What Does a Trustee Do?
Whether you are planning to set up a revocable living trust and to appoint yourself as the trustee, or you are planning to establish an irrevocable trust for which another party will serve as trustee, you may be wondering about the specific duties of a trustee and how a trustee is involved in the management of trust assets. First, it is important to know that all trusts in Georgia must have a trustee — which can be a person or an entity that oversees and manages the assets in the trust. Depending on the type of trust, the settlor or trustor (the person who makes the trust) may be able to serve as the trustee, or a third party may be appointed to serve as the trustee.
Trustees have significant responsibilities. What do those responsibilities include? Our Gwinnett County estate planning attorneys can explain in more detail.
Asset Management
A central role of a trustee is to manage the assets held in a trust. Given that trusts can contain a wide range of assets — from cash and stocks to tangible assets like art collections or real estate — properly managing the assets can be a complex and involved work. For tangible assets, management can involve obtaining and renewing insurance on those assets, while managing investments held in a trust can be particularly time-consuming.
Trustees have a fiduciary duty, which means they have a legal duty to act in the financial best interests of the beneficiaries of the trust when managing assets.
Asset Distribution
Another crucial duty of a trustee is to handle the distribution of assets to beneficiaries. A trustee must distribute assets to named trustees in amounts and on timetables tied to the terms of the trust.
Handling Taxes
Trustees can also have the duty of handling the taxes for a trust, although in some cases another party such as an accountant or financial consultant may be responsible for managing tax issues directly. If a trustee does have the duty of handling taxes for a trust, the trustee must ensure that all taxes are filed and paid properly and on time. Usually when a trustee is responsible for taxes, the trustee will hire an accountant at tax time to make certain that taxes are handled.
Accounting and Recordkeeping
Trustees must handle the accounting for trusts, and they must maintain detailed records of their accounting, filing and payment of taxes (if applicable), asset management, and asset distribution.
Contact a Norcross Estate Planning Lawyer for Help with Your Trust Needs in Georgia
Are you considering making a trust as part of your estate plan? Whether you want to find out more about setting up a revocable living trust to allow your beneficiaries to avoid probate, or you want to establish an irrevocable trust as a special needs trust for a disabled child or for purposes of Medicaid and long-term care planning for yourself, our firm is here to help. An experienced Norcross estate planning attorney at Bowman Law Firm can speak with you today to answer any questions you have about creating a trust, and we can assist you in establishing one or more trusts and other important components of an estate plan. Contact us for more information.
Source:
law.justia.com/codes/georgia/title-53/
