A signature on a trust does not move the deed. A new will does not rewrite a beneficiary form. The planning questionnaire asks for those papers separately, because one signature does not update the others.
This page is general information for Pennsylvania and New Jersey. It is not legal advice. County practice differs. New Jersey uses a different system from the Pennsylvania Register of Wills.
The deed never moved
People hear that a trust keeps a house out of probate, then stop at the signature page. The deed still has to name the trust. If it does not, the house is still in the person's name. A bank account has the same problem unless someone retitled it, registered it payable on death, or left it in the person's name on purpose.
The planning questionnaire asks for existing trust documents and for the deed as separate papers. It also asks for life insurance policies and retirement account statements. A trust in a folder does not change those other documents. What to bring, and what can stay home, is on the planning-meeting page.
Signing a trust does not answer whether a creditor can reach the assets. Retitling the house into the trust does not answer that question either. It depends on the kind of trust and on who can still change it. If the worry is creditors or a lawsuit, start on the asset-protection page and bring the trust.
Beneficiary forms
Life insurance pays the person named on the policy. A retirement account pays the person named on the beneficiary form. A later will that leaves everything to a spouse does not rewrite either form.
The will-mistakes page is the longer note on that split, including how Pennsylvania and New Jersey signing rules differ. This page does not repeat those section numbers. If you own a house in both states, read each deed. Rates are on the tax pages linked below.
The will still goes to an office
A will still has to be taken to the office that opens the estate. In Pennsylvania that office is the Register of Wills in the county where the person was domiciled. New Jersey uses a different system. Do not carry a Pennsylvania Register list across the river.
The first 90 days page covers the Register packet and the short certificates. If someone has died, start there. If you are alive and reviewing a plan, you are not opening an estate yet.
The one-dollar gift
Leaving a dollar to someone you want to leave out is a line people repeat. It does not record who else is named, or what a beneficiary form already does. Adding that line because an old article recommended it names the person and does not say what they take.
Whether the will should name the person and say they take nothing, or should not name them at all, depends on the document and on the state. Ask at the meeting. Do not write a dollar amount into the margin of an old will, and do not cross a name off because a blog said a divorce handles it.
While you are alive
A will operates at death. It does not let a hospital or a bank take instructions from your child while you are alive. The questionnaire keeps the financial power of attorney and the healthcare power of attorney in their own slots.
The power of attorney page covers the Pennsylvania signing rules. The health care directive page covers the medical paper. A hospital form stapled to the will is still a separate document.
What to do next
If you are alive and the worry is the plan, bring the trust, the deed, and the beneficiary forms to the planning meeting. Do not rewrite the will from memory first. Estate planning is the page for that review. If someone has died, read the first 90 days page before you call a clerk. Estate administration is the page for opening the estate.
