In the first month you are securing things and gathering documents. You are not distributing anything, you are not paying every bill that arrives, and you are not telling anyone what they are going to receive.
Here is the short list, in the order that actually helps, written for a person who has a funeral to plan this week.
Week one
- Order eight to ten certified death certificates, which sounds excessive until every institution keeps one
- Locate the original trust document and any amendments, and read the whole thing including the amendments that contradict the original
- Secure the residence, change the locks if it is empty, and tell the insurer the property is now unoccupied
- Stop automatic payments that no longer make sense, but keep insurance and property taxes running
- Do not distribute anything to anyone, including the person who says they were promised the car
Notice what is absent. Calling the bank to close accounts is not on the list, because you cannot act as trustee until you have accepted the role and can prove it. Getting a certification of trust prepared is the step that unlocks the rest.
Read the succession provisions. Sometimes the named successor has predeceased, sometimes the document requires a physician's letter for an incapacity-based succession, and sometimes there are co-trustees who have to act together. Acting without authority is a problem you create for yourself in month eight.
The trust only controls what was retitled into it
Pull the deed and the account statements. A trust with the house still in the decedent's own name does not avoid probate for that house, and this is the single most common failure I see. Finding out in week two is bad. Finding out in month six, after you have told everyone there is no probate, is much worse.
What to gather
- The trust, all amendments, and any pour-over will
- Deeds for every parcel, pulled from the county recorder rather than a drawer
- Statements for every account, with balances as of the date of death
- Life insurance policies and retirement account beneficiary designations, which pass outside the trust
- The last two years of tax returns, which are the best map of assets you will find
“The tax returns trick has found more forgotten assets for my clients than any search service. Interest from an account nobody knew about shows up on a 1099 that shows up on a return. Start there before you pay someone to hunt.”
Delia Vasquez-HartWhat to say to the family
Say that you are gathering information and that you will send formal notice with a copy of the trust. Do not summarize the terms from memory, do not promise timing, and do not confirm anyone's expectation about a specific item. Every early informal statement becomes an exhibit if things go badly, and things go badly more often than anyone plans for.
Questions we get asked
Can I use the decedent's account to pay the funeral?
Not by writing checks on their account. Funeral costs are a legitimate trust expense, and the right path is to pay them from trust funds once you have access, or personally with careful records and reimbursement.
Do I need to file anything with a court?
Ordinarily no. Trust administration happens outside court, which is the point of a trust. Court involvement is the exception rather than the routine.
When does the 120-day notice go out?
Reasonably promptly. It is one of the first formal steps and it starts the contest window running, so there is a real incentive not to delay it.
What if I do not want to serve?
You can decline, in writing, before you start acting. Once you have begun handling assets, stepping away gets complicated. Decide early rather than halfway.
Order the death certificates today and pull the recorded deed for every property. Bring both, plus the trust with its amendments, to a free 45-minute consultation and we will tell you what the administration actually involves.