Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
Hello. I am helping my parents purchase a home. Their present home is in their trust and paperwork reads "John Smith and Jane Smith , Trustees of the Smith Family Trust dated January 1, 2000". We requested that all paperwork including the offer they made for the home be in this name. He insisted to shorten it as "The Smith Family Trust". Should we insist that he word it as their trust is named? He said that the title will be vested in their trust name, that there is not enough room on the documents to write it out completely. Thanks!
2 Answers from Attorneys
It doesn't have to be written out on every doc, but you should insist that the vesting on the actual deed is as you wrote above (like the current home.) There is plenty of room!
I would recommend against "The Smith Family Trust" since a trust is generally not a separate legal entity from its trustees. I would recommend any reasonable abbreviation of the full name that fits. Try "John & Jane Smith, Trustees - Smith Family Trust," or something like that. If needed "trustees" is abbreviated "tees" in legal usage. The title documents should use the full designation, but for a contract, as long as the contracting parties and their legal capacity as trustees can be determined, then it is sufficient.
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