The Truth about Trust Administration

Learn What Lies Ahead in Trust Administration

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Setting up a Trust is an excellent way for individuals to manage assets and ensure relatives, dependents and beneficiaries will be able to enjoy the legacy they’ve worked a lifetime to build. If there is no Trust in place and no instructions are available to facilitate the distribution of the deceased’s property at death, allocation of the estate’s assets may have to be accomplished through the Probate process.

How Does Trust Administration Work?

The process of administering a valid and properly funded Trust is called Trust Administration. The person creating the Trust (Trustor) can act as trustee or appoint someone else to take over the Trust Administration process. The Trustee will see to the administration of the Trust long after the Trustor has passed. The trustee has the responsibility of meeting legal Trust obligations and making sure the deceased’s instructions are followed.

There are a number of actions the Trustee can immediately take after the death of a Trustor, and they include, but aren’t limited to:

  • Notifying a funeral director and clergy
  • Getting in touch with the immediate family, friends, business colleagues and employer
  • Locating the deceased’s important papers and documents
  • Contacting an estate planning attorney with experience and solid references to help with Trust Administration

Some of the long term responsibilities of a Trustee can include keeping inventory and accounting records of the Trust, changing property title to assets for distribution to beneficiaries, paying the debt and taxes of the Trustor, as well as providing periodic accounting reports to beneficiaries to keep the posted on Trust matters. Legal professionals are usually recommended to help with Trust Administration. They can assist with managing property assets, taking inventories, examining insurance policies, handling accounting issues, addressing estate taxes and much more.

More Information on Trust Administration

Download your FREE report, “Trust Administration: Prior Planning Prevents Problems” and get the facts on:

  • The stages trust administration will go through
  • Fiduciary duties of a trustee
  • Terms and definitions of estate planning you need to know and understand
  • And much more

Download our FREE report today and learn how an estate planning attorney can help.

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