Trusts · Step by step
Seven steps. The last one is the one that counts.
Drafting a trust is straightforward. Moving your house and your accounts into it is the part that turns paper into a plan, and it is the part most packages leave to you.
Start with the list, not the document.
Every good plan we have built started as a single page of what someone owns. The document comes after that, because what you own decides what you need.
Bring the list to a free consultation, even a rough one. An hour with it in front of us usually answers the question you came in with.
See what we buildThe process
How a trust gets built in Arizona.
This is the same order we work in, whether you are starting fresh or fixing something you already signed.
- 01
List everything you own
Every account, property, vehicle, policy, and business share on one page, with roughly what each is worth. Most people find something they had forgotten.
- 02
Decide who receives what
Outright, or held and released over time. This is the part that takes a conversation with your family, not with us.
- 03
Name your successor trustee
The person who takes over if you cannot serve. Name a backup too, because the first choice is not always available when the day comes.
- 04
Choose revocable or irrevocable
Most Arizona families use a revocable trust and keep full control. A.R.S. 14-10602 makes revocable the default unless the document says otherwise.
- 05
We draft it and you read it
In plain language, in English or Spanish. You should be able to explain your own plan out loud before you sign it.
- 06
Sign it with a notary
A.R.S. 14-10402 sets what makes the trust valid. We handle the signing so nothing is missed, and you leave with the documents in hand.
- 07
Fund it, which is the real work
A new deed recorded with your county recorder, accounts retitled, beneficiary forms reviewed. Until this happens, the trust owns nothing and protects nobody.
Step seven, in detail
Four assets people forget to move.
Funding fails quietly. Nothing tells you it went wrong, and the discovery happens years later at a bank counter.
The rental in another state
Out-of-state property is the single best reason to fund carefully. Leave it out and your family may open a second probate case in that state.
The old account nobody uses
A credit union account from 1998 with no beneficiary on it can be the only thing that drags an estate into probate.
The business interest
An LLC share can usually go in, but the operating agreement may set conditions. We read it before anything moves.
The beneficiary form from a job you left
An old 401(k) still names whoever you wrote down years ago. That form beats your trust and your will, every time.
What you leave with
A trust is never one document.
Four pieces do four different jobs. A plan missing one of them has a hole in it.
The trust and a pour-over will
The trust holds the assets. The will catches anything left in your name and names a guardian if you have young children.
Financial power of attorney
So someone can act on the things that never made it into the trust while you are still alive.
Health care directives
A health care power of attorney and a living will, so your family is not guessing in a hospital hallway.
A certification of trust
The short summary from A.R.S. 14-11013 that a bank can accept in place of the full document, so your terms stay private.
The Turquoise difference
Done properly, at a price that stays fair.
Our Alternative Business Structure is licensed by the State of Arizona. Skilled paralegals carry more of the work, with an attorney over all of it. That is how the funding step gets done without an hourly bill behind it.
1,000+
Arizona families helped
458
Trusts navigated
5
Awards won
A modern, honest structure
Arizona lets us run a licensed Alternative Business Structure. That means skilled paralegals do more of the work. Attorneys still oversee all of it, so you get real legal help at a fair price.
Bilingual, English and Spanish
Our owner and founder, Irma C. Davenport, is fluent in Spanish. Every family is served, and every document explained, in the language they know best.
Personal, one-on-one attention
You work with people who know your name and your story, not a case number. Plain answers, and real time for your questions.
Decades of Arizona experience
Our attorneys have guided families through wills, trusts, guardianships, and probate for years, with the judgment that only comes from the work itself.
Already signed something else?
Bring it in. Most of what we see needs a deed and an update, not a rebuild, and that costs far less than starting over.
Where bargain trusts breakKeep exploring
Where this fits in your plan.
Setup questions, answered.
The practical ones, about time, cost, and paperwork. If yours is not here, just call.
Call (480) 863-6303The drafting is usually a couple of weeks after your consultation. Funding takes longer, because deeds have to be recorded and banks move at their own pace. Plan on a month or so from first meeting to fully funded.
You can create one. The trouble is that the kit ends at the signature, and the deed and the retitling are on you. That is the step that decides whether any of it works.
No, and that is a feature. The trust itself is never filed, which is why it stays private. What does get recorded is the new deed that moves your house into it.
Recording a deed carries a county fee, and some institutions charge nothing at all to retitle. The bigger cost is the time it takes to chase every account, which is work we do with you.
Yes. A revocable trust can take in a new property, a new account, or a new business share whenever you want. Tell us when you buy something significant so it does not sit outside the plan.
The trust itself usually travels with you. The documents around it are written for one state, and property rules differ. Have the whole plan reviewed where you land.
For a joint trust, yes. Both of you should be in the room for the planning too. Arizona treats most property bought during a marriage as shared, so one spouse deciding alone can cause trouble later.
This page is general information for educational purposes and is not legal advice about your estate. Reading it does not make us your lawyers. Talk with us before you sign or record anything.
Turquoise Law Group, PLLC contracts with Roddy & Urness, PLLC or Nancy C. Pohl, PLLC in order to provide legal advice to your matter at an affordable cost.
Schedule your meeting
Start with a free consultation.
Bring your list, or just bring your questions. We will map the steps for your family, in English or Spanish. Or call (480) 863-6303.
- Phone, video, or in our Scottsdale office
- Free and with no obligation
- Available in English and Spanish
Prefer to talk now?
(480) 863-6303