Interested in learning more about a trustee’s duty of control during an Orange County trust administration? View here for five helpful tips. As the trust administration process begins in Orange County, you will quickly discover that successor trustees have many duties and obligations. One of these duties is the duty to take control of trust property. Since control over trust property is crucial to protecting the assets of the trust for the benefit of the beneficiaries, this duty is clearly very important. Understanding what it means to take control of the trust property, however, is not necessarily as obvious.
What is the duty of control? The following are five helpful points that describe the obligations of a trustee:
- The trustee must take reasonable steps to gain control of the trust property.
- The trustee must also take reasonable steps to keep control over that property.
- The trustee must ensure that the trust becomes the designated owner of the property. Merely taking physical possession of the trust property is likely insufficient.
- If the trust instrument contains specific provisions relating to taking control of certain property, this may reduce some of the trustee’s obligations. For example, the trust may permit someone to live in a house owned by the trust for a specified period.
- Taking control of trust property includes separating assets of the trust from assets owned by the estate or a business.
Fortunately, as a successor trustee, you are also entitled to seek the guidance of an experienced trust administration attorney in Orange County. Your lawyer can help ensure that you are fulfilling all of your obligations as trustee. This will help to protect the assets of the trust while minimizing the risk of lawsuits against you brought by interested parties.
Interested in learning more about a trustee’s duty of control during an Orange County trust administration? View here for five helpful tips. For more information about the trust administration process, view our free guide, Understanding the Revocable Living Trust – In Language that Anyone Can Understand in 8 Minutes. Contact an experienced Orange County trust administration lawyer today to learn more about your obligations as a trustee during the implementation of an estate plan. Call our office at (714) 282-7488for a consultation.