Estate & Trust Administration For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Chapter 10

Understanding the Trustee’s Duties

IN THIS CHAPTER

Making sure that you understand the trust instrument

Using your discretion to fulfill the grantor’s wishes

Keeping an eye on the assets and their best uses

Staying on top of the paperwork

After you’ve been named, and agreed to serve, as trustee (a person who holds property for the benefit of another) of a trust (a right of property that one person holds for the benefit of another; the conditions of the trust are usually spelled out in a trust instrument), you need to understand the trustee’s duties and powers as soon as possible. Your duties may vary based on the type of trustee you are (independent or family), but regardless, you now have fiduciary duties! Hopefully, the trust creator asked whether you were willing to serve before he or she named you as a trustee.

Whether or not you were asked beforehand, you don’t actually become a trustee until you accept the position; you can always decline to serve. Assuming you’ve agreed to serve, go over that trust instrument with a fine-toothed comb and ask the grantor’s attorney ...