Course Outline

1. Should You Serve as Trustee?

• Getting the Big Picture
• Trustees and Executors: What’s the Difference?
• What Kind of Trust Do You Have?
• Is There a Cotrustee?
• Is the Settlor Incapacitated?
• Are the Records a Mess?
• Can You Get Along With the Beneficiaries?
• Other Issues You May Be Concerned About
• If You Decide to Say No

2. Thinking Like a Trustee

• Fiduciary Duty: It’s All About the Beneficiaries
• Get Help When You Need It

3. Working With Beneficiaries

• Communicate Well and Often
• Should You Share the Trust Document With Beneficiaries?
• What Beneficiaries Need to Know
• What Unhappy Beneficiaries Can Do
• Heading Off Trouble
• If You Are Also a Beneficiary
• If You Are Administering an Ongoing Trust

4. The First Few Months

• Get Death Certificates
• Find and File the Will
• Notify the Social Security Administration
• Notify the State Department of Health
• Identify the Beneficiaries
• Notify Beneficiaries and Heirs
• Inventory Trust Assets
• Protect Trust Property
• Get a Taxpayer ID Number for the Trust
• Get Property in Your Name as Trustee
• Review Trust Investments
• Establish a Record-Keeping System
• Get Assets Appraised
• Pay Debts and Creditors’ Claims

5. Assets That Should Be in the Trust—But Aren’t

• Trust Assets Not Listed in the Trust Document
• What Goes Into the Trust and What Stays Out
• What Does the Will Say?
• Getting Property Into the Trust

6. Life Insurance, Retirement Plans, and Other Assets Outside the Trust

• Life Insurance
• Pension Plans
• Traditional IRAs and 401(k) Plans
• Roth Plans
• Survivorship Property
• Payable-on-Death Property

7. Getting Help When You Need It

• Real Estate Maintenance
• Organizing Personal Property
• Legal Advice
• Appraisals
• Taxes
• Investing
• Trust Accountings

8. Managing Ongoing Trusts

• Kinds of Ongoing Trusts
• Trusts for Surviving Spouses
• Trusts for Children
• Special Needs Trusts
• Who Gets Trust Money and When?

9. Investing Trust Assets

• The Duty to Invest Prudently
• Permissible Investments
• Getting Help From Investment Experts
• The Beneficiaries’ Needs
• Balancing the Needs of Current and Future Beneficiaries
• Handling Real Estate
• What to Do With Business Assets

10. Dealing With Taxes

• There’s Always a Taxpayer
• Careful: You Could Be Personally Liable
• Tax Returns You May Have to File
• Beneficiaries and Taxes
• Missing Returns
• The Final Personal Income Tax Return: Form 1040
• The Trust’s Income Tax Return: Form 1041
• The Federal Estate Tax Return
• State Estate Tax
• Other Taxes You Need to Be Aware Of

11. Trust Accountings

• How Often Must You Prepare Accountings?
• Who Should Prepare Accountings?
• A Typical Simple Trust Accounting
• Who Gets a Copy?
• Delivering the Accounting to Beneficiaries

12. Terminating the Trust

• When Does the Trust End?
• How to Distribute Trust Assets
• Filing the Final Fiduciary Income Tax Return
• Keeping Some Trust Money in Reserve
• Receipts From Beneficiaries
• Should You Ask Beneficiaries to Sign Releases?
• Final Correspondence With the Beneficiaries
• Telling the IRS You’re No Longer Trustee

Glossary

Appendixes

A.   State Information

• Alabama
• Alaska
• Arizona
• Arkansas
• California
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• District of Columbia
• Florida
• Georgia
• Hawaii
• Idaho
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Maine
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Mississippi
• Missouri
• Montana
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• New York
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• Ohio
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• South Dakota
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Utah
• Vermont
• Virginia
• Washington
• West Virginia
• Wisconsin
• Wyoming

B.   Sample Trust