How should a home be titled if it is held in a living trust in Utah?
Properly funding your Utah living trust is just as important as creating the trust itself. If the trust is not funded, then the trust documents by themselves are useless.
One of the more common mistakes made when funding a living trust in Utah involves the way that trust property is titled.
It is common for people to refer to property held under a living trust as being titled “in the name of the trust.” While this may be an easy short-hand reference, it is not technically accurate. A trust technically does not “own” property. Instead, the trustee owns or holds the property in trust for the beneficiaries of the trust.
Suppose that John Doe is the grantor who has established the “John Doe Living Trust” and that he will also act as the trustee of his own trust during his life. If John wants to transfer his home into the trust, then a deed should be executed giving title to “John Doe as trustee for the John Doe Living Trust.” The deed should also be recorded with the county recorder’s office for the the county in which the property is located.
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