For this reason, and many others, it is imperative to gain access to the Trust assets as soon as possible. Until you have gained access and control to the Trust assets, it will be impossible for you to provide the beneficiaries with the requested financial information. You can’t give beneficiaries what you don’t have. Again, failing to provide the requested information may be a breach of your duty as Trustee and therefore subject to monetary damages. Often times, you may be required to provide beneficiaries with financial information in as little as 60 days. However, once beneficiaries request information regarding the Trust assets, you are obligated to provide them with certain information and within a certain period of time depending upon the Trust. Even if assets are not in the name of the Trust, they may still be Trust assets, and vice versa. And frankly, this is not something that is easily determined. Not a whole lot of time to figure things out! Failing to timely mail the Notification by Trustee could subject you to personal monetary damages.Īnother common question the beneficiaries will ask: What is in the Trust? Often times you will not know what is in the Trust and what isn’t. The Notification by Trustee must be mailed to the beneficiaries within 60 days of death. Typically, the first opportunity to breach your duties as Trustee is failing to provide a “Notification by Trustee” to the beneficiaries pursuant to California Probate Code section 16061.7. However, even though you may not have all of the information beneficiaries want, there is certain information that you are required to give beneficiaries. You should not put yourself in that position. Even as an experienced attorney that has handled thousands of trust administrations, I do not always know when the Trustee will be in a position to make distributions. If you give them a nondefinitive answer, the beneficiaries are likely to think you are hiding something. When will I get my money? If you give the beneficiaries a definitive answer, you are likely to fail. What Information Do I Need to Give to Beneficiaries?Īs soon as you become Trustee, beneficiaries will begin to ask you questions. ongoing business, retirement accounts, etc. What assets require special attention? e.g.What bills need to be paid immediately to eliminate the loss of valuable assets (e.g.What are the assets that belong to the Trust? What assets pass outside of the Trust?.Do you have a copy of the death certificate? Do you have the most recent estate planning documents? People often update their estate plan throughout their lifetime.The second thing to do is gather as much information as possible about the decedent. Going at it alone is a recipe for future problems. The first thing you should do if you are named as the successor Trustee is to see an attorney that is a Certified Specialist in Trust Administration by the California State Bar. The trustee will hold legal title (as opposed to equitable title) to assets until the assets are distributed. A trustee may be a family member, a friend, a professional fiduciary or a corporate trustee. What is a Trustee?Ī trustee is the person or entity responsible for fulfilling the terms of the Trust. As they say, “you don’t know, what you don’t know. The purpose of this article is to provide non-professional trustees with some guidance and common pitfalls. Most of the time, the Trust will provide how the Trust is to be distributed, but there are several actions you must take before you even begin to distribute assets. The problem is the Trust does not go through all of your responsibilities as Trustee. What is a Trustee and what are your duties and responsibilities? The simple answer is that you are responsible for complying with the terms of the Trust pursuant to the California Probate Code. If you have been named as a Trustee, someone else has decided that you are the person they most trust to manage the financial affairs of their Trust. What are My Duties and Responsibilities as Trustee? Here are a Trustee’s Duties and Responsibilities
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