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Trust Administration Guidelines for Trustees

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Trust Administration Guidelines for Trustees LAW OFFICES OF MICHAEL E. GRAHAM 10343 HIGH STREET, SUITE ONE TRUCKEE, CALIFORNIA 96161-0116 TELEPHONE 530.587.1177 P FACSIMILE 530.587.0707 MICHAEL E. GRAHAM † [email protected] TRUST ADMINISTRATION GUIDELINES FOR TRUSTEES I. INTRODUCTION The average person has had little experience dealing with trusts and often has many questions upon becoming a Trustee for the first time. Since you will be the Trustee of a Trust, the purpose of this memo is to try to anticipate your questions by providing a general overview of how Trusts work and your duties and responsibilities as Trustee. Through our experience in helping people administer trusts, we have found that many individuals have unrealistic expectations concerning the way living trusts operate following a death. It is true that a living trust in many cases drastically reduces the costs and delays involved in passing on assets at death. A living trust accomplishes this feat by avoiding probate. However, even without a probate, many administrative chores have to be completed, legal documents prepared, taxes returns filed, and other matters that take time and cost money. II. TRUSTS IN GENERAL A. What is a Trust? A trust is a legal relationship, usually evidenced by a written document called a "Declaration of Trust" or "Trust Agreement," whereby one person, called the "Trustor," transfers property to another person, called the "Trustee," who holds the property for the benefit of another person, called the "Beneficiary." The same person may occupy more than one position at a time. For example, in the typical living trust, as long as the Trustor is alive, the Trustor is also the Trustee and Beneficiary. On the death of the Trustor, a "Successor Trustee" (e.g., child, friend, bank) takes over as Trustee and follows the Trustor's instructions, which are set forth in the Trust, concerning the distribution of property and the payment of taxes and expenses. B. Living Trusts and Probate Avoidance Although living trusts have been around for centuries, only recently have they achieved a high degree of popularity among the general public. The reason for this surge in popularity is that living trusts help to avoid probate. You might be wondering, "What is probate, and why is everyone trying so hard to avoid it?" The short answer is that probate is a court-supervised procedure for collecting a deceased person's assets, paying debts and taxes, and distributing the property to the person's beneficiaries (either according to the instructions the person set forth in the person's will or as determined by state law if the person died without a will). The probate process usually takes 6 to 12 months to complete, although it may take longer in complicated cases. Probate is not a tax. When people refer to the high costs of probate, they are usually referring to the fees paid to attorneys and the personal representative. In California, these fees are calculated as a NEVADA OFFICE: BANK OF AMERICA PLAZA P 50 WEST LIBERTY STREET P SUITE 600 P RENO, NEVADA 89501 † CERTIFIED SPECIALIST P ESTATE PLANNING, TRUST AND PROBATE LAW P STATE BAR OF CALIFORNIA P BOARD OF LEGAL SPECIALIZATION † LICENSED IN BOTH CALIFORNIA AND NEVADA Page 2 percentage of the gross (not net) value of the assets in the estate. These rates are set out in Probate Code §§10800 and 10810 (4 percent on the first $100,000, 3 percent on the next $100,000, 2 percent on the next $800,000, and so on). For example, let's say that D, who is not married, dies owning one asset, a house worth $200,000 with a mortgage of $120,000. D has a will that leaves the house to D's two children, A and B. A is named as executor. The probate fees for this case would be as follows: $7000 to A's attorney (plus any "extraordinary fees," which are billed hourly but subject to court approval) and $7000 to A (if A decides to take a fee), for a minimum total fee of $14,000. These fees are calculated without regard to the $120,000 mortgage, because the fees are charged on the gross (not net) value of the estate. One of the reasons living trusts have become so popular in the last 20 years is that real estate prices in California have skyrocketed, leading to much larger estates and, hence, higher probate fees. In states where real estate prices are lower or where attorney fees for probate work are based on an hourly fee schedule rather than a percentage scale, living trusts are less popular than in California. Living trusts avoid probate with respect to those assets that are transferred into the living trust before death. In other words, living trusts avoid the court procedure otherwise required to transfer assets to a person's beneficiaries at death. However, as we explain below, even though no court procedure is involved, that does not mean there is nothing to do. The living trust makes administration easier, but it does not do away with administration altogether. For example, assets still have to be collected and managed pending distribution to the beneficiaries, appraisals of assets have to be made, debts and taxes have to be paid, tax returns may be required (living trusts do not avoid estate taxes, as some people have been led to believe), and legal documents must be prepared in connection with the distribution of the trust property to the beneficiaries. These activities are very similar to a probate. The major difference is that, with a living trust, everything is handled privately, without court supervision, which makes for (in most cases) a faster, less expensive administration process. Although this may come as a surprise, you should realize that post death administration of a living trust will take time and cost money, such as legal fees, accounting fees, asset transfer fees, and your own Trustee fees if you decide to accept any. The other beneficiaries of the Trust, if any, will also need to understand that the process may take longer than they anticipated. However, in comparison to probate, these delays and cost savings are substantially reduced, often resulting in time savings of months and costs savings of 50 to 90 percent. C. Court Involvement There is also a popular misconception that the existence of a living trust avoids all possibility of court involvement. This is true (in part) only if all of the Trustor's assets were properly funded into the living trust. For example, if assets held outside the trust exceed $150,000 in gross value, a probate will be required for those assets in order for you, as Trustee, to collect those assets and add them to the trust. Moreover, if at any time a beneficiary of the Trust believes that the Trustee has acted improperly or without regard for the beneficiary's interests, the beneficiary may file a petition with the court to force the Trustee to make a full report and accounting or to redress an alleged breach of trust, including removal of the Trustee or surcharge against the Trustee. Finally, circumstances may arise in which there are questions about whether the Trustee should or should not take certain actions (e.g., selling a business interest or real property, commencing litigation). In such cases, it may be advisable for the Trustee to petition the court for instructions whether to proceed in a certain way. The beneficiaries will be given notice of the hearing and will be given a copy of the petition that describes the proposed action. The matter will then be addressed in open court, Page 3 and the beneficiaries will have an opportunity to appear and be heard. By obtaining an order from the court in this manner, the Trustee may be able to cut off the beneficiary's right to complain about the particular action if the beneficiary fails to appear in court. Such a petition protects the Trustee if there is a fear that the Trustee's decision will be second-guessed by a beneficiary. Also, if relations between the Trustee and the beneficiaries are hostile, it may be advisable for the Trustee to seek court approval of the Trustee's accountings to minimize potential arguments with the beneficiaries. III. ADMINISTRATION OF THE FAMILY TRUST After the Trustor's death, the Trust continues as a management and distribution vehicle that will exist only as long as is necessary to identify and collect trust assets, pay debts and taxes, and distribute the trust assets to the beneficiaries (or in further trust, depending on the terms of the Trust). You might visualize this trust as a funnel through which all of the trust assets will pass to the beneficiaries (with the exceptions of tangible personal property, life insurance proceeds, and other nontrust assets that may pass directly to the beneficiaries outside the Trust). It is the successor Trustee’s job to collect and manage the trust's assets, appraise trust property, pay all taxes and expenses relating to the administration of the Trust, and distribute the trust property according to the Trustor's instructions. IV. POUROVER WILLS In addition to the Trust, a Trustor usually signs what we call a "pourover" will. The purpose of the pourover will is to provide for the distribution of assets that were omitted from the Trust, either intentionally or inadvertently. One of the first tasks will be to determine what assets, if any, were omitted from the Trust. If any such assets exceed $150,000 in gross value, a probate may be required to transfer these assets to the Trust.
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