What is Trust Administration?

To better understand trust administration, one must have a general understanding of a revocable living trust.  To begin with, a revocable living trust is a popular estate planning device used by many responsible individuals to avoid a court imposed conservatorship (incapacity) or a court imposed probate (death).  With a revocable living trust, assets are administered during an individual or couples lifetime, and during his or her potential incapacity, and then ultimately distributed at his or death to the beneficiaries designated by the trust.

Most individuals who create these trusts name themselves as the initial trustees.  Usually these trusts name close family members or close friends to serve as successor trustees of the trust.  Unfortunately, many of these family members or friends do not know what the job of being a trustee truly entails.

A trustee is a fiduciary, meaning that he or she is held to a very high standard when managing trust assets on behalf of the beneficiaries.  A trustee has many duties that he or she owes to the beneficiary(ies) of the trust.  A trustee also has many powers in administering the trust.  The duties and powers of a trustee are well beyond the scope of this blog.

Administering a trust can be extremely complex.  The Law Offices of Matthew W. Harris provides legal representation to trustees who need assistance with trust administration.  Mr. Harris, Esq., LL.M provides free trust administration consultations. The Law Offices of Matthew W. Harris is located in the County of Marin, and City of San Rafael, and serves clients throughout the San Francisco Bay area.

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