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National estate-planning kit for couples
See page 1 of the actual declaration before you buy. A 13-document joint living trust kit for married couples who want the first spouse’s share held for the survivor’s lifetime — all income, plus principal for health, education, maintenance, and support — and then locked to the beneficiaries the first spouse named. The survivor cannot revoke it, amend it, or redirect it. Probate avoidance, privacy, and uninterrupted management while you are both alive. Every document is a fillable Word file — click the blanks and type, or print and complete by hand.
This 13-document kit covers the full lifecycle: establish the joint trust, fund it (assignment + schedules A–E), change it (amendment — each spouse can update their own beneficiary and separate-property schedules alone) or unwind it (revocation), administer the first death in order (the instructions’ mandatory checklist and the signed First-Death Allocation Ledger that keeps the two subtrusts straight), catch what never got titled over (a pour-over will for each spouse), prove it to banks and title companies without revealing its terms (certification of trust), and let the trustee obtain the physician certifications the incapacity provisions call for (HIPAA authorization).
See page 1 of the actual declaration below. Your complete fillable Word download starts with a READ FIRST instructions booklet and includes schedules A–E, amendment and revocation forms, two pour-over wills, a certification of trust, and a HIPAA authorization — delivered after checkout.
Legal currency, verified
A joint revocable living trust for a married couple who want the first spouse's share to keep working for the survivor — without handing the survivor the power to redirect it. While you are both alive you manage everything together as your own trustees, the plan stays private, assets titled to the trust stay out of probate, and either spouse can keep managing everything without a court if the other becomes incapacitated. Page 1 of the actual declaration is previewed above before purchase.
When the first spouse dies, that spouse's share is set aside as the Bypass Trust: the surviving spouse receives all of its income (at least quarterly) and may receive principal for health, education, maintenance, and support, and may serve as its trustee — but the survivor cannot revoke it, amend it, or change its remainder beneficiaries. When the survivor later dies, whatever is left goes to the beneficiaries the first spouse named. The survivor's own share stays revocable for life (the Survivor's Trust). If you would rather the first spouse's share pass outright at the first death, with nothing held back, that is our Shared/Marital Trust Kit (outright); a single person should use the Individual Trust Kit.
This design is the traditional answer for blended families: each spouse can provide for the survivor and still guarantee that their own children are not disinherited by a later amendment, a new relationship, or pressure from any direction. It is sold for decades under the name "credit shelter" or "A-B" trust because it once doubled estate-tax exemptions; with today's federal exemption that tax function matters to very few families, and this kit does not claim or promise any estate-tax savings. What it delivers is certainty, probate avoidance, and privacy — the tax questions (including the basis trade-offs, which the instructions explain plainly) are for your CPA or attorney.
While you are both alive, each spouse can change their own beneficiary schedule and their own separate-property schedule alone (with notice to the other spouse) — so neither of you can freeze the other out of providing for their own children. Changes to the shared terms — the declaration itself, the shared-property schedule, trustees, the first-death mechanism, or a revocation touching joint, homestead, or tenancy-by-the-entirety property — always take both signatures.
A READ FIRST instructions booklet with a first-death administration chapter and a mandatory, signable First-Death Allocation Ledger (the one-page record that keeps the two subtrusts straight for the next thirty years); the joint Declaration of Trust with Schedules A–E built in (A shared/community property with ownership percentages, B and C each spouse's separate property, D and E each spouse's own remainder beneficiaries); a General Assignment for untitled household property; amendment and revocation forms (including the hard stop that protects the Bypass Trust); two individual pour-over wills (one per spouse — never a joint will), each with its own guardian nomination; a long-form Certification of Trust for banks, brokerages, and title companies; and a HIPAA Authorization & Waiver (included, PublicLegal item 1929) so the trustee can get the physician certifications the declaration's incapacity provisions call for. Every document is a fillable Word file — click the blanks and type, or print and complete by hand.
For assets titled to it, the trust avoids probate, keeps your plan private, provides uninterrupted management if either spouse becomes incapacitated, and locks the first spouse's remainder plan at the first death. It does not reduce estate taxes, does not shield assets from your own creditors, and does not help with Medicaid eligibility. Listing an asset on a schedule records your intent — it is not a transfer; deeds and account retitling do that, and the instructions walk through both-spouses-on-the-deed, homestead, and tenancy-by-the-entirety cautions state by state, with a mandatory stop before any such deed is recorded.
Drafted for a married couple serving together as their own first trustees (the forms say Spouse 1 and Spouse 2 — no husband/wife assumptions). Unmarried joint settlors and Louisiana residents should not use this kit — both need forms drafted for their situation. Retirement accounts are never assigned to the trust; they pass by beneficiary designation, and the instructions explain the SECURE Act conversation to have with your adviser.
This form is not legal advice. It is a national kit; consult a licensed attorney in your state for advice about your situation.
ILRG is committed to top-quality legal forms. If you are not 100 percent satisfied after purchase, contact us for a full refund.
The deceased spouse’s share becomes the Bypass Trust: irrevocable, holding that share for the survivor’s lifetime. The survivor receives all of its income at least quarterly, may receive principal for health, education, maintenance, and support, and may serve as its trustee — but cannot revoke it, amend it, or change its remainder beneficiaries. When the survivor later dies, whatever remains passes to the beneficiaries the first spouse named. The survivor’s own share stays revocable for life as the Survivor’s Trust. If you would rather the first spouse’s share be distributed outright at the first death, that is our Shared/Marital Trust Kit.
They are the same two subtrusts, renamed in plain English. Older versions of this kit (and many attorneys’ forms) called the deceased spouse’s irrevocable share “Trust A” and the survivor’s revocable share “Trust B.” This edition calls them the Bypass Trust and the Survivor’s Trust, and says so on every document, so a survivor administering the trust twenty years from now can tell what they are holding without a decoder.
Probably not for federal taxes alone — and this kit claims no estate-tax savings. The federal exemption is $15 million per person in 2026, and any unused exemption can be ported to the surviving spouse if the first spouse’s estate elects it on a timely filed federal estate-tax return. The living reasons for this design today are certainty — guaranteeing children from prior marriages eventually receive their share — and keeping the first spouse’s share directed no matter what happens in the survivor’s later life. One exception: a few states impose their own estate tax at far lower thresholds, most without portability; the instructions explain what to ask your adviser.
Partly — and that is deliberate. While you are both alive, each spouse can amend their own beneficiary schedule and their own separate-property schedule alone, with written notice to the other spouse; neither can freeze the other out of providing for their own children. The shared terms — the declaration itself, the shared-property schedule, trustees, the first-death mechanism, and any revocation touching joint, community, homestead, or tenancy-by-the-entirety property — always require both signatures. After the first death, the survivor can still amend and revoke their own Survivor’s Trust; the Bypass Trust is locked for everyone.
It is irrevocable at the first death: it gets its own tax ID, its income is reported annually (the instructions cover the Form 1041 conversation for your CPA), and its assets generally do not receive a second basis adjustment when the survivor dies — a real cost the instructions explain plainly. The trustee must keep the two subtrusts’ property and records separate and send the remainder beneficiaries an annual report; the kit’s signed First-Death Allocation Ledger is built for exactly that. Couples trade that administration for certainty about where the first spouse’s share ends up.
A married couple who will serve together as their own first trustees, who want lifetime support for the survivor plus a locked remainder for the first spouse’s beneficiaries — the classic blended-family plan. The forms say Spouse 1 and Spouse 2, with no husband/wife assumptions. It is not for unmarried joint owners, and Louisiana residents should not use it — both situations need forms drafted for them. Retirement accounts are never assigned to the trust; they pass by beneficiary designation, and the instructions explain the SECURE Act conversation to have with your adviser.
Thirteen fillable Word documents, delivered instantly after checkout: a READ FIRST instructions booklet with the first-death administration chapter and the First-Death Allocation Ledger, the joint declaration of trust with schedules A–E built in, a general assignment, amendment and revocation forms, two pour-over wills (one per spouse), a long-form certification of trust, and a HIPAA authorization. Page 1 of the declaration is previewed above. Every purchase is covered by the 100% satisfaction guarantee.