What Can We Learn From Michael Jackson?

Short answer: Michael Jackson did the hard part. He set up a living trust to provide for his children and his mother. But he never moved his assets into it, and because the trust was never "funded," his estate was forced through years of public probate, the very thing a trust is meant to avoid. The lesson: a trust is only as good as what you actually put into it.

When Michael Jackson died in 2009, he left behind one of the most valuable estates in entertainment history. He had also done the kind of sophisticated planning most people never get around to. And yet his estate still ended up in the exact court process he had tried to avoid, all because of a single overlooked step.

What did Michael Jackson set up?

On paper, Jackson had an excellent plan. He signed a "pour-over" will and created the Michael Jackson Family Trust, directing his estate to be held in trust for his three children and his mother, with a portion set aside for children's charities. He also named his mother as the intended guardian of his children. These are exactly the tools an estate planning attorney would recommend.

So what went wrong?

He never funded the trust. Most of his assets stayed titled in his own name rather than in the name of the trust. A trust can only control the assets it actually owns, so when Jackson died, those assets did not pass privately under the trust. Instead, nearly the entire estate had to go through probate, the slow, public, court-supervised process the trust was designed to avoid.

What does it mean to "fund" a trust?

Funding a trust means retitling your assets into the name of the trust: updating deeds, bank and investment accounts, and beneficiary designations so the trust legally owns them. A signed trust document by itself is an empty box. Until you put your assets inside, it cannot do its job.

How does this apply in Florida?

The rule is the same here. An unfunded revocable living trust does not avoid Florida probate. Any asset left in your own name at death passes through the probate court, and a pour-over will can catch those stray assets, but only by sending them through probate first. If privacy and probate avoidance are your goals, funding the trust is not optional, it is the whole point.

Frequently asked questions

Does a living trust avoid probate if it is not funded? No. A trust only controls assets that have been transferred into it. Anything left in your own name still goes through probate.

What does funding a trust involve? Retitling your assets into the trust's name, deeds, accounts, and certain beneficiary designations, so the trust legally owns them.

How do I know if my trust is actually funded? An estate planning attorney can review how your assets are titled and confirm which ones still need to be moved into the trust.

At Clarke Law, P.A., I help South Florida families set up trusts and, just as importantly, fund them properly so they work as intended. Your first consultation is free.