Trust Administration

Being nominated as the successor trustee or executor for a family member or friend is an honor but also a substantial responsibility that ordinarily requires professional assistance. Our estate administration services are designed, delivered and priced to help our trustee/executor clients settle the estate when the time comes it in a prompt, safe and cost-effective way.

Here is a sampling of what we do for trustees and executors:

• We advise them about their duties - how to set up estate accounts, how to get the right insurance on estate assets, what tax returns need to be filed and when they are due.
• We advise the trustee/executor about who needs to get notice of administration of the estate and generate the required notices (yes, these notices are required even for estates held through revocable trusts)
• We review titles to the decedent's assets and determine what filings, court proceedings or other steps are needed to put title in the name of the trustee. This is important since the trustee can't distribute or sell the estate's assets if he or she doesn't have title to those assets.
• We prepare the accountings that the trustee is required to give to the beneficiaries of the trust. We also do accountings for probate estates in the required court format.
• We advise on how to handle investment assets. If there are substantial investment assets and the trustee or executor doesn't have a good investment advisor, we will recommend a reliable firm for this task.
• We advise on how to distribute the trust estate and prepare distribution agreements where required.
• We file the estate tax return for larger trusts and estates where estate tax reporting is required. We also advise in consultation with the client's accountant on various estate and income tax questions that arise in the administration of decedent estates.
• Where a trust estate is to be divided into shares (typically on the death of the first spouse), we advise on how to allocate assets to the various shares and consult with the estate's accountant to be sure that income and expenses of each share are properly reported for income tax purposes.
• We line up other resources that the trustee or executor will need to administer the estate, including accountants, appraisers, real estate experts, investment advisors, business consultants and others as needed.
• If the client is a surviving spouse or domestic partner, we make recommendations on updating his or her own estate plan and making other changes that are needed because of the death of the spouse or partner.

We also represent beneficiaries of estates and trusts where, for example, they need help dealing with an executor or a trustee who isn't settling an estate in a reasonable amount of time.

A death in the family is always a stressful event for everyone concerned, especially for those who are left to settle the affairs of the decedent. We do our best to get our clients and their families through the settlement process as smoothly and economically as possible.

For more information on how trusts are settled, see "Settling the Revocable Trust in California - a Guide for the Non-Professional Trustee" reprinted on the Publications section of this website. To view the PDF document, click here.