The signed trust document is sitting in a folder, and most clients assume the hard work is done. It isn’t. A revocable living trust only controls assets that have been retitled into it. Until that retitling happens, the trust is an empty container. The assets you intended to protect are still exposed to exactly the probate process you were trying to avoid.
At Hartman - Attorneys at Law, we’ve been guiding Annapolis-area families through estate planning follow-through since 1931. The funding step is where well-intentioned plans most often stall. Not because of complexity, but because no one explained the specific offices, forms, and costs involved. That’s what this guide covers.
Signing Is the Start, Not the Finish
An unfunded trust is a signed document that does nothing for the assets you own. Real estate, bank accounts, investment accounts, and other titled assets each require a separate action to bring them under the trust’s umbrella. Until each one is retitled to name the trust as owner, those assets remain in your individual name and are subject to probate proceedings after death.
That said, not every asset belongs in the trust. Some transfers create tax complications, trigger lender notification requirements, or simply aren’t worth the administrative effort. Deciding what goes in and what stays out is a judgment call worth making with an attorney rather than working through on your own.
How to Transfer Real Estate Into Your Trust
Transferring real property into a revocable living trust requires preparing and recording a new deed that names you as trustee. In Anne Arundel County, where you record that deed depends on where the property sits.
Property inside Annapolis city limits has one additional stop before recording. The deed must first go to Annapolis City Hall at 160 Duke of Gloucester Street to complete municipal steps. Property elsewhere in the county skips that stop and goes directly to the county Tax Office and Office of Finance. After those preliminary steps, the deed is recorded at the Land Records Department inside the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County, located at 8 Church Circle, Annapolis, MD 21401.
Recordation Tax & Transfer Tax
Anne Arundel County’s recordation tax is $7.00 per $1,000 of value, rounded up to the nearest $500 increment. Maryland’s state transfer tax adds one half of one percent of the consideration, reduced to one quarter of one percent for a deed to a first-time Maryland homebuyer purchasing improved residential property as a principal residence. These costs are predictable once you know the assessed or agreed value of the property being transferred.
If the property carries a mortgage, notify the lender in writing before recording the deed. Most lenders accept a transfer into a revocable living trust without calling the loan due, but skipping that notice can create problems with the title company at a future closing.
Moving Financial & Business Accounts Into the Trust
Financial institutions don’t need a copy of the full trust agreement, and providing one would mean disclosing distribution terms, beneficiary names, and other private provisions. Maryland law gives trustees a cleaner option.
Under Estates and Trusts Article Section 14.5-910 of the Maryland Trust Act, a trustee can present a certification of trust (sometimes called a certificate of trust), a short-form document that confirms the trust exists, identifies the trustee’s authority, and allows transactions without exposing the full trust. Banks and title companies are authorized to rely on it. Most institutions will also ask for a letter of instruction explaining the account change alongside the certification. Brokerage firms follow a similar process but have their own paperwork. Business interests, including membership interests in LLCs, typically require an assignment of interest and a review of the operating agreement to confirm the transfer is permitted.
Assets That Should Stay Outside the Trust
Certain assets are better handled outside the trust entirely, with beneficiary designations coordinated to align with the trust’s overall plan.
- Retirement accounts (IRAs, 401(k)s): Retitling these into a trust’s name triggers immediate income tax on the entire balance. The right approach is to review and update the beneficiary designation, potentially naming the trust as a contingent beneficiary depending on the circumstances. This involves tax planning considerations that go beyond a standard funding checklist. Don’t do it without walking through the consequences first.
- Motor vehicles: The administrative effort of retitling a vehicle through the MVA typically outweighs the benefit. Vehicles with significant value warrant a separate conversation.
- Life insurance: The policy itself stays in your name, but the trust can be named as beneficiary to ensure proceeds flow according to the trust’s terms rather than passing through probate.
Keeping the Trust Funded as Your Life Changes
Most funding gaps don’t happen at the signing table. They develop slowly, as new accounts get opened, properties get refinanced, and the original checklist gets buried in a drawer.
A pour-over will accompanies most revocable living trusts for exactly this reason. It’s a backup document that catches any assets not transferred into the trust before death, directing them into the trust through probate. The pour-over will isn’t a substitute for funding. It’s an acknowledgment that gaps happen and a mechanism for closing them after the fact. The cost is that those assets still pass through probate first.
The better approach is maintaining an active funding checklist tied to your trust. Every time you open a new account, refinance a property, or acquire a titled asset, the checklist should be reviewed and updated. After major life events (property purchases, estate plan changes, new business interests) a brief review with your attorney confirms nothing has slipped outside the trust’s reach.
A properly signed trust that ends up in probate almost always traces back to a funding gap, not a drafting problem. If you’d like your funding checklist reviewed, we offer complimentary in-person and virtual consultations. Contact us at (443) 335-9661.