Does the Name of Your Trust Really Matter?
Yes, the name of your trust matters if you have more than one trust. Why? Because you need to make sure that your two trusts (or three or four) are distinguishable from each other so that there isn't any confusion about what each trust owns.
For example, if you have a trust named the "Fred Smith Trust" (we'll call this "Trust #1") and another trust named the "Fred Smith Revocable Trust" (we'll call this "Trust #2") and you have a bank account titled in the name of the "F.
Smith TR," can we know for sure from the title of the account which trust owns the account? Banks and other financial institutions are in the habit of abbreviating trust names as much as possible, so if I were asked if Trust #1 or Trust #2 owned the account, then I would have to review the account application to be sure.
So if you have more than one trust, then you need to be careful about what you decide to name each trust so that you (and more importantly third parties such as banks and brokerage firms) can completely distinguish one trust from the other.
On the other hand, if you only have one trust, then the name of it really doesn't matter - Fred Smith Trust, Fred Smith Revocable Trust, Smitty Revocable Trust, Fred the Great Trust, King Fred Trust - whatever you want to name your trust will work just fine.
For example, if you have a trust named the "Fred Smith Trust" (we'll call this "Trust #1") and another trust named the "Fred Smith Revocable Trust" (we'll call this "Trust #2") and you have a bank account titled in the name of the "F.
Smith TR," can we know for sure from the title of the account which trust owns the account? Banks and other financial institutions are in the habit of abbreviating trust names as much as possible, so if I were asked if Trust #1 or Trust #2 owned the account, then I would have to review the account application to be sure.
So if you have more than one trust, then you need to be careful about what you decide to name each trust so that you (and more importantly third parties such as banks and brokerage firms) can completely distinguish one trust from the other.
On the other hand, if you only have one trust, then the name of it really doesn't matter - Fred Smith Trust, Fred Smith Revocable Trust, Smitty Revocable Trust, Fred the Great Trust, King Fred Trust - whatever you want to name your trust will work just fine.
