Successor Trustees and Beneficiaries

Dear Len & Rosie,

My family has a living trust with two properties that amount to around $1.5 million and also a few hundred thousand dollars in cash in various bank accounts. My Grandmother and Grandfather were the owners of the properties and money until they passed away a couple years ago at the ages of 94 and 96. My father is 75 and is the last living child (both his brothers have passed), and according to my grandparents' trust has since acquired everything, although no paperwork has changed and everything still appears in my grandparents' names.

My father is having a lot of heart trouble and is in the hospital as I write after suffering his 4th seizure this morning, he is ok for now. The living trust has the beneficiaries in order of my father, my oldest brother, my middle brother and then me. Both of my brothers have moved out of the state so my father and I would like to amend the trust to list me as the primary beneficiary. I am the one who will have to deal with everything anyway when my father passes.

Toby

The Proper Way To Change Your Beneficiaries.

Dear Len & Rosie,

We finished our trust in 2003. We would like to change our beneficiaries. One of our charities is out of business and we would like to give that charity's share to another. Our original lawyer has moved and the new lawyer wants to charge us to "talk" to us before he will tell us how much it will cost to change the trust. Can we cross out the old list and handwrite changes ourselves? We are only in our 50's and expect that there will be other changed down the line. This is getting expensive.

Denise