[WSBAPT] Documented Vessel owned by trust and change of trust due to transfer of situs

[Douglas Owens]

Dear list mates, I have a married couple client which has a family trust and that trust owns a sailboat which is a documented vessel.  The clietst moved here from a common law state and the trust language uses terms such as “marital property” and “common ownership” but does not say specifically that the trust property is community, even though everything except the boat is community because it is real property bought in Washington.  My question is since amending the trust to include reference to community property would require a laborious re titling of the documented vessel, does anyone have an idea whether the amendments to change “marital property” to “community property” are really necessary?  The wording of the trust appears to be consistent with treatment as community property.  Thanks for your consideration.  Yours truly, Doug Owens