Estate and Trust Administration

At Young & Maslowski, LLC, we are here to simplify and take the stress out of your estate or trust administration. The administration of an estate or trust can be a confusing and overwhelming process. Without proper administration, the administration of a trust or estate can lead to unnecessary expenses, costly disputes, and other financial issues.

At Young & Maslowski, LLC, we offer comprehensive estate and trust administration services to assist you with the complicated and numerous responsibilities of administering an estate or a trust. We offer flat rate and hourly rate arrangements for our estate and trust administration services.

Estate Administration It is a very difficult time for family and friends when a loved one dies. It can also be stressful performing the estate administration of a loved one. Some families benefit from a loved one who had an estate plan in place prior to their death, making estate administration easier for the living relatives. Others have to deal with the death of a loved one who died without having a plan in place. However, even if there was a Will or Trust in place, the administration of an estate can be very daunting for those unfamiliar with the process.

Trust Administration A trust is essentially a contractual relationship in which assets are given from the Grantor (the person creating the trust) to a Trustee (typically the same person creating the trust while they are still living). The Grantor appoints the Trustee to administer the trust. The Grantor also names a successor Trustee to act should the initial Trustee become unable or unwilling to serve as Trustee. After the initial Trustee dies, the successor Trustee is responsible for administering the trust and has the responsibility of distributing the assets to the beneficiaries named in the trust. The successor Trustee has the obligation to protect the assets of the trust as well as the interests of the beneficiaries named.

Along with distributing the assets of the trust, some other duties of the successor Trustees include:

Prepare an inventory of assets owned by the Trust including their value as of the decedent’s date of death
Close the existing bank accounts
Open a trust bank account
Collection, management, and investment of trust assets
File life insurance claims
Obtain appraisals for properties
Handle tax filings (state and federal)

A Trustee can be held liable for loss or damages to the estate if they exceed their Trustee powers. Many strategies and tools to help minimize taxes are often overlooked by Trustees who are less familiar with the Trust Administration process.