Trust Funding: Transferring the Deeds, Retitling the Accounts, and Finishing the Job

Jim Fletcher, Founder | Fletcher Estate Planning

Jim Fletcher is the founder of Fletcher Estate Planning in Sandy Springs, Georgia, where he has built a practice devoted entirely to trust-based estate planning — designing and implementing revocable living trusts, wills, financial powers of attorney, advance directives, and transfer on death (ladybird) deeds. With nearly two decades in practice, Mr. Fletcher works daily on both sides of the trust funding equation: drafting the trusts themselves and preparing the deeds and transferring documents that move clients’ assets into them, giving him firsthand command of the funding process this program addresses. He is the author of Estate Planning for Georgia Families, a consumer guide to protecting family assets and avoiding the probate delays that result when estate plans are left incomplete.

• Education & Credentials

Mr. Fletcher earned his Juris Doctor cum laude from the University of Georgia School of Law, where he served as Executive Editor of the Journal of Intellectual Property Law and as President of the Phi Alpha Delta law fraternity. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Management from Kennesaw State University, a foundation that informs his practical, systems-driven approach to implementing and completing clients’ estate plans. He has also completed advanced practitioner training through Wealth Counsel and the Elder Law College.

• Recognition & Leadership

Mr. Fletcher has been named a Super Lawyer, a designation limited to the top five percent of eligible attorneys. He holds a perfect 10.0 rating from Avvo and an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell, that service’s highest tier — a peer-review rating reflecting the highest level of professional excellence and ethical standards.

• Professional Involvement

Mr. Fletcher is a member of Wealth Counsel, the Elder Law College, the Estate Planning Council of North Georgia, the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA), and the Elder Law Section of the State Bar of Georgia. He is also a frequent educator on estate planning topics, regularly presenting webinars on
trusts, probate avoidance, and plan implementation.

• Experience

Before founding Fletcher Estate Planning, Mr. Fletcher served as a senior associate at law firms in Buckhead and Dunwoody, where his work spanned estate planning, complex civil litigation, and real estate matters — experience with deeds, titles, and property transfers that he now applies directly to funding clients’ trusts and ensuring no asset is left outside the plan.

SESSION 1 – Transferring Real Property Into the Trust: Deeds, Recording, and What It Triggers | 2:30pm – 3:30pm

This session covers the full mechanics of transferring real property into a revocable trust — from deed selection and vesting language through recording, transfer tax exemptions, and the downstream consequences the transfer triggers. Attorneys will learn how to avoid common drafting errors that generate malpractice exposure, navigate the Garn-St. Germain due-on-sale framework for mortgaged
properties, and protect clients’ homestead exemptions, property tax benefits, and title insurance coverage. Attendees leave with a practical checklist for completing a real property trust transfer correctly across multiple risk categories.

BREAK | 3:30pm – 3:40pm

SESSION 2 – Retitling Accounts and Business Interests: Working the Funding List to Completion | 3:40pm – 4:40pm

This session covers the non-real-property side of trust funding: retitling bank and brokerage accounts, coordinating retirement account beneficiary designations under the post-SECURE Act and 2024 IRS final regulations, transferring LLC and business interests into the trust, and handling digital assets and
cryptocurrency. Attorneys will learn the institution-specific workflows, the common failure points that leave trusts unfunded, and how to build a durable funding system that prevents post-execution drift. Attendees will leave with procedural knowledge to guide clients through each asset category and avoid
the malpractice exposure that flows from incomplete funding.