The Marital Universal Trust is a Co-Grantor Revocable Living Trust designed for a married couple to avoid probate and control the disposition of their assets after death.
The Marital Universal Trust is so called because it can function as three different tax planning formats in one trust document.
The actual format ultimately used will usually be contingent upon the circumstances that exist at the time of the decease of the first grantor to die.
The flexibility of not having to initially choose a particular tax planning structure in a marital trust can be a valuable feature in consideration of unforeseen circumstances that may warrant the utilization of a different type of trust than originally established.
The assets of the trust will be under the complete control of both husband and wife in the same manner as existed before the trust was established.
Separate property designation can be retained by either spouse - even after transferring assets to the trust - as sole and separate property, or community property, or tenants-in-common property.
Certain sole & separate assets may be distributed to the heirs of the first grantor to die immediately upon his his/her decease.