why do you need an attorney to help with trust administration?

An attorney can help you to administer a trust correctly and save you a lot of time and energy making sure you follow California law. A knowledgeable Anaheim trust administration attorney will be well-versed in all of the laws, rules, and regulations that accompany the trust administration process.

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Do I need a trust Attorney for trust administration?

Mar 25, 2019 · Why Should I Retain an Attorney to Help Me? Trust administration requires the Trustee to understand the laws that govern the trust as well as the financial concepts used to successfully protect and grow the trust assets. Unless you have a background in law and/or finance, both of these will likely be new to you.

What does a trust lawyer do?

An attorney can help you interpret the terms of the trust. A lawyer can help you properly manage the assets of the trust to minimize the potential for complaints or lawsuits brought by unhappy beneficiaries. An attorney can ensure that any tax-related obligations are carried out. Since some of the tax issues surrounding a trust administration are under strict timelines, this is very …

What is proper trust administration and why is it important?

Before the Trust Administration process can even begin, the Successor Trustee of the Trust will need to obtain death certificates. They should then call an experienced trust administration attorney to set up an appointment to learn more about their obligations and see how the attorney can assist them during this difficult time.

What is the role of the trustee?

Trust administration is not an easy process to understand, especially if you’re emotionally involved after the death of a loved one. A trust attorney can make your job as trustee during trust administration much easier and save you time.

Who is responsible for administering the trust?

Trust administration refers to the management of assets within the trust. The trustee is responsible for trust administration, and holds the duty of fiduciary. The trustee must protect the assets of the trust, and ensure they are used according to the trust setup.

What is the purpose of an administrative trust?

An administrative trust is essentially the period of time during which a trustee gets his or her legal ducks in a row. They might pay debts or taxes prior to the distribution of funds to the beneficiary or collect assets.

Is an administrative trust revocable or irrevocable?

Is an administrative trust formed from my mom's revocable living trust when she dies still considered as grantor's trust? A revocable trust ceases to be a grantor trust when the grantor dies. The trust is now irrevocable and a separate taxpayer.Jun 6, 2019

What is a distribution trustee?

Distribution Trustee means the Person appointed to administer the Distribution Trust with such rights, duties, and obligations as set forth in the Distribution Trust Agreement.

What are the duties of a trustee?

Among the most common specific duties and responsibilities of a Trustee are the following: Protecting the trust assets. A Trustee is responsible for managing and protecting all assets held by the trust. This could include anything from reconciling bank statements to maintaining real property.

What happens if you make a mistake in a trust?

Mistakes made during the administration of a trust are frequently the result of a Trustee’s failure to understand what is expected of him or her and/or failing to have a clear understanding of the trust terms. Moreover, you could be held personally liable for mistakes made during the administration of the trust.

What is a trust in a relationship?

A trust is a relationship whereby property is held by one party for the benefit of another. A trust is created by a Trustor, also called a Settlor or a Grantor, who transfers property to a Trustee. The Trustee holds that property for the trust beneficiaries.

How many beneficiaries can a trust have?

A trust must have at least one beneficiary but may have an unlimited number of beneficiaries. A trust may have both current and future beneficiaries. If the trust is a testamentary trust, it means the trust will not activate until the Trustor’s death.

Who is Dennis Sandoval?

Dennis Sandoval is the only attorney in California who has certifications in the three areas of estate planning, elder law and taxation. In 2014, the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) designated Dennis as a Fellow, an award given to less than 100 elder law attorneys across the United States. He received his Certified Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law Specialist designation from the California Bar Board of Legal Specialization in 1998 and his Certified Taxation Law Specialist designation in 2000 from the same organization. He is a Certified Elder Law Attorney (CELA), a designation he proudly received in 2004 after meeting all the requirements established by the National Elder Law Foundation (NELF) and the American Bar Association. Dennis has also holds the designation as an Accredited Estate Planner® (AEP) from the National Association of Estate Planners and Councils.

Is a trustee a fiduciary?

A Trustee is in a fiduciary role. Therefore, guarding the principal should always be the primary focus with a return on investments secondary. Mediating conflicts among beneficiaries. Conflicts and disputes among beneficiaries can occur during the administration of a trust.

Can I Handle Trust Administration Without Legal Counsel?

The short answer is: most likely not. The main reason is not that Trust Administration is difficult or complex, but because a Trustee (who most likely is a first time Trustee for an estate) does not know the precise steps that need to be taken and what requirements and duties there is to be a Trustee.

What Documents Do I Need to Start the Trust Administration Process in California?

Once you step up an appointment with an experienced attorney to begin the Trust Administration process, you may be wondering what documents you need to gather for the appointment. With these documents, the attorney will be able to review them with the Trustee and explain what needs to be done to properly administer the trust.

What is a trust?

A trust is a relationship whereby property is held by one party for the benefit of another. A trust is created by a Settlor, also called a Maker or a Grantor, who transfers property to a Trustee. The Trustee holds that property for the trust beneficiaries. The beneficiary of a trust can be an individual, an entity (such as a charity or political organization), or even the family pet. A trust must have at least one beneficiary but may have an unlimited number of beneficiaries. A trust may have both current and future beneficiaries.

Who is Dean Hedeker?

Dean Hedeker is a leading Chicago-area authority on estate and tax planning, business law and investments. A long-time resident of north suburban Lincolnshire, Dean has more than 35-years experience helping business owners and families grow, protect and pass on their hard-earned money through tax planning, estate planning and investment management services.

What is trust administration?

Trust administration includes settling any debts, paying taxes, transferring property titles and any other administrative tasks that must be handled to close out or settle the estate of the person who has died. Trust administration must be done in accordance to the documents prepared by those who created the trust.

What is the role of a trustee in a trust?

While a trustee is going through the process of trust administration, it’s important that they prudently and reasonably invest any assets owned by the trust. As part of protecting assets, the trustee cannot let investments sit idle, invest in something overly risky, or allow real property to become derelict.

What do trustees do?

What Trustees Need to Do: Checklist 1 Manage trust assets 2 Locate and protect all legal documents 3 Protect property and wisely invest assets 4 Notify all trust beneficiaries of trust administration 5 Notify trust creditors and pay trust debts 6 File trust tax return 7 Pay trust taxes 8 Distribute trust income and property to beneficiaries

How long do you have to contest a trust?

Once that has been done, beneficiaries have 120 days to contest the trust. 5. Pay Debts and Expenses of the Trust. Part of trust administration is paying the expenses of a trust as well as paying off any debts that the trust might have. This must be done before distributions can be made to beneficiaries.

What should be included in a trust document?

The trust documents should list all of the assets owned by the trust. Those assets might include investment accounts, physical property, and any other assets. Asset management might include obtaining titles, seeking appraisals, reasonably investment, paying off debts, and asset identification.

What happens to a trust after the creator dies?

After the creator of the trust dies, the management of the trust transfers to the trustee or successor trustee. It’s the job of the trustee to manage or administer the trust in the way that is laid out in the trust documents.

What does a good attorney do?

Here, a good attorney will help make sure everything goes smoothly, the bills are correctly paid, the taxes are taken care of, the trustee takes a trustee's fee (if they so desire) and the trustee is released of their duty correctly so that trust beneficiaries cannot come back and sue the trustee .

What is the role of a trustee?

Here, the trustee has the duty to: Administer the trust fairly for all beneficiaries. Invest the trust assets correctly and as a reasonably prudent person would.

What is a successor trustee in Florida?

First, the successor trustee is a fiduciary under Florida law. A fiduciary is one of the most important jobs in the legal world, being held to the highest standard of truth and fairness to the trust beneficiaries. The successor trustee has the following duties (among others) under Florida law:

How long do you have to sue a trustee for a trust?

If the trustee is not properly released from the trust beneficiaries, the beneficiaries have up to 4 years to sue the trustee (and maybe more) for improperly administering the trust.

What is the duty of prudent administration?

Duty of prudent administration. Most people who have taken on the duty as trustee have never served in this role and are highly unlikely to know what to do to properly administer the trust and estate, pay the decedent's bills and taxes, and more.

How much does an attorney charge to settle a trust in Florida?

The fee in Florida is typically 2.25% of the trust assets for the first $1 million. Trustees are not required to have an attorney, but most trustees are not familiar with the appropriate rules, duties, etc.

How many children does a widow have?

She has 4 children, all equal beneficiaries, with one son as the successor trustee. The trust assets are $500,000. The children do not get along and think the one son is improperly administering the trust, among other family issues. The siblings demand money from the son as soon as possible.

What is trust attorney?

A trust attorney is an estate planning professional who can help you create the necessary paperwork to set up a trust for your estate.

Why are trusts important?

Trusts can include provisions to lower estate taxes which helps your loved ones receive more of what you intended to leave them. Trusts are especially useful documents for people who have large estates. The downside of trusts is that they can be expensive and complicated documents to draw up and ensure their validity.

Can a fiduciary be a trustee?

If you do not have someone in your life that you feel comfortable naming to serve as a trustee of your trust, you can name a professional fiduciary to serve as trustee to handle the details of trust management while you are living and incapacitated and the distribution of your assets after you pass away.