Ensure that your home and umbrella insurance cover your trust!
When it comes to maintaining your estate, you want to go about it in the best way possible. More and more homeowners are setting up trusts when going through their estate planning. Trusts provide lots benefits when it comes to tax and inheritance issues. However, while they may provide you with great fiscal benefits, they may jeopardize your insurance benefits. If you’re considering transferring your homeownership into a trust, make sure to consider how your home and liability insurance will protect you.
When it comes to having adequate insurance coverage, your trust is not covered for home or liability insurance. In the event that you need to file a claim you may not receive coverage. This is due to the fact that the trust and the trustee are not named on the insurance policies. While you ultimately want to put your trust on the insurance policy to ensure that you have coverage, it’s not quite so easy.
Because estate planning is usually delegated by a lawyer and your insurance policies are legal documents, be sure that you thoroughly understand all the legal hoops that you need to jump through. Be sure to put your trust on your insurance policies as the named insured. This is of the utmost importance because in the event that you need to file a claim, your policy won’t cover anyone (or any trust) not named on the policy. Look into whether or not your lawyer and insurance company advise you to notify your insurance company of a “resident held in trust” endorsement you can add that specifies that the trust and the trustee are the “named insured.”
Play it safe and be sure to consult with both your trust attorney and your insurance company before you make any changes.
Be sure to contact the professionals at Weaver & Associates Inc. for help with your home and umbrella insurance. Our team in Arcadia, California provides you with dedicated service and insider expertise when finding the best personal and business insurance for your needs.
