Setting up a trust is only half the job. The trust document itself does not protect anything until you take the second, and most commonly overlooked, step: moving your assets into it. This step is called funding the trust, and skipping it is one of the most costly mistakes a Nevada family can make.
At the Jeffrey Burr Law Firm, creating a trust is a two-part process. The first part is creating and designing the trust so your assets are administered and distributed exactly as you want. The second part is funding the trust, which means transferring the title of the appropriate assets to the trust. As the firm puts it, developing the trust itself is important, but you have to take real action and make sure your assets are controlled directly by the trust.
The attorneys at Jeffrey Burr Law Firm have spent 40 years protecting families and their assets throughout Las Vegas and Southern Nevada. This article explains what it means to fund a trust in Nevada, how the process works for different kinds of assets, and what happens to the property you leave out.
A revocable living trust is built in two steps. Step one is to create and design the trust document. Step two is funding it, which means transferring the title of the appropriate assets into the name of the trust. A trust is considered fully funded when the trust owns all of your assets.
Funding is what makes a trust work. When assets are transferred to a trust, the designated successor trustee has full authority to administer and distribute those assets as you have directed upon your death, thereby avoiding probate. A living trust avoids probate specifically because title to your various assets is transferred to the name of the trust rather than you individually. On your death, the trust remains active, and the property and the instructions that accompany it are immediately available for the benefit of your loved ones, without the intervention of the probate process.
Funding a revocable living trust does not mean giving up control. It is possible to transfer title to all of your property out of your individual name before you pass away and still retain full control and management of it. With a revocable living trust, you retain complete control of your assets until your death or incapacity.
A revocable living trust is an especially important option in Nevada because of Nevada's complex probate process. Probate is a public court proceeding in which a court supervises the distribution of a decedent's assets, and it can be an emotional, time-consuming, and expensive process.
A properly funded trust sidesteps all of that. If a person dies with no property held in their individual name, because a living trust owns all of their property, no probate proceeding is necessary. And when the trust is fully funded, the decedent's property and the trust provisions remain private, rather than becoming part of a public court record.
Funding is the process of retitling the appropriate assets into the name of your trust. How you do that depends on the type of asset.
For most families, the home is the largest asset, and one of the most beneficial ways to hold title to real estate is through a trust. A trust allows you to avoid probate and can be designed to protect both you and your beneficiaries from potential issues such as guardianship, creditors, and predators.
When transferring real estate to a trust, you must grant ownership to the trustee. In the case of a living trust, you can serve as the trustee yourself, retaining control over the property. The deed must include the trustee's name, the full name of the trust, and the date the trust was created. Because the way you take title affects real property taxes, inheritance taxes, income tax, and transferability, this step should be handled carefully.
All probates are governed by individual state laws, and a separate probate proceeding is required in each state where you own property. Even if you are a Nevada resident, property held in your name in another state would be subject to that state's probate laws. One way to avoid having to open multiple probate proceedings is to place that out-of-state property in an LLC or a living trust.
Beyond real estate, funding means transferring title of your other appropriate assets into the trust. It is worth knowing that not every asset moves the same way. Some assets pass by contract or beneficiary designation rather than through your trust or will, including life insurance and annuity proceeds, retirement benefits such as pensions and IRAs, property held in joint tenancy or with rights of survivorship, and Payable on Death (POD) and Transfer on Death (TOD) accounts. These are controlled by beneficiary designations, so they need to be coordinated with the rest of your plan. Keep in mind that not all assets can be passed contractually, such as tangible personal property, which is where funding a trust becomes essential.
Because funding touches deeds, account titles, and beneficiary designations, it is easy to leave something out. At Jeffrey Burr, the process starts by collecting your asset information at your first interview. Along with the trust, the firm prepares a "pour over" will and health care powers of attorney and directives, so you are protected on all fronts. The firm's staff helps make sure your assets are transferred properly, and its dedicated trust administration department is available to guide your family when the time comes.
An unfunded trust is a document that owns nothing. The plan looks complete on paper, but if title to your assets was never transferred, the trust cannot do its job. Here is what that means in practice.
A probate is necessary any time a person passes away owning property in their individual name that does not have a mechanism already in place for transfer, such as a right of survivorship, a POD designation, or a TOD designation. Any asset you leave out of your trust, still titled in your own name, falls into exactly that category. Probate is the first step in the legal process of administering the estate of a deceased person, resolving all claims, and distributing the property to the beneficiaries, and it involves appointing an executor or administrator, gathering the decedent's property, notifying creditors, handling debts and taxes, and transferring legal title to the heirs.
How long probate takes depends on the value and type of property, whether there is any conflict among heirs, and whether there is a will. As of October 2025, Jeffrey Burr outlines the following Nevada thresholds: estates of less than $25,000 may only need an Affidavit of Entitlement, an amount that may increase to $150,000 when there is a surviving spouse; estates of less than $150,000, excluding encumbrances, may be set aside to a spouse or children without a complex administration; estates up to $500,000 are considered summary administrations and take less time to complete; and estates over $500,000 require a full probate administration. In short, a probate can take months or even years if the estate has a high value or heirs fight over who gets what.
Probate expenses include court filing fees, accounting fees, administrative fees, executor or administrator fees, and legal fees. Executor and administrator fees are typically about 2% of the entire probate estate, and probate legal fees are generally about 2% to 5% of the overall size of the probate estate. Those are costs a fully funded trust is designed to avoid.
Probate is a public court proceeding, which means probate records are open to anyone. When a trust is fully funded, by contrast, the decedent's property and the trust provisions remain private. Leaving assets out of the trust exposes exactly the information a trust is meant to keep confidential.
If you own property in another state and never move it into your trust, your family may face a separate probate in that state on top of the one in Nevada. Funding that property into a living trust, or an LLC, avoids the need for multiple proceedings.
Funding a trust means transferring the title of your appropriate assets into the name of the trust so that they are controlled directly by the trust.
Do I lose control of my assets when I fund a revocable living trust?
No. With a revocable living trust you retain complete control of your assets until your death or incapacity. It is possible to transfer title to all of your property out of your individual name before you pass away and still retain full control and management of it.
Any asset owned in your individual name at death, with no mechanism in place for transfer, must go through probate. That means the assets left out of your trust can still end up in the very court process the trust was created to avoid.
You transfer ownership of the property from you individually to the trustee by recording a deed. With a living trust, you can serve as the trustee and retain control of the home. The deed must include the trustee's name, the full name of the trust, and the date the trust was created.
Yes. Probate is a public proceeding, but when a trust is fully funded, the decedent's property and the trust provisions remain private.
A separate probate is required in each state where you own property, even for Nevada residents. Placing out-of-state property in a living trust or an LLC can avoid having to open multiple probate proceedings.
A trust only protects the assets you actually place inside it. Making sure your trust is fully funded, and keeping it that way as your assets change, is what turns a document into real protection for your family. The attorneys at Jeffrey Burr Law Firm have helped Southern Nevada families create and fund their estate plans for 40 years. With offices in Las Vegas and Henderson, the firm offers a free 30-minute, in-office estate planning consultation. Contact Jeffrey Burr today to make sure your trust is doing what you set it up to do.
This page is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Probate thresholds and fee ranges reflect Jeffrey Burr Law Firm's published guidance, current as of October 2025, and are subject to change. Laws change; consult a licensed Nevada attorney for advice specific to your situation.
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