Trust Administration Attorney Los Angeles and Ventura Counties
A common misconception in the trust administration is that by creating a trust, the responsibilities of the administration will be shrunk down and that there will be no formal administration needed for the decedent’s life. The important thing to consider here is that the administration of trusts is hardly ever automatic and there are far too many duties and responsibilities of the trustee himself. For example, when the grantor has met with his death, there are tasks that will require immediate assistance from the trustee. From that moment onwards till the time the trust exists, there are numerous things that are to be done by the trustee. This calls for the assistance of a professional Trust Administration Attorney Los Angeles and Ventura Counties who is experienced with these matters.
Sometimes the type of assets held by the trust, the sophistication of the trustee and other factors might cause a certain need to look further. However, despite all these issues a trust is more preferable to a probate process because there are lucrative tax saving and privacy options available in this system.
While creating the trust
When you are creating and designing your plan, you should be able to know what the post-death plan is. Your estate planning expert should give you an overview of the estate planning process so that you can make the most informed decision.
It goes without saying that this information should be taken in a written form and should be contained within the portfolio. Make sure the directions of your successor’s trustee are kept intact with all of this information.
Consequences
Some trust professionals do not inform their clients about the post-death plan and therefore fail to provide a post-death administration plan. This is why many administration attorneys and tax practitioners are now dealing with cases of “unfunded” or “stale” trusts.
The stale document cases arise when a sub trust has been created at the death of the first spouse, but upon his or her demise, the sub trusts are not funded. This issue in many cases goes unnoticed until one of the spouses has died. This type of lack of administration or late administration calls for a greater distress as it often leads to rising expenses.
Duties of the Trustee
As per law, the trustee must act under a fiduciary capacity and it is his or her duty to administer the trust as per the legal duties it owes to its beneficiaries.
It is the trustee’s duty to send the notice to the heir within 60 days of the demise of the grantor to notify that the post death administration period has commenced and he or she must also include a statutory warning in the notice. Now if the beneficiaries want to contest the trust, they have 120 days (from the date of notice received) or 60 days (from the day they received the copy) to contest it.
Generally, the core duties of the trustee are to manage, collect, invest and distribute assets. If necessary, the trustee may also have to provide reports of the managed assets. As an experienced Trust Administration Attorney Los Angeles and Ventura Counties, you can bank on my expertise to help you with all legalities involved.
