Do you need a solicitor to manage a trust?
If you already have a solicitor managing your trust – this is often the solicitors who set-up the trust – then you need to know that they are still managing the trust effectively.
Who is responsible for the management of a trust?
If you are the trustees then it is your legal duty to ensure the trust is being properly managed. Trusts are flexible and can be often tailored to meet the changing needs of beneficiaries. This is where a proactive solicitor that has taken the time to get to know you personally will be able to offer solutions.
Is there a system for reviewing a trust?
No system for reviewing the trust – trustees can’t operate in a vacuum and your solicitor should be actively contacting you to ensure the Trust is still serving its purpose. If you feel that your solicitor is not doing all they can to ensure the trust is performing well then you can switch.
What do you need to know about a trust?
Trusts are agreements that transfer the ownership of a person’s assets to someone so that they can then be used to benefit another person or group of people. Although Trusts are based on this simple concept, they require some level of administration and management.
Who is the trustee of a living trust?
A living trust is a legal document that allows its creator to place assets in trust and name herself as trustee with full power to manage the assets during her lifetime. This means the trustee can continue to sell, gift, or otherwise handle the property just as she would have before the creation of the trust.
What happens when the creator of a trust dies?
When the creator of the trust dies, the assets in the trust are passed to a successor trustee of the creator’s choice without involving probate, the court-directed process of distributing assets and paying debts of the deceased.
How long does it take to administer a trust?
If you’ll be distributing all the trust property to beneficiaries quickly, you’ll probably get most of your work done in about six months. If you are administering an ongoing trust (a trust for children, for example), there will be more work to do, but you’ll still have tackled most of the largest tasks in the first few months.
Can a trustee of a living trust work the day grandma dies?
If you’re taking over as trustee of a deceased person’s living trust, you are not expected to get to work the day grandma dies. Luckily, most trust and estate tasks are not emergencies and can wait a while so that family members can grieve and make decisions about things like memorial services.