What are the Responsibilities of a Trustee?

“A trustee is a manager of assets in a trust. The grantor creates the trust and appoints the trustee. A trustee has a ‘fiduciary duty’ to serve the grantor and not benefit personally.”

Before accepting the role of a trustee, it is important to have a thorough understanding of what you will need to do and for how long. Trustees are often appointed to manage trust assets for a child or adult with special needs. This responsibility could be for a lifetime, so be sure that you are up to the task. Trustee duties are outlined in a recent article, “Trustee responsibilities“, from InsuranceNewsNet.com.

When the person who set up the trust, known as the “grantor,” dies, the trustee is in charge of settling the trust. That includes tasks like:

1. Locating and reviewing all of the documents of the grantor, especially any funeral and burial instructions.
2. If the grantor owned a home or an apartment, changing the locks for security, notifying the homeowner’s insurance company if the house will be unoccupied for an extended period of time, and checking on auto insurance policies, if there are cars or other vehicles.
3. Unless the executor is taking care of this task, the trustee needs to obtain multiple originals of the death certificate. These are usually ordered through the funeral director.
4. Listing all assets with the Date of Death (DOD) values. This determines the “cost basis” of assets that are to be transferred to beneficiaries. If assets are later sold and used to distribute proceeds, the cost-basis is used to determine income tax liability.
5. Consolidate multiple financial accounts into one account in the name of the trust. The check register will become a register of trust activities and beneficiaries may inspect it. The trustee’s first responsibility is to protect the trust’s funds.
6. Pay outstanding bills and debts. The trustee may be personally liable if this is not handled correctly.
7. Meet with an estate planning attorney to determine if the trust must file income tax returns or if the estate of the grantor must file income tax returns.
8. File claims for life insurance, IRAs and annuities.
9. Create an accounting for all trust financial activities from the grantor’s DOD to be distributed to the beneficiaries.
10. Transfer assets to beneficiaries according to the terms of the trust and have an estate planning attorney send each beneficiary a receipt, release and waiver for any further responsibility and liability.

The responsibilities of a trustee are similar to the responsibilities of an executor, except that wills are used in probate court and trusts are created to avoid probate court. Another benefit of trusts is that they can help avoid litigation between beneficiaries and keep the estate’s affairs private.

Reference: InsuranceNewsNet.com (Oct. 19, 2020) “Trustee responsibilities”

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