To fully fund the trust, all assets for which you have title documents must be transferred to the trust. When the trust is created you sign a power of attorney to your successor trustees which enables them to transfer assets from your name to the trust when you become incapacitated. You also execute a will which leaves all your assets to the trust. This arrangement avoids the headaches, paperwork, and expense of funding the trust when it is created. An unfunded trust does not avoid probate, but has all the other advantages of a funded trust, and probate itself can be a simple process.
Unfunded trusts are also private.
If anyone did look up your will at the courthouse, they would know only that your will left your assets to the trust. Disposition of the trust s assets would be private. Many people find this easier than the pre-death process of transferring and keeping assets in the name of the trust. It is always important to have appropriate professional advice in tackling something as complicated as a living trust. In Illinois, only attorneys are allowed to assist in this process.