Trust Administration
A trustee has a variety of important trust administration duties. If the trustee fails to perform those duties adequately, he or she could be accused of mismanagement and may be held liable for not performing certain duties.
If you have been made responsible for administration of a trust, you will be responsible for:
- Preserving or investing its assets of the trust
- Distributing its income to beneficiaries
- Filing tax returns
- Performing other functions essential to the management of the trust’s assets
A trustee is also often the trustor, or beneficiary, of a revocable living trust or A/B trust. When he or she dies, a successor trustee must be appointed to perform certain duties under deadlines so that the trust remains valid and avoids tax liability. Such responsibilities include:
- Making sure that the asset protection trust is properly funded by assets to which it holds title
- Preparing an inventory of the trustor’s property
- Obtaining property values as of the date of death
- Allocating assets to subtrusts as necessary
- Making distributions of trust income to beneficiaries
- Filing fiduciary tax returns
Our lawyers can assist with the administration of all types of revocable trusts and irrevocable trusts, including special needs trusts, marital trusts, exemption trusts, bypass trusts, and more.