This is the most important and most overlooked point about living trusts. People often hear that a trust avoids probate and assume that signing the trust document is enough. It isn't. A trust only controls the property that has actually been transferred into it. Anything still in your own name at death follows the normal probate path, whether or not you have a trust sitting in a drawer.
Funding a trust means retitling your major assets so the trust, not you personally, is the owner. That typically includes:
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The deed on your home and other real estate
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Bank and investment accounts
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Business interests, where appropriate
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A coordinated review of beneficiary designations on life insurance and retirement accounts
A complete plan also usually includes a pour-over will. That is a backup will that catches any property you forgot to transfer during your life and "pours" it into the trust at death. The pour-over will still goes through probate for whatever it catches, but it is a safety net for the trust, not a substitute for proper funding.
If you have a trust and are not sure whether it is fully funded, that is worth a review. An unfunded trust is one of the most common, and most painful, surprises in estate planning.
