Is Your Trust/Will Good In a New State?

15 Feb 2023 · 1 min

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In this short video, the speaker addresses whether estate‑planning documents remain effective after a person relocates to a different state. He explains that trusts are generally portable and will likely remain valid, but wills are subject to each state’s specific requirements regarding witnesses and executors, making their validity uncertain. He advises consulting a lawyer to review the trust, will, and related documents. He also notes that power of attorney and advance directive forms are usually acceptable, but if the new state has its own standard forms, one should prepare those as well.

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In honor of Valentine's Day, I've worn my red glasses, so I hope you have a good one. Here's the issue for today: Is your trust or will good in another state? You finally got a trust and a will prepared, and now you found out you have to move. Are those documents going to be good in another state? The answer to that is probably. Trusts are transferable from state to state, so there's a very good chance that it will be good in your new state. Your will may be a closer question. The law about what makes a will valid is state law. There, the issue is, are the witnesses who signed your will acceptable in the new state? Is the executor acceptable in state. For those reasons alone, you should get a lawyer to look at your planning documents. Your power of attorney and advanced directive are probably good, but if the state you're moving to has a standard power of attorney and a standard advanced directive, you should prepare those documents.