Creating a trust is a smart way to protect what you’ve worked hard for and ensure your loved ones avoid unnecessary stress, time, and cost down the line. But once you’ve transferred your home into your trust, there's one critical step that often gets overlooked—updating your homeowners insurance policy.
Here’s what you need to know to keep your property protected and your estate plan airtight.
First, What Does a Trust Actually Do?
A Revocable Living Trust is a legal tool that allows you to pass down your assets—like your home—without going through probate. When you fund your trust by retitling assets in its name, you’re making sure they transfer directly to your loved ones, privately and efficiently, according to your wishes.
One of the most common assets Trust & Will members transfer into their trust is the family home, making it a powerful step toward protecting their legacies.
Should you decide to use a trust to protect your property, it’s imperative that you update your home insurance policy as soon as you retitle the home to the trust.
These following sections will explain how this works and why it’s so important.
What Is Trust-Owned Home Insurance?
Once your home is titled in the name of your trust, it’s no longer owned by you as an individual. It’s owned by your Trust. This one change has important implications for your homeowners insurance.
Trust-owned home insurance is essentially standard homeowners insurance—but with your trust properly listed as an additional insured or named insured on the policy. This ensures your home remains fully covered, even though it’s now held in your trust’s name.
Why It’s Critical to Update Your Policy
When you transfer your deed to your trust but don’t update your homeowners insurance, your coverage might not align with the new legal ownership. In some cases, this can create gray areas or even leave you exposed to denied claims.
Insurance companies need to know exactly who owns the property.
If there’s a mismatch between your deed and your insurance policy, you could run into serious issues—especially when filing a claim. You definitely don’t want to leave this up to chance, especially in the case of emergencies.
What happens if I don’t update my policy? The Risk of Coverage Gaps
Leaving your trust off the policy can lead to gaps in coverage. For example:
Claims might be delayed or denied if the named insured doesn’t match the legal owner.
Your successor trustee may face obstacles accessing benefits or managing the property if something happens to you.
If you’re sued for an incident on the property, you might not have the full legal protection that coverage is supposed to offer.
Your estate plan is only as strong as the protections that surround it. Updating your insurance is a key part of that.
How to Update Your Insurance to Your Trust-Owned Home
Here’s what typically needs to happen to align your insurance with your estate plan:
Contact your insurance provider and let them know your home is now owned by your Trust.
Provide documentation, such as your Certificate of Trust, showing the legal name of the trust and the trustee(s).
Update your policy to include the trust as either a named insured or an additional insured party.
Confirm the change in writing, and ask for a revised declaration page to keep with your records—and your estate plan.
Most insurance companies are familiar with trusts and will walk you through their process. But not all policies are created equal, so it’s important to be proactive.
Tips & Recommendations
Don’t wait. Update your insurance as soon as your deed is transferred into your trust.
Keep a copy of your updated policy in your estate plan’s Digital Vault.
Talk to your insurance agent about how your coverage applies to a trust-owned property.
Use your Certificate of Trust—not your full trust document—to avoid sharing private details.
🧑⚖️ Consult with an attorney if you have a complex situation or own multiple properties.
The Bottom Line
Updating your homeowners insurance might not seem urgent—but if your home is now owned by your Trust, this step is essential.
It’s all part of a well-rounded estate plan: one that protects your loved ones, your assets, and your peace of mind.
Are you thinking about setting up a Trust? Learn how a Trust can further protect your assets–and thus your loved ones–here. We also make the process of transferring your house deed to your trust seamless and cost-effective through our third-party service.
At Trust & Will, we’re here to help keep things simple. You can create a fully customizable, state-specific estate plan from the comfort of your own home. Take our free quiz to see where you should get started, or compare our different estate planning and settlement options today!
Is there a question here we didn’t answer? Browse more topics in our learn center, visit our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page, or chat with our member support!
Trust & Will is an online service providing legal forms and information. We are not a law firm and we do not provide legal advice.
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