Trust Funding in Ohio

Trust funding at Rhodium Law is the considered work of retitling a family’s property into the revocable living trust we have drafted, so the trust on paper and the trust in practice become the same thing. As a virtual firm serving all 88 Ohio counties, we build the funding plan into the Vision Meeting from the start, and the deed work and the rest of the retitling are offered through Trust Funding Services, an add-on to a foundational will or trust plan rather than a default inclusion. Because one attorney handles the drafting and the funding, the two stay coordinated. Strategy precedes drafting, and drafting precedes the retitling work that makes a trust actually function.

What does funding a trust mean?

Funding a trust means retitling assets, real property, bank and brokerage accounts, and certain business interests, out of a person’s individual name and into the name of the trustee, on behalf of the living trust. Ohio’s Trust Code (R.C. Chapters 5801-5811) gives a trustee authority only over property actually held in the trustee’s name.

Property still titled in the settlor’s personal name is not held by the trustee, and the trust does not govern it. The most common failure of a trust-based estate plan is incomplete funding: the trust is signed at the conference table, and the real property, accounts, and business interests are never retitled to match it.

How do you fund a trust in Ohio?

Funding an Ohio trust is asset-specific. Real property is funded by recording a new deed transferring title from the settlor’s individual name to the trustee. Bank and brokerage accounts are retitled through the institution using a certification of trust. Retirement accounts and life insurance are typically coordinated through beneficiary designations rather than a direct transfer.

Real property

The home, the rental property, and other Ohio real estate are funded by recording a new deed transferring the property from the settlor’s individual name to the trustee. We prepare the deed and handle the recording in the county where the property sits, under R.C. Chapter 5301’s recording rules.

Bank and brokerage accounts

Bank and brokerage accounts are retitled by changing the account registration to the trustee, on behalf of the trust. Financial institutions typically request a certification of trust, a short summary of the trust’s key terms that a family can share without disclosing the full document.

Retirement accounts

Retirement accounts, including IRAs and 401(k)s, are generally not retitled directly to the trust during life. Naming a trust as the direct owner of an IRA can trigger immediate income tax consequences, so the more common approach is coordinating the account’s beneficiary designation with the broader plan.

Life insurance

Life insurance is typically held outside the revocable living trust during life. We review the existing beneficiary designations and counsel on whether they align with the rest of the estate plan.

Business interests

Closely held LLC, corporation, and partnership interests can be transferred into a trust, though the transfer often requires the consent of the other owners under the entity’s operating agreement. We coordinate the transfer with the entity’s governing documents.

Personal property

Vehicles, furnishings, and other tangible personal property are typically funded through a single assignment of personal property document, which transfers the settlor’s tangible property to the trustee in one instrument.

How do you transfer real property into a trust in Ohio?

Real property is transferred into an Ohio trust by recording a new deed, usually a quitclaim or limited warranty deed, naming the trustee as the new owner. The deed is recorded with the county recorder where the property is located, under the recording requirements set out in R.C. Chapter 5301.

We prepare the new deed as part of Trust Funding Services, coordinate title-related considerations where applicable, and handle the recording directly rather than leaving that step to the family. For families weighing a deed transfer against Ohio’s transfer-on-death affidavit for real property under R.C. 5302.22, our overview of the Ohio transfer-on-death deed lays out how that separate tool compares.

What happens to property that is never funded into the trust?

Property left in a settlor’s individual name at death does not pass under the trust; it passes through the Ohio probate court, even though a trust exists. A pour-over will is typically included as a backstop, directing that any unfunded property be transferred into the trust, but the pour-over will is itself a will, so the property still passes through probate first.

For families focused on comprehensive probate avoidance, funding during life, not the pour-over will, is the mechanism that actually keeps property outside the probate process.

Is funding a trust the same as creating one?

No. Creating a trust is the drafting step, the document that names the trustee and states how property is managed and distributed. Funding is the separate step of retitling the family’s actual property into the trust’s name. A trust can be properly drafted and still fail to avoid probate if it is never funded.

What does Rhodium Law handle as part of trust funding?

Trust Funding Services is scoped to what a family owns. Depending on that scope, our firm:

• Reviews an existing plan prepared by another firm and flags gaps before funding begins
• Prepares and records new deeds for the family’s Ohio real property
• Provides the certification of trust the family will use with banks and brokerage firms
• Counsels on which retirement account beneficiary designations to update and which to leave
• Reviews life insurance beneficiary designations
• Coordinates business interest transfers where the entity’s governing documents allow it
• Provides an assignment of personal property
• Walks the family through a funding checklist tailored to their circumstances

Financial account changes (bank, brokerage, retirement) are typically completed by the family directly with each institution, with the certification of trust and our guidance in hand. We do not generally call each bank and brokerage firm on the family’s behalf, but we counsel on the conversation and review what the family has done.

Why Rhodium Law for Ohio trust funding

• Two ways to engage it. If we draft your plan, Trust Funding Services is an add-on to that engagement: a single deed, several deeds, business-interest assignments, or the full retitling work, scoped and priced before it begins. If you already have a plan from another firm and simply need it funded, we offer that on its own, beginning with a review of the existing plan so the funding fits what you already have.
• One relationship with the attorney. We handle each funding engagement, so the drafting and the retitling stay aligned rather than splitting across separate hands.
• Integration with the broader plan. Trust funding is considered alongside wills, powers of attorney, healthcare directives, and beneficiary designations, not as a separate afterthought.
• Considered stewardship. Funding decisions affect how the plan operates for years. Drafting, review, and recording are held to a deliberate standard.