Question:

My wife and I have separate trusts made in Colorado in 2014. We moved to Missouri in 2015. I don’t want to pay for new trusts, so what should I do, if anything, to make sure they are carried out in Missouri?

Response:

Your trusts are probably fine in Missouri, but you can’t be absolutely certain without having them reviewed by a Missouri estate planning attorney. In addition to possibly needing to revise or update the trusts, Missouri may have its own forms or requirements for durable powers of attorney and health care directives. While your Colorado documents should be given “full faith and credit” in Missouri, using forms financial and health care institutions are familiar with in Missouri will make them more easily accepted.

In short, you’re more likely going to need to update your durable powers of attorney and health care directives than your trusts, but only a Missouri estate planning attorney can tell you for sure. It’s worth the fee for a consultation to be certain. The risk is that your trusts will be 99% fine in Missouri, but the attorney will want them to be 100% fine. It might be hard to determine whether it is worth the cost to garner that last 1.0% of certainty.

 

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