What Are My Duties As a Trustee?

Hi, this is Marc Herbert, founder of Herbert Law Office with the Question of the Week. Just this morning, I was asked what are my duties as a trustee? And I told them the primary duty of any trustee is to follow the directions and instructions of the settlors of the trust. So whoever created the trust has given you directions, some discretion, usually, but specific directions as to who are the beneficiaries, what are the amounts of distribution.

There may even be amendments from time to time that also have to be followed. So you do have a duty of loyalty to the settlors as well as I do share a duty to the beneficiaries. That means you have to do what’s best for the beneficiaries, even if it’s inconvenient, even if you’re not getting along in that moment and you have a duty to take reasonable, prudent actions on behalf of the beneficiaries.

Now, many trusts can be resolved in less than a year, but some trusts, especially those involving beneficiaries under 18 years old or disabled beneficiaries, those trusts can go on for years or even decades. So at Herbert Law office, we will help you administer the trust so that you are following the directions of the settlors. You are protecting the financial interests of the beneficiaries.

There are certain notices that you’re required to give within certain times under the law, you have to deal with all of the assets which could be scattered across many different banks, many different companies, maybe different parcels of real property inside California, maybe outside California. And if the trust is administered for more than a year, you have to give annual accountings that we can also help with.

We can confirm distributions to all the beneficiaries and help you with any paperwork for accounting, state or federal government. Finally, we also help ensure that you get fully reimbursed for all the expenses that you’ve undertaken for the trust, as well as compensation for services provided. As trustee at Herbert Law office, we offer a free consultation to sit down to review the trusts together, to go through the different options and to create a unique plan to help you fulfill your duties as trustee in a convenient and inexpensive way.

If you’d like to sit down and talk through your options, just give us a call at area code 6612739007. Take care and we’ll talk to you soon.