You may be the “lucky” person named as Successor Trustee by a friend or relative who has just died. This is not the time for do-it-yourself Trustee work.
After dealing with the mortuary and funeral, it is time to reach out to a Trust and Estates attorney to help you review the Trust and Will and inform you of your responsibilities as Successor Trustee. Don’t worry, the attorney’s fees are paid from the Trust, not out of your pocket.
As Successor Trustee, you are required to give a notice with specific language and with a specific size font, in bold, to all the beneficiaries of the Trust, and to the deceased person’s heirs. The attorney can help you determine who must receive the notice and can prepare the notice for your signature.
A key aspect of the notice is it starts a four-month period during which a Trust contest can be filed. Until the end of the four months and it becomes certain that the Trust has not been challenged, no distributions should be made to the beneficiaries.
In other words, the Successor Trustee must not rush to send out checks until it is appropriate to do so.
If there is California real property, the Successor Trustee must file a required notice with the Assessor in the County where the property is located. At the same time, it is important to confirm how title to the property is held.
Is the property in the name of the Trust? Is there a joint tenant or co-owner? The attorney can help you determine the ownership of the property and advise on next steps for transfer of ownership to the persons entitled to receive the deceased person’s interest.
As Successor Trustee, you are responsible for making sure all income tax returns for the deceased person during life and for the Trust following the death have been filed and taxes paid. You can be personally liable for taxes, so make sure taxes are covered before you make distributions to the beneficiaries.
When you are ready to close out the Trust and distribute the assets to the beneficiaries, before you do so, you must provide the beneficiaries with a financial accounting down to the penny for your handling of the Trust assets and including your compensation. If there are questions or issues, these should be resolved before you make a final distribution. The attorney can help you with the accounting.
At the end, for all your hard work, you are almost always entitled to a fee paid from the Trust. The attorney can help you determine an appropriate fee. Your time is valuable and you deserve to be paid. Job well done!
Lisa C. Alexander, Esq.
JAKLE, ALEXANDER &
PATTON, LLP
2001 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 420
Santa Monica, CA 90403
Main Line: 310-395-6555
Direct Line: 310-656-4310