Title of Living Trust

[Daniel Mills]

Hi guys,

I have a question regarding Living Trusts. I am a US expat living in Japan, which means I have the difficult task of navigating both US and Japanese taxes and laws. I created a living trust last year with an attorney in the US, but haven't funded it yet because I needed expert advice from a Japanese CPA before doing it. What the Japanese CPA said was that I can fund it without incurring a gift tax (on the Japanese side) as long as the title of the trust does not contain my name and my wife's. Right now it's called something like, "Daniel Mills and Megumi Kohyama Living Trust." Is it possible to change the title to "Mills' Living Trust" in order to avoid this little Japanese tax issue or is there some reason that both people's names need to be on it? 

I know someone will say, "check with your attorney," which I plan to do, but since it was created through a large corporate law firm I don't always get the quick response I would like. I just wanted to see if anyone had some knowledge on this first.

[Lance Lvovsky]

@Daniel Mills

Yes you can. And if you are not getting a quick response, then time to get a new attorney. I work with many trust attorneys as I advise mutual clients on the trust tax component (domestic and international) and happy to refer you if needed.