How to Obtain a Copy of a Living Trust

A living trust is a trust created during the grantor's lifetime. The grantor, also called a settlor, is the person who transfers property to a trustee, who then holds that property for the benefit of a beneficiary or beneficiaries. Living trusts are also called inter vivos trusts, which means "between the living" in Latin. The settlor, trustee, beneficiaries and the attorney who helped prepare the trust should all have a copy of the living trust instrument.

Instructions

1. Contact the attorney who created the trust if there was one. Although record retention laws vary by state, most states require attorneys to keep an original copy or an identical copy of the original for any living trust they helped create.

2. Contact the settlor, if possible. Whether he hired an attorney to create the living trust or he created it himself, the settlor should have a copy of the living trust.

3. Contact the trustee. The trustee should have a copy of the living trust.

4. Contact the beneficiaries. While the beneficiaries do not need a copy of the living trust, it is increasingly more common for trustees and settlors to provide beneficiaries with a copy of the living trust for their records.

References

• NOLO: Living Trust FAQ

Resources

• Lect Law: Difference Between Wills & Living Trust