Estate administration is the process estates must undergo before the decedent’s assets can be distributed to beneficiaries pursuant to the decedent’s will, or if there is no will, pursuant to the laws of intestate succession. At the helm of estate administration is the executor or administrator, who begins overseeing the estate once they are officially appointed to the role by the court.
Trust administration is the process trusts must undergo before trust assets can be distributed to beneficiaries. At the helm of trust administration is the successor trustee, who takes over management of the trust upon the death or incapacitation of the settlor, who usually serves as the initial trustee of a trust.
Executors and trustees share many of the same administrative responsibilities, including:
Both executors and trustees are fiduciaries, which means that they have a duty to always act in the beneficiaries’ best interests. If they don’t, they could be sued. The best way to avoid such situations is to have skilled estate and trust administration attorneys on your team to guide you and assist with your duties. Executors and trustees almost always have the right to pay for the services of attorneys and other professionals with estate or trust funds, so long as their services provided a benefit to the estate or trust, respectively.
Estate administration is the process estates must undergo before the decedent’s assets can be distributed to beneficiaries pursuant to the decedent’s will, or if there is no will, pursuant to the laws of intestate succession. At the helm of estate administration is the executor or administrator, who begins overseeing the estate once they are officially appointed to the role by the court.
Trust administration is the process trusts must undergo before trust assets can be distributed to beneficiaries. At the helm of trust administration is the successor trustee, who takes over management of the trust upon the death or incapacitation of the settlor, who usually serves as the initial trustee of a trust.
Executors and trustees share many of the same administrative responsibilities, including:
Both executors and trustees are fiduciaries, which means that they have a duty to always act in the beneficiaries’ best interests. If they don’t, they could be sued. The best way to avoid such situations is to have skilled estate and trust administration attorneys on your team to guide you and assist with your duties. Executors and trustees almost always have the right to pay for the services of attorneys and other professionals with estate or trust funds, so long as their services provided a benefit to the estate or trust, respectively.
You may have the need for an estate or trust administration attorney if you are the executor or administrator of an estate or the trustee of a trust, especially if it is your first time acting in this capacity. Because the duties that come with this role are extensive and complex, even seasoned executors and trustees often hire lawyers to assist with administration.
There is little room for mistakes, misconduct or negligence when dealing with estates and trusts, as they can cause financial harm to the estate or trust and threaten beneficiaries’ inheritances. Having a trusted lawyer on your team can help prevent such errors and protect you against liabilities.
Lastly, if the need arises for the executor or trustee to litigate (e.g., they discover that the decedent had been financially abused when alive), they can hire a lawyer to represent the estate or trust.
While it’s possible to complete administration without the help of a law firm, utilizing the services of a trusted probate administration lawyer will make your job easier.
One of the first things an executor or trustee will want to do following a decedent’s death is to interpret the will or trust instrument. This can be difficult to do if you don’t have legal expertise or a basic knowledge of estate planning; however, with the help of a trust and estate administration lawyer, you can rest assured that the document will be interpreted correctly. Sometimes, wills and trusts contain ambiguous language, which you should never take upon yourself to interpret. A lawyer should be consulted about the matter instead, and if necessary, they can file a petition with the court to obtain clarification about the true meaning of the language.
Executors and trustees have so many financial responsibilities during administration that it can be difficult to keep track of them all. They not only have to create an inventory of estate or trust assets and record any time an asset enters or leaves the estate or trust, but they also have to satisfy the decedent’s debts, pay their taxes and prepare periodic accountings to share with beneficiaries and the court. All of these steps are equally important.
While it is natural to feel overwhelmed, you do not have to carry the burden of completing these financial tasks on your own; a lawyer can help. Working with a lawyer can help ensure all of these obligations are taken care of and done correctly.
Over the course of administration, executors and trustees will have to make important decisions about the estate or trust, such as whether to buy or sell real property, invest estate or trust funds, litigate on behalf of the estate or trust, etc. Some of these decisions will require court approval, and others will not. The only way to ensure you are considering all the variables when making decisions such as these is to involve a lawyer in a decision-making process.
As a fiduciary, you are expected to abide by certain fiduciary duties or you could face a breach of duty claim.
These duties include:
By consulting with an experienced trust and estate administration attorneys prior to making decisions, you are less likely to make decisions that could land you in hot water and cause you to be removed and surcharged.
The last step of estate and trust administration is making timely distributions to beneficiaries. This responsibility may seem straightforward, but it frequently is not, and can be filled with tax complications. An experienced attorney, with the assistance of your tax adviser, will have the skills to correctly calculate, allocate and distribute each beneficiary’s share.
Once the amount of each beneficiary’s distribution has been determined and the estate or trust has been settled, distributions should be made promptly. If you are the trustee of a trust, it is possible your distributions will be more complicated, as trusts often call for distributions not to be made as lump-sum payments but on a repeating schedule. A lawyer can help you make distributions on time and in the manner prescribed by the document.
At Keystone, our team specializes in probate law. We understand that being appointed as the executor or trustee can be a foreign experience, so we are proud to help clients nationwide with understanding and carrying out the responsibilities of their role. This way, both beneficiaries and you can have confidence in your administration of the trust or estate.
Our team at Keystone focuses exclusively on probate law, so we have the experience needed to effectively serve and advise you in the administration of an estate or trust. Many members of our team have received numerous accolades and accomplishments in probate law, including:
We specialize in all varieties of trust and estate administration, commonly serving:
