Trust Administration Chandler
Call our estate planning attorneys today to go over your Trust Administration needs.
A lot of our potential new clients are afraid that by creating a Trust instrument they will create additional work for themselves and their successors. Although there is some work to be done after the initial trustee passes away the work is actually a small fraction of what is involved when compared with the probate process. A probate process that flows smoothly will take at least 9 months, usually 12 months. The costs involved in a probate when compared with trust administration are also 5 to 10 times higher.
A trust properly done by an estate planning attorney and also properly funded and maintained by the client, will be much less time consuming and should cost a very small fraction of the total cost of a probate.
What is Trust Administration Chandler?
Trust administration is the way that a successor trustee will manage all the assets and property inside of a trust, been that a revocable trust or an irrevocable trust. The trustee will follow the guidelines defined by the trust. Working with an attorney specialized in estate planning and trust administration will minimize the future work, as well as guide the trustee to make sure that all the trust guidelines are being followed.
The Trustee also acts as a fiduciary agent for the trust. In that function he or she is required to keep all the details related to the accounting of the trust properly documented, as well as settle any debts and pay any taxes associated with the Trust. If the Trustee fail to act as a fiduciary agent it can be held personally accountable.
Once all the assets and liabilities of a Trust have been settle an estate planning attorney will help determine if distributions need to be made. The attorney will also determine if the trust will continue to exist or not. If an irrevocable trust that doesn't have a reason to exist can be terminated if all beneficiaries are in agreement. Talk to your trust administration attorney to understand more about irrevocable trust.
Why should you hire an estate planning and trust administration attorney to help you?
Having an attorney to help you oversee a trust administration should help minimize issues between the beneficiaries of the trust and other family members. In the long term that should help to avoid conflicts between the parties involved and also help to keep relationships between the people involved in good terms. When our attorneys do an administration of a trust created by us sometimes a simple one hour phone call will solve all the issues. It is important to develop a solid relationship with your estate planning attorney and be very happy and comfortable with the professional that you chose. Remember that in one of the worst moments of your loved ones' life he or she will be the one taking care of them. Having someone that will treat your family with respect and sympathy in such a difficult moment matters a lot.
Having an attorney overseeing a trust administration will also minimize the issues that any of the trustees will take actions that will go against the directives of the Trust. If you are the person that will be the trustee that also means minimizing the probability of failing to act as a fiduciary agent and in term be held liable for any issues that surface.
Do I need to work with the attorney that created my trust initially?
At Citadel Law Firm we also do third party trust administration. Although it may be more cost effective to work with the attorney that initially created your trust we also can help you if you prefer. We do understand that professionals retire or change carriers, or relationships sometimes are not ideal anymore. We are here to help if you want to, we will offer you a free consultation to help you understand if we are the right attorney for you.
We also do trust administration when the original trust documents were not created by a licensed attorney. They were either created by the person herself or by a document preparer or paralegal. We wish we could say that these types of trusts are well created and executed, but what we have discovered overtime is that most of our Trust Disputes that eventually end up in litigation usually come from trusts that are not created by an attorney. Although these type of professionals are licensed to create a trust they are not licensed to give legal advice. They will not necessarily create the correct estate planning strategy for you and your loved ones. They will also not instruct you correctly in how to fund and maintain your trust. Funds that are not properly funded and maintained are the main reasons why trusts end up not offering the protections that they are suppose to offer, and families end up in court.
Call Citadel Law Firm today at (480)565-8020 to discuss your Trust Administration Chandler needs. It doesn't matter if you have a simple or a complicated case, our estate planning attorneys in Chandler will be pleased to help you.
Chandler Office Location