Trust Administration
If your estate plan is based on a revocable trust, the assets in your trust will not go through the public probate proceeding. Instead, at your death, your successor trustee, whom you named, will step up to carry out the provisions of your trust. Your successor trustee also will work with your executor or personal representative if your trust was not fully funded and some assets must go through the probate process.
Depending on the size and complexity of your trust, your successor trustee may be able to administer the trust without professional assistance. However, many times circumstances exist where the successor trustee lacks the skill or time to administer the trust, the beneficiaries are hostile to the successor trustee, or challenges are lodged against the trustee or the trust itself, which make it prudent to rely on professional help.
Next Steps
To see the steps involved in estate planning with us, please see our Estate Planning Guide. Some of the individual documents we use are explained under “Tools”.