How to Amend a Revocable Trust for a Marriage Name Change

Update your trust documents when a wedding leads to a name change through a trust amendment.

Creating a revocable trust has a distinct advantage from many other trust types—the ability to quickly and easily amend the document. If you need to make a change, for instance a name change throughout the document due to marriage, amending the document to reflect that change is a straightforward process. With a few quick rewrites, you can legally change the name used, updating the document immediately upon signing the amendment and adding it to the original trust documents.

Things You'll Need

• Trust document
• Amendment

Instructions

1. Locate each section of the original revocable trust containing the name in its previous form.

2. Rewrite each section, substituting the changed name due to marriage for the previous name in the section language. Make your rewrites on a separate piece of paper, not the original document. Some states consider on-document corrections reason to disallow the document legally.

3. Sign the amendment with a notary public as a witness. File the amendment along with the original document and inform all trustees of the trust of your changes.

Tips & Warnings

• Check with an attorney before signing an amendment to a trust document to ensure that the amendment affects only those areas of the document that you wish affected.

References

• Pennyborn: How to Change or Revise a Revocable Living Trust
• NOLO: Nolo’s Guide to Living Trusts