Trust Funding and Beneficiary Designation Checklist
After signing a revocable trust plan, at a periodic plan review, or whenever a client opens new accounts, changes jobs or buys property, to confirm assets actually flow through the plan.
A well-drafted trust does nothing for assets that were never put into it. Accounts left in the client's individual name can end up in probate, life insurance and retirement accounts generally follow the beneficiary form, not the will, and an old designation naming a former spouse or a deceased parent can undo careful planning. Funding and designation review is unglamorous, and it is where many plans quietly fail.
This prompt cross-checks three things at once: the dispositive plan, the current titling of each asset, and every beneficiary designation. Claude builds an asset-by-asset table showing how each item would actually pass at death and whether that matches the plan, then pulls out assets heading to probate, designation conflicts, retirement-account questions and out-of-state property. It finishes with a plain-language funding to-do list the client can work through institution by institution.
The analysis depends on accurate source documents, and many retirement-account and tax questions turn on plan terms and rules that need expert verification. Claude flags those as questions rather than answers. You remain responsible for the funding advice, for confirming each change was completed, and for reviewing the client list before it goes out. The output is a draft for attorney review.
The Prompt
I represent [CLIENT NAME]. The client's plan is summarized below, along with the current asset list and beneficiary designations. I need to confirm every asset will pass the way the plan intends. <document name="dispositive_plan"> [PASTE THE TRUST AND POUR-OVER WILL, OR A SUMMARY OF THE DISPOSITIVE PROVISIONS AND NAMED TRUSTEES] </document> <document name="asset_list"> [PASTE ASSET LIST WITH CURRENT TITLING: deeds, account statements, entity interests, vehicles, digital assets] </document> <document name="beneficiary_designations"> [PASTE BENEFICIARY FORMS OR CONFIRMATIONS FOR LIFE INSURANCE, RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS, ANNUITIES, POD/TOD ACCOUNTS] </document> State of residence: [JURISDICTION] Produce: 1. Asset-by-asset table: Asset | Current titling or designation (quote the source) | How it passes at death (trust, probate, beneficiary designation, survivorship, other) | Consistent with plan? (Yes / No / Unclear) | Action needed. 2. Assets that would pass outside the plan or through probate, with the reason for each. 3. Designation conflicts: designations naming a former spouse, a deceased person, the estate, a minor outright, or someone the plan does not intend to benefit; primary and contingent beneficiaries that are missing or inconsistent with the trust. 4. Retirement account issues to raise with me: trust named as beneficiary, spousal consent questions, and inherited-account distribution rules, all framed as questions to verify, not conclusions. 5. Out-of-state real estate and business interests that need retitling or entity document review. 6. A client-facing funding to-do list in plain language: numbered steps, who the client contacts, and what document to request back. Quote the source for every row. Mark anything not shown in the documents as "not provided." This is a draft for attorney review, and tax or retirement-plan rules must be verified before advising the client.
Example Output
An asset-by-asset funding table, a list of assets that would miss the plan, flagged designation conflicts, retirement-account questions and a plain-language client to-do list.
Illustrative example — names, figures, and facts are fictional.
FUNDING AND DESIGNATION REVIEW (DRAFT FOR ATTORNEY REVIEW) Client: Desmond Achterberg | Plan: Achterberg Revocable Trust (trust is residuary beneficiary under pour-over will) 1. ASSET TABLE Asset | Titling / designation | Passes by | Consistent? | Action Checking, local bank | "Desmond Achterberg" (statement p.1) | Probate | No | Retitle to trust or add POD to trustee Brokerage account | "Desmond Achterberg, Trustee of the Achterberg Revocable Trust" (statement p.1) | Trust | Yes | None Term life policy | Primary: "Carla Achterberg, spouse" (confirmation 3/2015) | Designation | Unclear | Client divorced Carla in 2019 per plan recitals; confirm intent 401(k) | Primary: "my estate" (plan confirmation) | Designation, then probate | No | Client decision on beneficiary; see section 4 Rental condo, out of state | Deed: "Desmond Achterberg, a single man" | Probate, likely ancillary [VERIFY] | No | Deed to trust; check mortgage, insurance and that state's requirements [VERIFY] 2. ASSETS PASSING OUTSIDE THE PLAN - Checking account and rental condo (individual name). - 401(k) payable to estate. 3. DESIGNATION CONFLICTS - Life policy names former spouse; plan recitals state divorce in 2019. - No contingent beneficiary on the 401(k). 4. RETIREMENT QUESTIONS TO VERIFY - Should the trust or individuals be named on the 401(k), given the trust's terms? - Does the plan require spousal consent if the client remarries? - Which inherited-account distribution rules apply to the intended beneficiaries? 5. OUT-OF-STATE REAL ESTATE AND BUSINESS INTERESTS - Rental condo (deed above): retitling is governed by the law where the condo sits [VERIFY]. No business interests provided. 6. CLIENT TO-DO LIST 1. Call your bank. Ask how to retitle the checking account to your trust. Send us their confirmation. 2. Call the life insurer. Request a beneficiary change form. Do not sign until we review it. 3. We will prepare a new deed for the condo.
Tips
- •Use the beneficiary confirmations from the institutions, not the client's recollection. The table is only as reliable as the source column.
- •Ask Claude to sort the to-do list by institution so the client can handle each bank or custodian in one call.
- •Keep retirement and tax points framed as questions. Rules for naming a trust as beneficiary and for inherited accounts are technical and change; verify them yourself.
- •Run it again after the client reports the funding steps are done, pasting the new confirmations, to close out the file.
- •Treat the table and client list as drafts for attorney review, and verify any rule or citation, before anything goes to the client.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does a beneficiary designation matter if the will says otherwise?
Assets such as life insurance, retirement accounts and payable-on-death or transfer-on-death accounts generally pass to the named beneficiary by contract, not through the will. If the form names someone the plan no longer intends to benefit, the will usually cannot fix that. That is why the prompt treats designations as a separate source and checks each one against the plan.
Can Claude tell me whether to name a trust as a retirement account beneficiary?
It can lay out the questions, but you should not rely on it for the answer. The decision turns on the trust's terms, the beneficiaries, the plan document and inherited-account distribution rules that are technical and have changed in recent years. The prompt frames these points as questions to verify with primary sources or a tax professional.
Is the client to-do list ready to send?
Review it first. Check that each step matches your advice, that it does not tell the client to sign anything you have not seen, and that institution names and account references are right. Many attorneys prefer to handle deeds and entity transfers themselves and leave only bank and insurer contacts on the client's list.
Should I paste full account statements?
Only the parts that show titling and designations. Redact account numbers and balances you do not need. Approximate values are enough. Follow ABA Model Rule 1.6 and your firm's policy on confidential data, and use a Claude plan with the data protections your practice requires.
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