How to Fund a Living Trust in Florida When Your Child Has a Disability
The short answer
To fund a living trust in Florida, you move an asset into the trust's name or name the trust as beneficiary. Your house needs a new recorded deed. Bank and brokerage accounts are retitled or given a pay-on-death beneficiary. Retirement accounts stay in your name, and their beneficiary forms are set with your attorney. Anything left out may need probate.
What does it mean to fund a living trust in Florida?
Many Florida parents sign a revocable living trust, put the binder on a shelf and assume the work is done. Years later, the house is still titled in their own names, the 401(k) still names their son directly, and the life insurance still splits three ways among the children. The trust is valid, but it controls almost nothing.
Funding is the step that connects your assets to the trust. A revocable living trust can only manage and distribute what it owns or what is payable to it. Listing an asset on a schedule at the back of the trust does not move it.
For a family with a child with a disability, funding decides whether your child's share reaches the special needs trust built into your plan. That trust is the heart of special needs planning: it holds your child's inheritance without counting against Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Medicaid. If an asset skips the trust and goes to your child by name, the special needs trust never sees it.
Two ways to fund a trust: retitle now or name the trust as beneficiary
There are two methods, and most Florida plans use both:
Retitle the asset now. You sign a new deed or change the account owner to yourself as trustee, for example "Maria Lopez, Trustee of the Maria Lopez Revocable Trust dated March 1, 2026." You still control it completely.
Name the trust as beneficiary. The asset stays in your name while you live and passes to the trust at your death. This works for life insurance, annuities, retirement accounts and pay-on-death or transfer-on-death accounts.
What happens to assets left out of the trust?
A Florida estate plan built around a trust usually includes a pour-over will. It sends anything left in your name to the trust at death (Fla. Stat. 732.513). The catch is that the pour-over will works through probate. The asset still reaches the trust, but only after a court case that takes months, costs money and becomes public record.
Assets with a beneficiary designation are different. They pass to whoever is named on the form, not under your will or trust. If that form names your child with a disability, no will or trust can redirect the money.
How do you put your house in a living trust in Florida?
For most families, the house is the largest asset and the one most often left out. Moving it into the trust takes a new deed.
Sign and record a new deed
A Florida deed into a trust transfers the home from you to yourself as trustee. It needs two witnesses and a notary, and it is recorded with the county clerk where the home sits, such as Broward, Miami-Dade or Palm Beach. The deed should state the trustee's name and the trust's name and date, so a future buyer, title company or lender can see who has authority to sell.
Documentary stamp tax rules for deeds into a trust are technical, especially when the home has a mortgage. The deed should be prepared with those rules in mind rather than copied from an online form.
Will you keep your homestead exemption?
Generally, yes. Florida's homestead exemption is available to an owner who holds "legal title or beneficial title in equity" and lives in the home as a permanent residence (Fla. Stat. 196.031). When your revocable trust gives you the right to live in the home for life, you keep that beneficial title. Florida's assessment rules also do not treat a move between legal and equitable title for the same homestead owner as a change of ownership, so the Save Our Homes cap generally continues.
Property appraisers may ask for a copy of the trust or a certification showing your right to occupy the home. Check with the county property appraiser after the deed is recorded so the exemption is not interrupted on the next tax bill.
Can you put a house with a mortgage into a trust?
Yes. Federal law bars a lender from calling the loan due because of "a transfer into an inter vivos trust in which the borrower is and remains a beneficiary" for homes with fewer than five units (12 U.S.C. 1701j-3). Notify the lender and the homeowner's insurance company once the deed is recorded, and ask the insurer to add the trust as an insured. If you refinance or open a home equity line of credit (HELOC) later, some lenders ask you to deed the home out of the trust first, though not all do. If yours does, make sure the home goes back into the trust afterward.
Married owners, homestead limits and condos
If you are married, your spouse generally must sign any deed of your Florida homestead, even if only one of you is on title. Florida also limits who can receive a homestead when the owner leaves a spouse or a minor child, and a trust does not get around those limits.
Condominium units are deeded like houses. Cooperative apartments are not real estate in the usual sense; they pass by assigning the co-op shares and lease, often with board approval. Some families use a lady bird deed that names the trust instead of deeding the home into the trust now. Either way, the trust decides what happens to your child's share.
Which assets should be retitled, and which should name the trust?
Every asset has a usual method. This table shows the common Florida approach and what changes when a child has a disability.
Asset | Usual funding method | Special needs note |
Florida home | New deed to you as trustee, recorded | Trust holds it for your child's share; never deed to the child |
Real estate in another state | Deed to the trust | Avoids a second probate case in that state |
Bank accounts and CDs | Retitle to the trust or add the trust as pay-on-death beneficiary | Remove the child as joint owner or POD beneficiary |
Brokerage accounts | Retitle or add a transfer-on-death beneficiary naming the trust | Same as bank accounts |
401(k), 403(b), IRA | Stay in your name; set the beneficiary form with your attorney | Often the special needs trust, depending on the account and tax rules; never the child directly |
Life insurance and annuities | Name the trust as beneficiary | Never name the child directly or "equally among my children" |
Business interests | Assign membership or shares to the trust | Check the operating agreement first |
Furniture, jewelry, art | Written assignment to the trust | Lets the trustee keep items for your child's home |
Your child's own savings or ABLE account | Do not put in your trust | These belong to your child and follow separate rules |
Married couples who own accounts as tenants by the entirety have strong creditor protection under Florida law. The law is not entirely clear on how much of that protection carries over when those accounts move into a trust. If you have a higher risk of being sued, for example because of your profession or a business you own, discuss this with your attorney before retitling.
Should you put a 401(k) or IRA in your living trust?
No. A retirement account cannot be retitled to a trust while you are alive. Changing the owner is generally treated as a withdrawal of the whole account, which can trigger income tax on all of it at once.
Instead, you fund the trust through the beneficiary designation form. Who to name, and in what order, depends on your marriage, your other children, the type of account and the wording of your trust, so this is a decision to make with your attorney. Naming your child with a disability directly is a common and costly mistake, because an inherited IRA your child can withdraw from generally counts as a resource for SSI.
The tax rules for retirement accounts left to a trust are highly technical. Federal law gives special treatment to a trust for a disabled or chronically ill beneficiary, which may let withdrawals stretch over your child's life instead of ending within 10 years. Whether a trust qualifies depends on its exact terms, the other beneficiaries and IRS rules that have changed in recent years. A mistake can mean a large tax bill or lost benefits, so have your attorney review every retirement account and beneficiary form.
How does funding the trust protect your child's SSI and Medicaid?
SSI allows only $2,000 in countable resources for one person. In Florida, most adults who receive SSI also receive Medicaid because of it. A third-party special needs trust funded with the parents' assets is not counted as your child's resource, because your child cannot direct the trustee to pay out the money.
Picture parents in Pembroke Pines with a $450,000 home, a $300,000 401(k) and a $250,000 life insurance policy. Their trust includes a special needs trust for their son, who receives SSI and lives in a group home. But the house was never deeded to the trust, the 401(k) names their son as contingent beneficiary, and the insurance names "my children equally." Here is what happens after both parents die:
The house goes through probate before it reaches the trust.
The 401(k) passes to their son outright and likely ends his SSI until the money is spent down or placed in a first-party special needs trust with a Medicaid payback.
His one-third of the insurance, about $83,000, does the same.
With the deed recorded and both forms naming the trust, all three assets reach the special needs trust without probate, and his benefits stay in place.
If your trust was signed years ago and you are not sure what is in it, a Discovery Call with the Legacy Solutions Law Firm intake team is a practical first step. The team will ask about your home, accounts and your child's benefits, and a plan review follows if it is the right next step.
What does a Florida trust funding checklist look like?
List every asset: how it is titled today and who is named as beneficiary.
Sign and record a deed for the Florida home and any other real estate.
Notify your lender and homeowner's insurer, and confirm the homestead exemption with the property appraiser.
Retitle bank and brokerage accounts, or add the trust as pay-on-death or transfer-on-death beneficiary.
Update life insurance and annuity beneficiaries to the trust.
Update retirement account beneficiaries with your attorney, since the tax and benefits rules are detailed.
Sign an assignment of personal property and any business interests.
Keep a pour-over will as a safety net for anything missed.
Review funding after a refinance, a new account, a move or an inheritance.
Who should fund the trust: you or your attorney?
Some steps belong to the attorney, such as preparing and recording the deed and drafting the beneficiary wording for retirement accounts. Others, like bank paperwork, can be done by the family with clear instructions.
Banks and brokerages often ask for proof that the trust exists. Florida law lets a trustee give a short certification of trust instead of the full document, so your private terms, including the special needs trust provisions, stay private (Fla. Stat. 736.1017). New terms like trustee, pour-over will and special needs trust are explained in the firm's special needs planning glossary.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it mean to fund a trust in Florida?
Funding means connecting your assets to the trust. You either change the owner to yourself as trustee, as with a deed to your home, or name the trust as beneficiary, as with life insurance or a 401(k). A Florida trust only controls assets it owns or that are payable to it. Anything else follows your will, your beneficiary forms or Florida law.
Do I have to put my house in my living trust in Florida?
Not always, but the house should end up in the trust if you want it to avoid probate and reach your child's special needs trust. The usual way is a recorded deed to you as trustee. Some families use a lady bird deed that names the trust instead. Leaving the house in your own name means probate through the pour-over will.
Will I lose my Florida homestead exemption if I put my house in a trust?
Generally, no. Florida allows the exemption for an owner with beneficial title who lives in the home, and a properly drafted revocable trust gives you that right. The Save Our Homes cap generally continues too. After recording the deed, confirm with your county property appraiser, who may ask for a certification of the trust.
Can I transfer a house with a mortgage into a trust in Florida?
Yes. Federal law stops a lender from calling the loan due because you move your home into a living trust where you remain a beneficiary. Tell the lender and your homeowner's insurer after recording. If you refinance or open a HELOC, some lenders, though not all, ask for the home to come out of the trust first. If so, deed it back in afterward.
Should I retitle my bank accounts or use a pay-on-death beneficiary?
Both methods work. Retitling puts the account in the trust now, so your successor trustee can use it right away if you become incapacitated. A pay-on-death designation keeps the account in your name and moves it to the trust at death. Either way, remove your child with a disability as a joint owner or direct beneficiary.
Can I put my IRA or 401(k) into my revocable trust?
No. Changing the owner of a retirement account is generally treated as withdrawing it, which can make the whole balance taxable. You keep the account in your name and use the beneficiary form. For a child with a disability, the right choice depends on the account, your family and detailed IRS rules, so set the form with your attorney.
What happens if I forget to put an asset in my trust?
If the asset has no beneficiary, your pour-over will sends it to the trust, but only after Florida probate. If it has a beneficiary form, it goes to whoever is named, even if that conflicts with your trust. A periodic funding review catches new accounts, refinanced homes and outdated forms before they cause problems.
Should my life insurance name my trust or my child with a disability?
Name the trust, or the special needs trust within it. Insurance paid to your child directly is your child's money, and anything over the $2,000 SSI resource limit can stop SSI and put Medicaid at risk. Paid to the trust, the trustee holds it and spends it for your child's needs under the rules you wrote.
Does a pour-over will avoid probate in Florida?
No. A pour-over will moves assets left in your name into your trust, but it does that through probate. It is a safety net, not a substitute for funding. The fewer assets left to pour over, the shorter and less costly any probate case will be, and the sooner your child's share reaches the trust.
What assets should not go in a living trust?
Retirement accounts should not be retitled to a trust; they name it as beneficiary instead. Your child's own savings and ABLE account do not belong in your trust. Tenancy by the entirety accounts and some vehicles are often handled differently too. Your attorney decides each asset based on taxes, creditor protection and your child's benefits.
How Legacy Solutions Law Firm helps Florida families fund their trust
A trust is only as good as its funding. Legacy Solutions Law Firm builds complete plans for families with a child with a disability: a revocable trust with a special needs trust inside it, a recorded deed for the home, beneficiary wording for retirement accounts and life insurance, a pour-over will, and powers of attorney. The firm also reviews trusts signed years ago to find what never made it in.
The first step is a Discovery Call with the firm's intake team. You will talk through your home, your accounts and your child's benefits. If it is the right next step, a plan review follows.
Prepared by Legacy Solutions Law Firm, PLLC, Hollywood, Florida. Reviewed by Randy Narkir, Esq., special needs planning attorney.
The information provided here is for general educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading this content does not create an attorney-client relationship. For guidance specific to your situation, consult a qualified Florida attorney.
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