How to Put an LLC in a Trust - YouTube

H. Lee Phillips here.

Want to talk to you about how to put an LLC into a trust.

One of the things that estate planners often forget

and your corporate or your LLC attorneys often forget

is that an LLC or corporation or a limited partnership or whatever it is

is an asset

and it requires your signature

in order to transfer.

The whole estate planning avoiding probate deal

is to put assets

into a living revocable trust

that require your signature

after you're dead you can't sign

but if we put them in the trust

the trust owns them

the new successor trustee guy

they can sign

and away you go

no probate.

The thing that's often forgotten

is your little company

your LLC

your corporation

whatever it is.

How do you get a little company

into your trust

so it doesn't have to be probated?

And the fact is like 95% of all

companies in the United States fail

after the founder, the owner dies

one of the problem is this

the doctor dies

by the time we get his practice,

his company

through the probate

we've lost all the clients and everything else

the patients

the practice isn't worth anything anymore.

So

let's take and assume that you already have an LLC or a corporation

and it's basically going to be the same procedure.

What we're going to do

is we've got to change ownership of the company

from you to the living revocable trust and I

don't know how many YouTubes I've said this in

or how many times I said it

there are three parts to the name of your trust

the first part is the name of the trust

their "Ugly Light Trust" trust or whatever it is

the date the trust was created on

under agreement or U/A

10/31/18

whatever it is

and the trustee's name

Trustee

John Doe Trustee

Those are the three parts

those have to be on the ownership documents of your company.

What are the ownership documents?

Well in some states it's required

that you list the members of the LLC or even the shareholders of a closely held corporation

so you may have to go to the state

and change paperwork of the state

that depends upon which state you're in

you can call the state

ask them, say I'm I I'm changing the ownership of my company

from me to my living revocable trust

or for me to my brother or whatever it is

and ask if you need to file with the state.

Some states require that you have a filing every year with them

and on that form it asks if you added any members, if you added any stockholders

and you can make the change there.

If not, you can amend your Articles of Organization

or your Articles of Incorporation or whatever it is

at of the state and add the name of the trust

take your name off

your name is not gonna be there anymore

the trust name is going to be there

then there are internal places where you have to make that correction

these are your paperwork's

one

you've probably listed your members

or your stockholders

on your operating agreement for the LLC

or the bylaws of the corporation

that's not uncommon to have the owners listed there

your name's gonna be on the paperwork

associated with the operating agreement

you're gonna have to go in, make an amendment to the operating agreement

there will be a section

a paragraph

in your operating agreement that tells you

how the operating agreement,

or the bylaws in the corporation,

can be amended

you got to follow that paragraph

it's gonna require

a vote of the members

approval of the members

it's gonna require the approval of the manager

it's gonna tell you

how it is to be taken care of

that's fine

go in, take care of it that way

that means you're gonna have to have a meeting

that says, "Resolved,

we amend the operating agreement

such-and-such a date."

You don't even need to say why or what you amended

in those minute meetings

that's another YouTube

how to take minutes in your LLC or your corporation

but you make that entry in the minutes

and then you make the amendment

and show the new ownership

not your name

but the trust's name

name of trust, date of trust, trustee

on that paperwork.

now you should have and

often we don't

Right?

shouldn't do that

but you should have

basically a stock ledger or a membership ledger

and on that you write down certificate number one

issued to you

your name, such-and-such a date

you're going to pull back the stock certificate

or the membership interest certificate for the LLC

you're going to pull that back and you're going to write right "Void" on it

put that in the file in in the paperwork with the company

and then you're gonna issue

stock certificate or membership certificate number two

and that's going to be

to living revocable trust

name date trustee

and you're gonna make out a new

membership certificate

like a stock certificate

and you are going to

change the log

on the certificate number one you write

"Voided such-and-such a date replaced by certificate number two"

and it goes to the living revocable trust

we have now moved ownership of your LLC from you

to your living revocable trust

now you're the trustee

you do everything just like you always did

no problem

but when you die

you don't own it and we don't have to probate it

it's a big deal.

This is Lee Phillips

talking on how you would move ownership of a corporation or an LLC

from your name into your living revocable trust's name