How to Fund a Living Trust Correctly in Miami, FL

A revocable living trust under Chapter 736 only avoids probate for the assets you actually put into it. “Funding” is that step — retitling assets into the trust or coordinating beneficiaries with it. The challenge in Miami is that every asset type funds differently. Below we compare the major categories and the correct method for each.

Why Funding Is the Whole Point

An unfunded trust is just an expensive instruction sheet. If your Miami condo and brokerage account are still titled in your individual name when you pass, they go through Miami-Dade probate regardless of what the trust says. Funding is what converts the document into actual probate avoidance.

Your Florida Home: Deed vs. Lady Bird Deed

Here you have a genuine choice to compare. Option one is deeding the home into the trust by recording a new deed with the Miami-Dade Clerk. Option two is a Lady Bird deed (enhanced life estate deed), which keeps the home in your name during life and passes it automatically at death. Both can avoid probate; both must respect homestead rules under Article X, Section 4 and any spousal rights. Funding a homestead into a trust requires care, since careless drafting can affect homestead creditor protection — this is the asset most worth getting professional help on.

Bank and Brokerage Accounts: Retitle vs. Beneficiary Designation

For accounts, compare two paths. You can retitle the account into the name of the trust, or you can use a payable-on-death (POD) / transfer-on-death (TOD) designation. Retitling brings the account fully under the trust’s management and distribution terms — useful if you want one set of rules. POD/TOD is simpler but bypasses the trust entirely, which can fragment your plan if you want everything coordinated. Pick one approach intentionally rather than mixing them by accident.

Retirement Accounts: Don’t Retitle

This is where the comparison matters most. Unlike a bank account, you generally do not retitle an IRA or 401(k) into a trust — doing so can trigger immediate taxation. Instead, you coordinate the beneficiary designation, sometimes naming the trust as beneficiary only when there’s a specific reason. The correct method here is the opposite of the home and accounts above.

Business Interests

For a Miami LLC or closely held company, funding means assigning your membership or ownership interest to the trust, consistent with the operating agreement. Skipping this leaves a business interest in probate — often the messiest asset to administer.

Personal Property and Vehicles

Tangible personal property can be assigned to the trust through an assignment document. Florida vehicles are frequently left out of trusts because they may transfer through simpler means, so compare the small convenience of including them against the paperwork involved.

The Funding Checklist Mindset

Comparing all of these, the lesson is that there is no single funding method. The home, accounts, retirement plans, and business interests each follow different rules, and using the wrong one can create taxes or break probate avoidance. A funding plan that treats every asset the same is a plan with gaps.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Funding choices have tax and homestead consequences specific to your assets. Work with a licensed Florida estate planning attorney to fund your trust correctly.