🐚 How to Set Up a Trust in New Hampshire (2025 Guide)

🐚 How to Set Up a Trust in New Hampshire (2025 Guide)

New Hampshire residents are increasingly using living trusts to keep their estates private, avoid probate delays, and provide smooth asset transfer to loved ones — all without paying steep legal fees.

If you're looking to protect your assets and build generational wealth in New Hampshire, this guide walks you through the steps.

🔍 What Is a Trust?

A trust is a legal entity you create to manage your assets while you're alive and distribute them to beneficiaries after your death — without court involvement.

The most popular type in New Hampshire is the Revocable Living Trust, which:

• Avoids probate court

• Gives you control during your lifetime

• Provides privacy — unlike a public will

• Enables fast, smooth transfer of property

• Helps manage incapacity or illness

📍 How to Set Up a Trust in New Hampshire

1. Choose Your Trust Type

Most New Hampshire residents start with a Revocable Living Trust, which is:

• Fully legal and recognized in NH

• Flexible while you're alive

• Stronger than a simple will

Optional upgrades:
☐ Minor’s Trust
☐ Special Needs Trust
☐ Spendthrift Protection
☐ Dynasty Clause (multi-generational)

✅ TrustGenie includes these in your trust structure — no extra charge.

2. Assign the Key Roles

☐ Grantor – You, the creator of the trust
☐ Trustee – Person managing the trust (often you)
☐ Successor Trustee – Takes over if you become incapacitated or pass away
☐ Beneficiaries – Who will receive your assets

3. List and Transfer Your Assets

Include:

• NH real estate

• Bank/investment accounts

• Business interests

• Personal property

• Digital assets (crypto, domains, etc.)

✅ TrustGenie includes a Schedule A and General Assignment form to document this.

4. Sign and Notarize the Trust

New Hampshire does not require witnesses, but notarization is required to validate the document.

✅ TrustGenie provides the proper NH notarization instructions.

5. Fund the Trust (Critical Step)

A trust is just paper unless it's funded. This step makes your trust effective.

☐ Record a Quitclaim or Warranty Deed to move real estate into your trust
☐ Retitle bank/investment accounts
☐ Assign personal property via General Assignment
☐ Update beneficiary forms for insurance/retirement (optional)

🚨 Unfunded trusts fail to avoid probate!

⚠️ Common Mistakes in New Hampshire

❌ Not funding the trust
❌ Naming minors without proper subtrusts
❌ Using DIY templates that don't meet NH legal standards
❌ Skipping digital asset instructions
❌ Not giving your Successor Trustee the trust documents

💰 How Much Does a Trust Cost in New Hampshire?

MethodCostAttorney$2,000–$5,000+Online Templates$100–$300TrustGenie$150/year – All-inclusive

✅ You get the NH-specific trust package, support, and free updates.

🧠 Do You Need a Lawyer to Set Up a Trust in NH?

No. As long as you're mentally competent, you can legally create your own trust that is:

• In writing

• Signed by the grantor

• Names a trustee and beneficiaries

• Properly notarized

• Funded with assets

✅ TrustGenie makes sure all of this is handled correctly — step by step.

📎 Free Download: New Hampshire Trust Checklist

(You already have or will receive the plain-text version.)

✅ Ready to Start?

Thousands of New England families are using TrustGenie to skip court, save money, and protect their legacy.

👉 [Create Your New Hampshire Trust – $150/year]

🔗 Related Articles:

• [Avoiding Probate in New Hampshire]

• [How to Transfer a House into a Trust in NH]

• [What Happens Without a Trust in NH?]

✍️ Written by:
TrustGenie Legal Team
Empowering families in the Granite State with smarter estate planning.