The remainder of a trust document can be described in a summary manner. The provisions are important to include in your trust document but do not represent the substance of your plan. Several of the more important miscellaneous trust provisions are described here, but the full text of the remaining trust provisions can be found in Appendix D.

Diversification

You may want your successor trustee to be able to keep the property the trust owned while you were alive even though the trust property might not be the property a reasonably prudent trustee should keep. Therefore, you need to include a clause that does not require the successor trustee to diversify the property owned by the trust after you are gone. See Article 7.2 in Appendix D.

Creditors Clause and Spendthrift Provision

You can include a clause in your trust document that prevents your beneficiary from selling or transferring her interest prior to the date of distribution you have specified. It wouldn't do much good to put a detailed plan into place about how the successor trustee should distribute the trust property after you are gone if the beneficiary could sell or transfer his interest to get money early. A sample trust provision to accomplish these goals is included at Article 7.4 in Appendix D.

One of the reasons for having a trust payout over a period of years is to prevent creditors of one of your beneficiaries from taking the whole inheritance. This clause will prevent creditors from attaching the trust principal, but they can still go after any current income your beneficiary might receive.

Accountings

It is important for your trust document to give your successor trustee instructions regarding how and when the beneficiaries must be provided with accountings. If your successor trustee is not required to give your beneficiaries accountings, the beneficiaries would have no way of knowing what the trustee is doing. If your trustee is not doing her job, your beneficiaries can take the accountings and file a lawsuit to have her removed. See Article VIII in Appendix D for the full text of a typical accounting provision.

Signature, Witnesses, and a Notary

Just as you do for a will, you should sign your trust document in the presence of two witnesses and a notary. Some states do not require you to sign in the presence of two witnesses, and other states don't require a notary. However, your trust is an important legal document. Don't risk that your trust will be found invalid because it lacked a witness or your signature was not notarized.