Can a Trust be valid before it has been signed by the Trustee?
Suppose a Grantor/Settlor signs a Trust document created by his
lawyer, and then submits the Trust document to a bank/Trustee for
signature.
The bank wants to do due diligence on the document as well as the
Grantor/Settlor before it signs, as it must "know your client",
especially today with Homeland Security regulations. The bank takes
two months to do its due diligence.
Question: during those two months before the bank signed, did a valid
trust exist? If so, how is that possible? If not, what was legal
status of the document during the two month wait?

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Request for Question Clarification by markj-ga on 12 May 2005 16:03 PDT

elitry --

It would be helpful for researchers to know in what state or province
the trust is being created.

markj-ga

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Clarification of Question by elitry-ga on 12 May 2005 17:29 PDT

I appreciate Markj-ga's query -- please forgive the confusion.
The issue takes place in New York City, and has to do with application
of the statute (EPTL 3-3.7), which seems clear and unambiguous that a
pour over to a trust is valid provided "that such trust instrument is
executed in a manner provided for in 7-1.17 prior to or
contemporaneously with the execution of a Will and such trust is
identified in such Will".  It would seem that 7-1.17 requires the
trust to be signed by the Settlor and Trustee. In the issue posed, on
the date the Testator signed his Will, the trust had not been signed
by the Trustee.