When a signed trust needs to change, Bancroft makes the change as an amendment or a restatement. This article explains how a change works, what it keeps from the original, and what it costs. For initial document creation, see the document workflow.
Amendment and restatement
A trust amendment is a short document that changes specific provisions and is kept with the original. A restatement is itself an amendment: it replaces the whole text of the trust while the trust keeps its original name, date and identity. The restated trust reads as one clean document instead of an original plus a stack of changes.
Bancroft makes each change as a short amendment where it can, and as a full restatement otherwise. The household can always choose a full restatement.
A trust drafted outside Bancroft uses the Trust Restatement document. In some jurisdictions, restating a trust drafted elsewhere requires the household’s own attorney.
How a change works
Change trust is available once the trust is signed, and either you or the household can start it. It starts from the trust’s existing answers, so the household changes only what is different. An answer that calls for a custom provision flags the change for review by an attorney, as it would for any trust, and the household engages the attorney directly.
The amendment or restatement is signed with the formalities the state requires for a trust amendment, which can include witnesses or a notary. Its signing steps become tasks for the household, as for any document.
Pricing
Changes to a signed trust are free on every plan. There is no per-change fee, no cap and no tier restriction.
Revisions to documents that have not yet been signed are also free.
Some platforms charge for each change to a trust. On Bancroft, changes are free, so cost never becomes the reason a plan goes stale.
Wills, powers of attorney and other documents
Change trust applies to trusts. For other document types (wills, POAs, healthcare directives), the standard approach is a new document that revokes and replaces the prior version. The platform includes the revocation language when a new document of the same type is generated for the same household.
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