How to Terminate a Family Trust Account

A family trust is an account that is set up to manage a family's assets. In most cases, this is a revocable trust set up by a family member to ease the transition of assets to her beneficiaries after her death, although family trust accounts can take other forms. Terminating a family trust account is a straightforward procedure that can usually be handled by a layman, although, as in all legal matters, you should consider seeking the advice of a lawyer or paralegal before acting. The biggest consideration in how to proceed is whether the trust is revocable or irrevocable.

Remove all assets from the family trust fund account. This can be done either by moving them to another account that is owned by the family trust or to accounts owned by individual beneficiaries. Before anything else happens, the account must be emptied.

Create a revocation of living trust document. This document will list the account information, the trustee, the grantor and the date. The document will say that the grantor is revoking the living trust account as of that date. If the account is a revocable trust, the grantor is the only signatory required. If the account is an irrevocable trust, the beneficiaries will also need to sign.

Sign the revocation of living trust in the presence of a notary public. In the case of an irrevocable trust, the beneficiaries must also sign the document in the presence of a notary.

Provide a copy of the revocation of living trust document to all parties involved. This includes the grantor and the beneficiaries as well as the trustee and any financial institutions that have joint accounts listed.

Close the financial accounts associated with the family trust. This can only be done by the original owner of the account or the designated trustee of the account.