ColarossiLaw.com: Trust Administration

The following is a summary, not an all-inclusive list, of a Successor Trustee’s activities in administrating a trust.

Sign an acceptance of Appointment as Successor Trustee.
Provide a copy of the trust to the interested persons with six-month notice to contest.
Determine if all assets are in the trust or if some assets are subject to probate.

Keep a written record of your work on the trust, millage, and other expenses.
Obtain a tax identification number for the trust.
Open a checking account in the name of the trust.
Pay trust bills and expenses by check and keep all bank statements.
Publish for claims.
If there is vacant or rented real estate in the trust, obtain insurance for an unoccupied or rented premise. File with the assessor’s office the removal of the homestead for the real estate.
Sixty days after the Acceptance of Appointment as Successor Trustee, mail to the beneficiaries an Inventory of the all of the trust assets.
Mail Consent forms to the beneficiaries consenting to the sale of real estate and the sale of other assets you deem appropriate. If the Consent forms are not signed and returned to you, have a petition filed with the probate court, send a copy of the petition and a notice of the court hearing date to all beneficiaries of the court date, and obtain a court order approving the sale of real estate.

Have tax returns for the trust prepared and filed.
One year after signing the Acceptance of Appointment as Successor Trustee (or less if the work as Successor Trustee is completed) mail to the beneficiaries an Account of the income and expenditures, using the total number of assets in the Inventory as the beginning balance of the account.
Each year the trust is administered, an annual account is prepared and mailed to the beneficiaries.
Before the final distribution of the trust assets, obtain Consent forms signed by the beneficiaries consenting to the Account(s) and distributions and obtain receipts from each beneficiary for their share of the trust.

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