For most people setting up a revocable living trust in Connecticut, serving as your own trustee is the standard approach, not the exception.
You create the trust, transfer your assets into it, and continue managing everything exactly as you did before. The trust holds legal title to your property; you remain in control of every decision.
What changes most significantly is what happens when you can no longer serve, and that is where careful planning makes all the difference.
Revocable Living Trust Overview
A revocable living trust is a legal document you create during your lifetime. You transfer ownership of your assets into the trust, and the trust holds them according to your instructions. You name beneficiaries who will receive those assets after you die.
The word “revocable” is important. You can modify or revoke the trust at any time while you are alive and competent. Nothing is permanent until your death. That flexibility is what makes this type of trust so practical for general estate planning.
Why Serving as Your Own Trustee Makes Sense
When people first hear the word “trustee,” they often picture a bank or an attorney managing someone else’s money. For a revocable living trust, the picture is much simpler.
In a revocable living trust, you normally appoint yourself as the first in a series of trustees and remain in control of your assets as long as you are alive and competent.
You pay your bills, manage your investments, buy and sell property, and make every financial decision, just as you always have. The trust is the legal owner of those assets, but you are the one running the show.
Connecticut law explicitly permits a settlor to be the sole trustee of a trust. There is nothing unusual or complicated about it.
What Changes After You Create the Trust
In practical terms, very little changes in your day-to-day life. You still live in your home, spend as you see fit, and use your accounts as you always have.
The difference is on paper. Assets that were once titled in your name are now titled in the name of your trust.
Your house deed, bank accounts, and investment accounts are updated to reflect trust ownership. That retitling step is essential; assets that are never transferred into the trust are not governed by it.
The trust also operates under your Social Security number for tax purposes. You report income from trust assets on your personal tax return, just as before.
The Successor Trustee: Why You Need One
Naming yourself as trustee works perfectly well while you are alive and capable. The critical planning step is naming a successor trustee who can step in when you cannot.
Upon your death, the trust becomes irrevocable, and your designated successor trustee takes over the management and distribution of assets as outlined in the trust agreement. That transition happens automatically, without court involvement and without probate.
The successor trustee also has authority to act if you become incapacitated. Assets placed in a living trust provide protection should you become mentally incapacitated; your assets are already in place, being managed by the trust, so no guardianship proceedings are necessary.
That protection alone is one of the most compelling reasons to establish a revocable trust rather than relying on a will alone.
Your successor trustee can be an adult child, a sibling, a trusted friend, or a professional fiduciary. Choose someone who is organized, honest, and willing to carry out your wishes carefully.
What the Trustee Role Actually Requires
As your own trustee, your main obligation is to keep trust assets titled correctly and make decisions consistent with the trust’s terms. For most people, this is not burdensome.
Trustees have the legal authority to take actions necessary to achieve the appropriate investment, management, and distribution of assets, consistent with their fiduciary duties and the powers outlined in the trust itself.
While you are serving as trustee of your own revocable trust, you are essentially acting as a fiduciary to yourself, which means the practical constraints are minimal.
The successor trustee’s role is more demanding. After your death, that person must notify beneficiaries, manage or liquidate assets, settle any debts, and distribute what remains according to your instructions. Choosing someone capable and informed matters.
One Limitation Worth Understanding
A revocable living trust gives you significant control over how your estate is managed and distributed. What it cannot do is protect your assets from the cost of long-term care.
That distinction matters because Medicare does not cover nursing home stays beyond a short rehabilitation period.
For extended care, many people turn to Medicaid, the joint federal and state program that does cover long-term nursing home costs. But Medicaid is means-tested, meaning you must have very limited assets to qualify.
Because you retain full control over a revocable living trust, the assets inside it count toward Medicaid’s asset limits. Holding property in this type of trust does not shelter it from that calculation. Connecticut treats those assets as available to you, because they are.
If protecting assets from Medicaid spend-down is part of your planning goals, a different structure is required.
An irrevocable Medicaid asset protection trust can shelter assets from that calculation, but it operates under very different rules, including the requirement that you give up the role of trustee.
The Probate Benefit Explained
One of the primary reasons people choose a revocable living trust is to avoid probate. Property left through a trust can be distributed to your beneficiaries almost immediately, often without the need for an attorney.
On the other hand, property left through a will must pass through the Connecticut probate process first, which takes time and involves court fees.
Privacy is another benefit. A will becomes part of the public record after it is filed with the probate court, but a trust does not. Your beneficiaries, the assets you held, and the instructions you left all remain private.
Starting With the Right Structure
A revocable living trust is one of the most useful tools in estate planning precisely because it is straightforward. You remain in control throughout your lifetime, your successor trustee steps in seamlessly when needed, and your beneficiaries receive their inheritance without court delays.
Getting the structure right from the start matters more than most people expect. An improperly drafted trust, or one that is never properly funded, can undermine the very goals it was created to achieve.
Working with an estate planning attorney ensures your trust is built to do exactly what you intend.
Let’s Get Started!
We have a Westport, CT estate planning office and another location in Glastonbury, and you can send us a message or call us at 860-548-1000 to set up a consultation at either location.
And if you would like to learn more, join us at one of our monthly seminars. They are offered on a complimentary basis, and you can get all the details on our seminar schedule page.
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