Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Florida

An amendment to the trust, written and executed with the same formalities of the original trust. If you merely cross out and change something (even if you initial it) you probably will revoke the entire document, making it invalid.

Best thing to do is to go to an attorney and have it done right. Or, like some of my cases, come afterwards when attorneys make a lot more money trying to fix or attack these self made documents. There are attorneys that specialize in this.

Atty. Kaplan is right about having an atty. review UR Trust. I have written trusts that allow changes to B made by cross-outs and hand written changes with initials & current dates. Review UR Trust closely.

There are a few things that can be made without making a written executed amendment to your trust, however what you are trying to do is not one of them. The few type items that can be done are either stated in the trust itself, such as miscellanous changes that the Trustee can make, or referring to an atttached tangible property list you could do on your own without many formalities, that could give heirs or third parties an interest in only tangilbe non liquied type assets. Don't forget that any changes you try without proper execution and validity will almost always create future problems or challenges - in my 39 years in law practice it seems that litigation has "mushroomed" mainly because the client decides to gamble without spending the money necessary to prevent future disaster. The old maxim of "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" has never had more meaning than in today's American culture. It never ceases to amaze me that we try to do things ourselves even when it deals with the $100's of thousands that may be involved in our properties and estates and will not pay the relatively small amount needed to make the amendment, e.g. $400-$1,000 if that - but when the litigation comes at a later date, the client may become bitter at his/her relative and think nothing of immediately laying down $10,000 or more for a legal retainer to fight the heir who is making the contest. The American West all over again? Who knows!