What does it mean to “fund” a trust?

Funding your trust means making sure your assets are properly connected to your trust.

Some assets may be retitled into the name of the trust. Some may name the trust as a beneficiary or contingent beneficiary. Some may stay exactly where they are, but need a transfer-on-death designation or updated beneficiary form.

The estate plan is the instruction manual. Funding is what makes those instructions work in the real world.

A beautifully drafted trust that never gets connected to anything is like buying a safe and leaving the valuables on the kitchen counter.

*Reviewed by Estate Planning Attorney Casey Connealy, Partner at Gaughan & Connealy Estate Planning Attorneys on June 23, 2026.