.1), and accounts at least annually and at termination (760 ILCS 3/813.1(b)(2)–(4)). The trust's property answers for your creditors, the costs of administering your estate, the funeral expenses and the family's awards to the extent the probate estate is inadequate (760 ILCS 3/505(a)(5)), and every claim is barred two years after the death (755 ILCS 5/18-12). The trust may be contested within the earlier of 2 years after the death and the period the trustee's notice starts (760 ILCS 3/604(a)); nine months after the death the trustee may distribute unless a contest is pending or threatened (760 ILCS 3/604(b)).

Where to keep the original

Somewhere safe that your successor trustee can reach, with copies kept apart. A trust is not registered with a court in Illinois and is administered without continuing judicial supervision unless the court orders it (760 ILCS 3/201); after the trust ends, the trustee keeps a copy of the instrument for at least 7 years (760 ILCS 3/810(e)).

When a licensed Illinois attorney is the right next call

TrusteeClear explains and organizes; it does not review a trust or say what is missing from it. Many people bring their trust to a licensed Illinois attorney of their choosing to coordinate deeds, beneficiary designations and a pour-over will, or to update it after a life event.