West Palm Beach Trusts: Special Rules for Testamentary Trusts and Those Dealing With Land.

Are you preparing a testamentary trust in West Palm Beach?  Are you creating an inter-vivos trust for your enjoyment? Did you know that certain trusts are allowed to be oral and without formal writing? You may want to make sure your trust falls within these lines – do you know how? Here is a quick guide to trust formalities but for more in depth analysis it’s always best to contact an experienced Palm Beach probate litigator.

Oral Trusts

• Generally in West Palm Beach there is no law stating that a trust must be in writing, rather it is when a trust creeps into another area of the law that the writing requirement will come into place.
• So when can you have an oral trust?
• On anything that is not being used as a will substitute or involves real property (land or realty).
• This does not mean that it is good to have an oral trust.
• How do you plan on enforcing trustee duties and proving them to the court?
• The simple answer is its almost impossible, so write it all down.
• The real benefit of not having a writing required is that you do not have to prove any formalities within the writing, this is not to say that the writing should not exist.
• See why?
• So what about when it has to be in writing?

Testamentary Trusts

• One example of when a trust must be in writing is the testamentary trust or will substitute.
• In other words if you are going to use your trust to devise property the courts are going to make you jump through the same formalities that a testator in a will would.
• The only exception to that is you can skip the annoying and expensive probate process.
• So what will the writing need?
• The same formalities of a will.
• Do you know where to find those?
• Check Florida’s Will Statutes.
• In short though you are going to need to attesting witnesses and your signature.

Trusts Involving Real Estate

• The other common example of when a trust needs to be in writing is when it involves real property.
• If you want to convey real property West Palm Beach requires that it be done in writing.
• The same is true of real property held in a trust, in order for the transfer to the trustee to be valid there has to be a writing involved.
• Does this writing require you to put down the trustees duties or just the land transfer?
• Do you know how to ensure that your trust is in line with the Statute of Frauds and Statute of Wills in West Palm Beach?

Want to learn more? Check out our FAQ video library for information on guardianship, wills trust, estate planning and more!