Dear Len & Rosie, In 1993 my late husband and I went to an attorney and requested a family trust be drawn up for our family. My husband and I owned stock in a large corporation, and in 1993 the stock was retitled in the name of my husband and I as trustees of our trust.

A few weeks ago I called the corporation to change my address and notified them that my husband is deceased. I asked them to remove his name from the stock certificate. They said they would send me a form to fill out and have my signature “medallion guaranteed," and that I had to send the form, along with a certified copy of my husband’s death certificate, back to them. They also said I had to send the stock registered mail, insured at 2 percent of the stock’s value.

My question is why? We had the trust drawn up to cover all of this. - Mary

Dear Mary, You have fallen victim to what I call “The Living Trust Myth.” You would be surprised how many others find themselves in the same situation. Many people believe that if they have a living trust drawn up, there will be no work to do when they die. This is simply not true.

After the death of one or both of the trustees, there is much to do. At the very least, title to all trust assets must be changed to remove the dead spouse’s name as trustee. The corporation wants you to fill out their paperwork and get a medallion signature guarantee (available at most banks) because that’s what they always require to transfer stock certificates. You had to do the same thing when you put the stock into the trust, and the same paperwork would have been necessary if your husband had a will. A broker can complete the paperwork for you if you need help.

You should review your trust with an estate planning attorney. Your trust may be an A/B trust that requires a split between a survivor’s trust and a decedent’s trust upon the death of the first spouse to die.

If so, it is essential that you get everything appraised, prepare an accounting, and fund the various subtrusts to help shelter your assets from federal estate tax. You may also have to file a federal estate tax return for your husband, if the gross value of his assets is worth more than $2 million.

This should not turn you off on the idea of having a trust. The real advantages of a living trust is that it saves time and almost always saves money. Assets held in a trust do not have to go through probate, which can take as long a nine to 15 months to complete. Attorney fees in probate are set by statute as a percentage of the value of the estate and are very expensive compared to the cost of administering a trust. - Len & Rosie



Len Tillem and Rosie McNichol are elder law attorneys. Contact them at 846 Broadway, Sonoma, CA 95476, by phone at 996-4505, or at www.lentillem.com. Len also answers legal questions each weekday, noon to 12:45 p.m., and Sundays, 4-7 p.m., on KGO Radio 810 AM.