WorkflowTrusts, Estates & Probate

Trust Funding Review

Trust funding that reads each deed, statement and beneficiary form against the trust’s exact title, and keeps every asset on a board until a document proves it.

Watch it work Book a walkthrough

See each funding feature, from the board to the deed ↓

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The problem

The funding letter goes home with the client, and the deed stays as it was

After the signing ceremony, the clients leave with a funding letter and a list of institutions to call. Each bank, broker, plan and county wants its own form, its own signatures and its own copy of the certification of trust. The paralegal chases replies by phone and email, on a flat fee that was spent at the signing.

The misses stay hidden until someone dies. A broker writes that the account was re-registered while its statement still reads joint tenants. A retirement plan still names the estate as contingent, or a sibling from a form signed years before. Whatever was left outside passes under the pour-over will, through probate, with statutory fees charged on the gross estate.

Built forEstate planning attorneysTrust paralegalsPractice managersTrust clients

The Problem Today

A trust avoids probate only for what it owns, yet funding is left to clients and nobody reads the proof.

$124T: of wealth projected to pass between generations by 2048 published

Chased by phone and email today

Deeds
Accounts
Forms
Follow-ups

An email taken as proofRe-registered, says the broker, yet the statement still reads joint
Old beneficiary formsA sibling from years back, or the estate, still named

The Solution

Trust and every asset readThe exact title from the trust; each deed, statement and form cited
Title now beside the trust’sEach asset a card: what it says today and what the trust requires
Letters and deeds draftedEach institution’s own form; the legal description copied word for word
Confirmed only by a documentA card moves when a new statement, recorded deed or plan letter says so

Built-in controls

Every letter and deed approved by an attorney
Retirement accounts never retitled to the trust
Confirmed on a document, never on an email

What You Get

Each asset stays open on the board until a statement, a recorded deed or a plan’s letter shows the trust’s exact name.

1.5 h: of paralegal time per trust, down from 6–10 hours our estimate

One clear to-do for the clientA signing date and a signature, with nothing else to chase
A board for each trust in fundingEach asset tracked to the document that proves it
Beneficiary forms that matchSpouse first, then the trust, read from each plan’s letter

Asset by asset

Trust funding on one board, each asset held open until a document proves it

The screens follow funding as it runs, from reading the instrument to the clients’ last signature.

01Funding board
A funding board where each asset waits for its own document to move it
How it works
- Each of the twelve assets that needed work is a card in one of four lanes: Unfunded, Letter sent, Retitled, Confirmed
- Each card sets the title found now beside what the trust needs, with its citation
- A bar above the lanes shows what would go through probate if both clients died today: $1,659,600
Trust funding paralegalSees which of the twelve open assets is stuck, and where, without paging through a funding letter and a folder of emails.
02Trust terms
The trust read once for the exact title each asset must carry
How it works
- Reads the 34-page instrument: name, trustees, successors, Schedule A and the funding clause
- Each term cites its article, and each asset type gets its funding rule
- A term that reads two ways goes to the attorney as a question
Estate planning attorneyKnows each letter and deed will carry the trust’s title the way the trust words it, read once and cited to its article.
03Assets and title
Every asset’s title as found, set against the title the trust requires
How it works
- Deeds, statements, policies and beneficiary confirmations read, the owner line cited
- Each row names its method: deed, re-registration, beneficiary form, assignment or none
- Click a cited title to see the line it came from
Trust funding paralegalWorks from a full asset schedule with the proof attached, instead of the client’s memory of how an account is held.
04The home, card open
Each card opens on its whole history and the step that comes next
How it works
- The title found and the title required, with the words that differ marked
- Each event on the asset in order, ending with the notary appointment
- A drafted next step, with a button straight to the deed
Trust funding paralegalAnswers the attorney’s question about the house in a minute: what the deed says now, what has been done and what is booked.
05Beneficiary forms
Beneficiary forms read for the contingent name a checklist never opens
How it works
- Primary and contingent read from each form on file, set against the trust’s retirement article
- A plan whose contingent is the estate is flagged, since that account would pass through probate
- When a plan refuses the firm’s letter, its own form is used from then on
Estate planning attorneyFinds the old form that names a sister, or the estate, while the client can still sign a new one.
06Letters to institutions
A letter to each institution in its own format, held for an attorney
How it works
- One draft per institution, with the exact trust title and a certification of trust
- The certificate of deposit re-registers at maturity, so no early-withdrawal penalty is paid
- Approval is the attorney’s alone; sending stays with the paralegal
Estate planning attorneyApproves letters to seven institutions, each already set in the format that institution accepts.
07Home deed, draft beside vesting
A trust transfer deed that keeps the legal description word for word
How it works
- The legal description is copied from the vesting deed: 29 of 29 words match
- Seven checks before signing, from reassessment and transfer tax to the lender and the home insurer
- Agents draft the deed; recording waits for the attorney, the clients and the notary
Estate planning attorneyApproves the deed for the notary signing knowing no lot number, map book or parcel number was retyped.
08Brokerage, confirmed
An asset confirmed on its new statement, never on an institution’s email
How it works
- The broker’s email saying re-registered is logged as an email and moves nothing
- The new statement registers the account to the trustees, and the card moves to Confirmed
- What would pass through probate drops to $1,247,000, with nine of twelve confirmed
Trust funding paralegalStops counting an account as funded on a client’s word or a broker’s email, and has the page to show the attorney.
09Client to-do
A client to-do written from the board, short enough to act on
How it works
- Written from the board in plain words: sign the house deed, sign the credit union instruction
- The message waits until the deed and the instruction are both approved
Trust funding paralegalSends the clients one short message they can act on, in place of a funding letter they file and forget.

An old IRA form, an estate as contingent, an email and a maturing certificate

Found on a single family trust, each one left in place by a signed funding letter.

The wrong contingent on an IRA

The husband’s traditional IRA still named his sister as contingent, on a form he signed long before the trust. The trust leaves everything to the children, so a new form went out.

Probate by the back door

The wife’s workplace retirement plan named her own estate as contingent. The plan refused the firm’s letter and asked for its own form, which now names the trustees.

An email that said re-registered

The broker emailed that the joint account was done, but its statement still read joint tenants with right of survivorship. The card stayed in Retitled until the next statement named the trustees.

A certificate days from maturity

Breaking the certificate of deposit early costs 180 days of dividends. The credit union agreed to re-register it at maturity on the member’s written instruction, so that is what the letter asks.

Around the board

More of the trust funding file, from the firm’s list to its standing rules

Screens the firm keeps open beside the board, from its full trust list to its settings.

List of 38 trusts in funding, each with its signing date, assets confirmed, value and next open item, the family trust at the top — **Thirty-eight trusts at once**Trusts signed in the last 90 days, each with assets confirmed, value and the next open item, the ones needing a person on top.

Source passage from the trust, Article 9.3 on page 18, the beneficiary rule highlighted, with the page image kept in the funding file — **The article behind the rule**Article 9.3, opened from its citation: each spouse names the other first and the trust as contingent.

Assets filtered to the four still open, $1,659,600 in all, with a note that retirement accounts are funded by naming the trust as contingent — **What is still open**The asset table filtered to the four open assets, $1,659,600 in all, beside the rule that retirement accounts move by beneficiary form.

Rental property deeds side by side: the old grant deed and the recorded trust transfer deed naming the trustees, marked confirmed from the recorded copy — **The rental, recorded**The rental’s trust transfer deed beside its old grant deed. The recorded copy names the trustees exactly, so this card is closed.

Audit trail for the trust: drafts by agents, approvals by the attorney, sends by the paralegal and confirmations, each with its time — **Each draft, approval and send**Agents draft and read; people approve and send. Each line names who acted, what they did and which asset it touched.

Firm settings: institution templates, the rule that only a document showing the exact trust title confirms an asset, and follow-up reminders — **Standing rules for every trust**Institution templates, a confirmation rule no one on staff can lower, and follow-up drafts 10 business days after a letter and 5 after a form.

Probate exposure on one trust fell from $2,765,700 to $1,247,000 in six weeks

What would pass outside the trust if both clients died, with statutory fees paid once to the attorney and again to the executor.

Point in the funding	Would go through probate	Statutory fees
At signing, twelve assets outside	$2,765,700	$81,314
Before the brokerage statement is read	$1,659,600	$59,192
Once the statement names the trustees	$1,247,000	$50,940
After the home deed is recorded	$262,000	$16,480

Read, draft, watch

Agents read and draft; only a document they read can close a card

Six jobs, each with the decision it returns to the firm.

Trust terms reader

Reads the trust for its exact title, trustees, Schedule A, funding clause and what each asset type needs.

Never interprets an unclear dispositive term; it asks the attorney

Title reader

Reads deeds, statements, policies and beneficiary confirmations, and cites the owner or beneficiary line.

Never infers ownership from a name alone
Never edits a figure

Funding gap checker

Compares each asset with the trust and flags what is unfunded or mis-designated.

Never recommends retitling a retirement account

Letter drafter

Drafts the letter, certification of trust and form for each institution, and the client to-do.

Never sends anything

Deed drafter

Drafts the trust transfer deed with the legal description copied from the vesting deed, plus the change-of-ownership report.

Never records a deed
Never changes a legal description

Confirmation watcher

Reads each new statement, recorded deed or plan letter, and moves a card to Confirmed when the trust’s exact title appears.

Never confirms on an email or a phone call

Trust funding, from retirement accounts to recorded deeds

What is trust funding?

Trust funding puts each asset in the name of the trust, or names the trust on the beneficiary form, so the trust controls it. This solution reads the trust and each deed, statement and form, sets every asset’s title beside the one the trust requires, drafts what fixes it and confirms each change on a document.

What happens to an unfunded trust when a client dies?

Anything still titled to the client passes under the pour-over will, which goes through probate before it reaches the trust, with statutory fees on the gross estate. An old beneficiary form can also send an account to someone the plan left out.

Which assets should stay out of the trust’s name?

Retirement accounts. Retitling one to a trust counts as a full distribution, taxed as income that year. They are funded by naming the spouse first and the trust as contingent, as the trust’s retirement article says, and the funding gap checker never recommends otherwise.

When does an asset count as funded?

Only when a document shows the trust’s exact title: a new statement, a recorded deed or a plan’s confirmation letter. An email or a call is logged and the card stays where it was. Staff cannot lower that rule.

Does it handle funding a revocable trust with real estate and a business interest?

Yes. Real property gets a drafted trust transfer deed with the legal description copied from the vesting deed, plus the change-of-ownership report and letters to the lender and insurer. A membership interest gets an assignment and, where the operating agreement asks, the manager’s consent.

How are the clients’ account numbers and documents protected?

Account and tax numbers show only their last digits. A trust’s deeds and statements stay with the firm, and the contract bars training any model on them. Drafts, approvals, sends and confirmations each leave a line in the audit trail.

Trusts, Estates & Probate