NEED AN UPDATE? 

HAVE YOU EVER WORKED WITH US BEFORE?

If you are a new client schedule an appointment here or contact Amy to schedule an appointment at 801-696-5250 or at [email protected]

If we have done your trust before and you need an update contact Amy to schedule an appointment at 801-696-5250 or at [email protected]

RESTATED AMENDMENT PACKAGE FOR PREVIOUS CLIENT - $400.00 This package is for clients who need to update or make changes to an existing estate plan that was prepared by Easy Legal Planning. If your documents were created prior to 2020 this amendment will also include the new SECURE Act language.

RESTATED AMENDMENT PACKAGE FOR NEW CLIENTS - $695.00 This package is for clients who need to update or make changes to an existing estate plan that was prepared by someone other than Easy Legal Planning.

SIMPLE AMENDMENT PACKAGE - $200.00 For existing Easy Legal Planning clients only for simple updates. (Example: Changing a name, changing a beneficiary etc.). ELP must have prepared their current documents to be eligible. Please note: If your documents were prepared before 2020 and you would like to include the SECURE Act language, you will need to do the Restated ­­­Amendment.

SECURE ACT UPDATE - $200.00 A simple amendment to update your documents to include the new SECURE Act language in reference to retirement accounts. This allows a beneficiary named in the trust to pull-out money from a retirement account using the required minimum distributions. (It allows them to stretch it out longer).

Amendments vs. Restated Amendments

There really aren't any written rules that indicate when an Amendment should be used instead of a full Restated Amendment.  Generally, if the changes that you want to make are minimal - adding or deleting a guardian for minor children, changing who will serve as the successor trustee, updating someone’s legal name due to marriage or divorce - then a simple Amendment is great. 

On the other hand, if the changes that you want to make are significant - adding a new spouse as a beneficiary, completely cutting out a beneficiary, changing distributions to beneficiaries, or if your documents are old and outdated - then a Restated Amendment should be considered.

What if you've made a series of three or four simple Amendments over the past 10-15 years and you want to make another change? Then you may want to consider consolidating all of your changes into a Restated Amendment - this will prove to be helpful to your Successor Trustee who will have a single document to follow instead of piecing together the provisions of four or five separate documents.

The Legalities of Trust Amendments

If you're considering making a change to your Revocable Living Trust, don't simply mark up your trust agreement and stick it back in the drawer. Why? Because a Trust Amendment must be signed with the same formalities as the original trust agreement, so your hand written changes will, depending on applicable state law, either void the trust agreement or be ignored. Instead, give us a call so we can prepare the Amendment for you so that it will be legally valid and binding on all of your beneficiaries.

Will the Name of Your Trust Change if You Amend or Restate It?

The answer is No - the nice thing about doing a Trust Amendment or an Amendment and Restatement is that the original name and date of your Revocable Living Trust will remain the same. That way, all of the hard work you put into funding your Revocable Living Trust under the original trust name and date won't need to be undone.