Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

Amending Family Trust

Is it legal to amend a Family trust, holographically, signed and dated.


Asked on 1/13/08, 10:31 pm

3 Answers from Attorneys

Mitchell Roth MW Roth, Professional Law Corporation

Re: Amending Family Trust

Yes. A trust is a contract. What is styled, a "Family Trust" is typically a contract that creates a revocable trust. It can therefore by freely amended by the Trustors (the trust creators who place assets to be held in trust) by any means by which a contract can be amended. An amendment can be by any writing (assuming that the trust document provides that the trust agreement can be amended only by a writing, which most do), holograph or otherwise.

For a better understanding of this and all related issues, I suggest you get and read my book "How You Can Protect Your Loved Ones in the Event of Death or Disability (Without Paying a Legal Fees}" Not only does it explain virtually everything you need to know in plain English, but it contains in the Appendix a copy of the Legacy Living Trust Package. This is a complete trust package for the Middle Class including a Living trust for single or for married people, a durable general power of attorney, an advance healthcare directive, an Abstract of Trust, all necessary transfer documents and instructions. Having taught literally hundreds of seminars to thousand of regular middle class people, I have learned how to answer the most important questions in language understandable to all. Having learned over 30 years that most people that go to an attorney to pay $1200 or more for these documents don't understand the language in the unnecessarily complicated documents, don't understand what they are doing and why, and ofen make common but avoidable mistakes, I created the Legacy Living Trust Package.

You can order the book on-line at Amazon.com, but, it is better to order at www.IWant2CreateMyLegacy.com. If you order there, you will get a free special report entitled "The Seven (7) Most Common Mistakes Made by the Middle Class in Planning For the Inevitability of Death and the Likelihood of Disability, and How to Avoid Them." This report alone could save you and your family hundreds of times the cost of the book.

Again, the book is, to my knowledge, the only one written for regular people in the middle class, and it contains in an appendix the Legacy Living Trust Package, which to my knowledge is the only complete fill-in the blanks trust package written in simple English ("People Ease", not "Legalese") that will be valid in every State in the US.

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Answered on 1/14/08, 1:23 pm
Mitchell Roth MW Roth, Professional Law Corporation

Re: Amending Family Trust

Yes. A trust is a contract. What is styled, a "Family Trust" is typically a contract that creates a revocable trust. It can therefore by freely amended by the Trustors (the trust creators who place assets to be held in trust) by any means by which a contract can be amended. An amendment can be by any writing (assuming that the trust document provides that the trust agreement can be amended only by a writing, which most do), holograph or otherwise.

For a better understanding of this and all related issues, I suggest you get and read my book "How You Can Protect Your Loved Ones in the Event of Death or Disability (Without Paying a Legal Fees}" Not only does it explain virtually everything you need to know in plain English, but it contains in the Appendix a copy of the Legacy Living Trust Package. This is a complete trust package for the Middle Class including a Living trust for single or for married people, a durable general power of attorney, an advance healthcare directive, an Abstract of Trust, all necessary transfer documents and instructions. Having taught literally hundreds of seminars to thousand of regular middle class people, I have learned how to answer the most important questions in language understandable to all. Having learned over 30 years that most people that go to an attorney to pay $1200 or more for these documents don't understand the language in the unnecessarily complicated documents, don't understand what they are doing and why, and ofen make common but avoidable mistakes, I created the Legacy Living Trust Package.

You can order the book on-line at Amazon.com, but, it is better to order at www.IWant2CreateMyLegacy.com. If you order there, you will get a free special report entitled "The Seven (7) Most Common Mistakes Made by the Middle Class in Planning For the Inevitability of Death and the Likelihood of Disability, and How to Avoid Them." This report alone could save you and your family hundreds of times the cost of the book.

Again, the book is, to my knowledge, the only one written for regular people in the middle class, and it contains in an appendix the Legacy Living Trust Package, which to my knowledge is the only complete fill-in the blanks trust package written in simple English ("People Ease", not "Legalese") that will be valid in every State in the US.

Read more
Answered on 1/14/08, 1:24 pm
Phillip Lemmons, Esq. Phillip Lemmons APC, Attorneys at Law

Re: Amending Family Trust

Terms of the trust control. But most trusts permit the settlor to amend by a signed writing. Be careful because some trusts are irrevocable and unmodifiable. Read your trust carefully.

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Answered on 1/27/08, 4:19 pm


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