I want to tell you why you are incorrect today if you think that your parent’s trust document is recorded somewhere. Trusts are private documents. They don’t get recorded anywhere. They don’t get recorded with the County Recorder’s Office. They’re not kept with some government agency. A lot of times the attorneys who draft them don’t even keep a copy.
The attorney drafts the trust document and hands it over to the client. The attorney says, “Here’s your trust. Here’s your document.” The attorney isn’t necessarily required to even keep a copy.
Attorneys May Keep The Original Although They Aren’t Required To
There are some attorneys who will keep the original of a trust or will. They might still have them years later. But they’re not required to do that.
The best way to get a hold of your parent’s trust or will is to receive a copy as soon as you can—either before they pass away, if they’re willing to share it with you, or from whoever has it after they pass away. It’s a good idea to obtain a copy of the trust while your parent is still living, but not every parent is willing to do that. If somebody has a copy of a trust or will and won’t give it to you after your parents pass away, then you have to go to court and you have to ask the court to order them to hand over the documents, which the court will do in most cases.
