Last year, I prepared a Revocable Living Trust in Ohio
while a resident there. This year I have purchased a home
in Florida, established residency there, and now I am in
the process of selling my home in Ohio. Friends have told
me that I should amend my revocable living trust to
indicate that I am a Florida resident. Can I do it by just
completing a form such as the exhibit below from a book?

Form 7: Amendment to Living Trust for One Person
Amendment To Living Trust
This Amendment to The ________[(1) your name]_______ Living
Trust dated ______[date Declaration of Trust signed]____,
20__, is made this _________ day of ________________, 20__,
by ________[your name]___________, the grantor and trustee
of the trust. Under the power of amendment reserved to the
grantor of the trust, the grantor amends the trust as
follows:
1. The following is added to the Declaration of Trust:
________________________
2. The following is deleted from the Declaration of Trust:
________________________
[Repeat as needed]
In all other respects, the Declaration of Trust as executed
on ________________, 20__, by the grantor is hereby
affirmed.
Executed at ______[city]_____, ____[state]_____, on
___[date]___, 20__.
__________________________________________________
Grantor and Trustee
Notary's Acknowledgment
State of _____________________________________________
County of ___________________________________________
On ______________________, 20__, before me,
______________________, a notary public in and for said
state, personally appeared ________________________,
personally known to me (or proved to me on the basis of
satisfactory evidence) to be the person whose name is
subscribed to the within Amendment to Living Trust, and
acknowledged to me that he/she executed the same in his/her
authorized capacity and that by his/her signature on the
instrument he/she executed the Amendment to Living Trust.
__________________________________________
Signature of Notary [SEAL]

Last year, I prepared a Revocable Living Trust in Ohio while a resident
there. This year I have purchased a home in Florida, established residency
there, and now I am in the process of selling my home in Ohio. Friends have
told
me that I should amend my revocable living trust to indicate that I am a
Florida resident. Can I do it by just completing a form such as the exhibit
below from a book?

On Tue, 27 Jul 2004 21:25:56 GMT, "Les" <lester123_nospam@att.net>
wrote:
No, that would end up creating complications for yourself or your
heirs.
Get a lawyer who knows what he is doing to prepare a proper living
trust that meets Florida requirements. Living trusts are creatures of
state law, and states do not have fully uniform laws on the subject.
Florida in particular has been troublesome in cases where property
that would have been eligible for the homestead exemption is held in a
living trust. In at least one case, it was ruled that a living trust
was not a person and was ineligible under Florida law for the
homestead exemption. Bankrupt woman lost her house.
--
Not a lawyer, don't do this without a lawyer,
Chris Green

Christopher-
What is so special about Florida law requirements vs most
other places, like Ohio in my case? My Revocable Living
Trust is very simple, so what could possibly happen to
create complications for my heirs? I have a house and a
brokerage account.
It just so happens that my new home is currently titled in
my name, and not in the trust with me as trustee. The
small company that gave me the mortgage would not loan
money to a trust (told to me 3 days before closing date).

Now the mortgage has been sold to Wells Fargo, so I was
going to check with them about retitling.

The homestead
exemption should not be a problem, for Palm Beach county
allows a revocable trust to own the property with me as
trustee as long as I give them a copy of the trust.

I prepared the current trust with the software Quicken
Lawyer, by Nolo.

......


"Christopher Green" <cj.green@att.net> wrote in message
news:isceg05td91j0mchif4i0ajt4hhsqj9c5i@4ax.com...

Christopher-
What is so special about Florida law requirements vs most other places, like
Ohio in my case? My Revocable Living Trust is very simple, so what could
possibly happen to create complications for my heirs? I have a house and a
brokerage account.

It just so happens that my new home is currently titled in my name, and not
in the trust with me as trustee. The small company that gave me the
mortgage would not loan money to a trust (told to me 3 days before closing
date). Now the mortgage has been sold to Wells Fargo, so I was going to
check with them about retitling. The homestead exemption should not be a
problem, for Palm Beach county allows a revocable trust to own the property
with me as trustee as long as I give them a copy of the trust.

On Wed, 28 Jul 2004 16:43:26 GMT, "Les" <lester123_nospam@att.net>
wrote:
Florida has an especially generous homestead exemption. This means it
is relatively easy to keep your home out of the hands of creditors in
Florida, if you go insolvent or end up in bankruptcy.
Problem is, there was a bizarre case (In re Bosonetto, widely
discussed, just Google on Bosonetto) in which Bosonetto, who had
placed her home in a living trust, was denied the homestead exemption.
The grounds for denying her homestead exemption were that the living
trust, to which she had transferred her property, was not a person,
and a non-person could not invoke the homestead exemption.
If you aren't going to put real estate in your living trust, there
isn't much problem. But if you are considering putting real estate in,
you need to understand that a conflict between living trusts and
homestead exemptions in Florida remains unresolved, and this is no
place for do-it-yourself trusts or even Usenet advice. If you are
considering doing this, you need a Florida lawyer. Period.
Palm Beach isn't your problem, it's the state of Florida, and the
confusion that resulted from the Bosonetto decision. Just because Palm
Beach lets you record doesn't mean your homestead exemption will stand
up. At this point, nobody can really say, except to point out that it
may very well not.
See a Florida lawyer before retitling your property.
--
Not a lawyer,
Chris Green

Thanks Christopher for your words of advice and caution. In Ohio, I know
about 20 people who have revocable living trusts and they all have their
home property retitled as such. In Florida, I do not know anyone with a
revocable living trust, but lawyers I notice have seminars indicating
"trusts are good to have". Would you venture a guess as to the percent of
people who include their home in their revocable living trust.
Also, I have been previously cautioned that retitling the home to the trust
in Florida now exposes the home to creditors / law suits, etc. (don't have
this advantage of homestead exemption). I am not really concerned about
that since I am retired, have lots of other assets, and carry lots of
insurance (including umbrella policy). I feel that going to a Florida
lawyer now will only caution me again with no new information. Do you know
something I do not know?