Also known as: revocable living trusts · revocable trust · revocable trusts · living trust · living trusts · inter vivos trust · grantor trust
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A trust established by a settlor during the settlor's lifetime that the settlor may amend or revoke at any time. The settlor typically serves as trustee and beneficiary during life, with a successor trustee distributing assets to remainder beneficiaries upon the settlor's death without probate administration.
Ruby Rivera executes a will that directs her residuary estate to the trustee of her existing revocable living trust. The trust instrument was signed during her life but holds no assets at death. The pour-over provision adds the probate assets to the trust for distribution to her children under the trust terms.
Roger Ramirez, diagnosed with mild dementia, signs a revocable living trust naming his daughter as successor trustee. He later amends the trust to add bank accounts. A court applies the same capacity test used for wills and upholds the trust and amendment because Roger understood the nature of his property and the beneficiaries.
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Ricardo Rojas, domiciled in State A, creates a revocable living trust holding real property in State B. After his death the successor trustee seeks to administer the trust under State A law. The court weighs the parties' expectations and the trust's connection to each state to select the governing law for administration issues.
Robert Rivera, as trustee of the Marvin M. Brandt Revocable Trust, claims fee title to a former railroad right-of-way. The United States asserts the land reverted upon abandonment. The trust's ownership interest turns on whether the original conveyance conveyed a fee or an easement.
Rosalind Reed funds a revocable living trust and serves as trustee with broad powers to alter distributions. Upon her death the IRS includes the trust corpus in her estate. The court examines whether the retained powers equate to ownership for tax purposes.
Roland Rhodes sues in federal court alleging tortious interference with a revocable living trust that named him beneficiary. The defendant moves to dismiss under the probate exception. The court dismisses the claim because it would require determining the validity of the trust instrument itself.
No. Marital property transferred to a revocable living trust remains marital property. The transfer affects only legal title and management, not the underlying ownership interests between spouses.
The capacity required is the same as that needed to execute a will. A settlor must understand the nature of the property and the disposition being made.
A pour-over devise adds probate assets to an inter vivos trust or funds a trust whose terms were executed during the testator's lifetime. The trust then distributes the combined assets according to its terms.
Only assets properly transferred into the trust during life avoid probate. Assets outside the trust pass through the will or intestacy unless a pour-over provision captures them.
…the owners of these interests to effectively control disposition upon death through complex inter vivos transactions such as revocable trusts is simply not an adequate substitute for the rights taken, given the nature of the property. Even the United States concedes that total abrogation of the right to pass property is…