We have a client who has a business account(dba;motel) and has a formal trust account; however, she wants the business account be included as part of the trust account. Is there such a thing? Thanks

What do you mean by a "formal trust?" Also, is the individual doing business under a fictitious name or is it a third party (i.e. an actual, separate legal entity such as an LLC or Corporation)?

Assuming you are referring to a basic living revocable trust created by your customer then:

1. A sole proprietorship bank account can go into the trust since the sole proprietorship account is nothing other than an individual account for a business purpose. You should have a separate account for the sole proprietorship account from the basic living trust account since the former will not be subject to any rules/regulations that pertain to consumers.

2. Corporation, LLC and partnership accounts do NOT go into the trust. The shares of stock, membership interest or partnership interest owned by the individual goes into the trust - not the property (including bank accounts) owned by the corporation, LLC or partnership. Nothing is changed on these accounts.

3. Going back to the sole proprietorship account, the trust will have to file a fictitious business name statement since it is now operating the business and not the individual. The title on the account will have to change to: Name of Trust dba Name of Business.

I have a similar situation. A account holder, with a personal/individual account wants to have a church as the beneficiary on his personal account. I have never seen it done. Is this allowed?

J - I am not aware of any reason why a customer could not name a church as POD or Totten trust beneficiary.

I have no idea what to tell you about a Florida trust however I would suggest you urge your customer to consult a licensed probate practitioner in your jurisdiction. I would be surprised to find a POD or informal trust could easily survive a dispute by the trustor's heirs at law. It sounds like the sort of fact pattern that populates most Wills & Trusts textbooks. In CA we have new financial elder abuse laws taking effect very soon and I expect to see a lot of litigation in the area before the end of 2007. I wouldn't be surprised to learn FL has similar legislation already on the books.

Sorry for the delay in responding to your question.

The answer is that it depends on what your state law provides. The law on payment on death & totten trust accounts is usually found in each state's version of the Uniform Mulitple-Party Accounts Law.

This Uniform Law will provide a definition on what is a "POD Payee" and a "Beneficiary" (totten trust beneficiary).

If those definitions are restricted to "individual" or "natural person", then any non-individual entity (including a church) would not qualify.

If those definitions use the term "person" (as does California law) then you need to look up the statutory definition for "person". In California, the California Probate Code defines "person" as:

"an individual, corporation, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust,
partnership, limited liability company, association, or other entity."

So in California, a church can be a POD payee. Again, check your state law or consult with your attorney to see if Florida law is similar or not.

While I don't disagree with Ray I would still suggest you refer your client to a Florida probate practitioner. In CA, ANYONE can be accused of exercising "undue influence" on an "elder" and that certainly includes Churches. If your client wants to ensure his church is one of his beneficiaries and also ensure no heirs at law can easily challenge the designation formal estate planning seems to be the best way to go. It is my personal expectation, given present demographics (the aging "boomers",) the probate field will be exploding over the next 10 - 20 years and the fact pattern you present will be one of those being routinely argued before probate courts throughout CA.