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Despite the global health and financial crisis, the spirit of giving is far from fading. In fact, 2021 saw a near-record $485 billion given to charity by Americans. This is a growing trend, considering how the current climate has forced more people to focus more on empathy in the workplace. An article by LHH on promoting caring and compassionate leadership details how we must be aware of how we tap into growing Read More
Why You Need a Reserve of Money in a Trust
In a trust administration, a “reserve” is money that the trustee retains until certain conditions are met. The amount of money in the reserve is based on factors such as the value of the trust's assets and its beneficiaries' inheritance rights. Basically, a trustee should make sure that he or she has enough money in the reserve to cover any final expenses associated with distributing the trust property. It is Read More
How To Distribute Trust Assets
If you are a trustee, after distributing the accounting, the trustee’s report, and the proposed plan of distribution (and ensuring that everyone agrees), you can begin to distribute the trust's money, real estate, stocks, or bonds. But exactly how do you distribute trust assets? What is the process of distributing trust assets? As a trustee, you'll need to ensure that the trust assets are properly distributed as Read More
What is Trust Accounting
Trust accounting is a detailed record, a financial story, that includes information about all income and expenses of a trust. Trust accounting is important because it helps fulfill your duty as a trustee to keep beneficiaries fully informed of the status of the trust administration. To properly account to the beneficiaries of the trust, a trustee needs to maintain detailed records that adequately reflect: Read More
Paying Bills as a Trustee
As a trustee, you've taken on many important tasks. You can handle each one effectively if you make informed choices and apply good judgment. We're tackling something that many people struggle with when they become trustees: what bills to pay when responsible for managing someone else's money. There are three important things to think about when paying bills as a trustee: What bills that all trustees typically Read More
Appraising Trust Assets | Trust 101 Series | Lawvex
As an executor or trustee, you have probably collected and liquidated assets. You've probably even liquidated some real estate and other types of businesses. But when you're appraising assets, how do you go about it? Are there legal requirements? How do you know what to look for? Here are some tips on appraising assets as a trustee. The Four Reasons we need to appraise trust assets. It sets the opening value for the Read More
LIQUIDATING ASSETS AS A TRUSTEE | TRUST 101 SERIES | LAWVEX
For most Trustees, the time will come where you must liquidate assets. What is liquidating assets? It’s just a fancy word for selling stuff. The primary reason for liquidating or selling would be either you need cash to pay bills or the beneficiaries don't want that asset. But what should you do and not do when you're liquidating assets? Here are three important questions to ask yourself: Does the will or trust Read More
Collecting Assets as a Trustee – When Bank Account and Investment Account is in Decedents Name
It's not always easy to be a trustee, and there are many complicated steps you may need to take. What if the bank account or investment is in the decedent's name? What if it's not in the trust, there's no joint owner, and there's no POD beneficiary? How do you handle that? In this article, we will go over all the necessary actions for handling these situations. First, banks are not always very up to speed on trust, Read More
Collecting Assets as a Trustee – Bank Accounts and After-Tax Investment Accounts
Being a trustee is all about collecting assets, getting them under the trust, paying off bills appropriately, and then transferring the balance to the beneficiaries. This article will be talking about collecting assets, specifically bank accounts and after-tax investment accounts. Bank accounts are checking accounts, savings accounts, or certificates of deposit. These are several different types of accounts that Read More
Collecting Assets as a Trustee – Personal Property with No Title | Trust 101 Series | Lawvex
The goal of collecting assets is to make sure that they are in the right place. A trustee has a duty to do so, and it's almost like herding cattle: making each animal go where you want them to be as quickly and efficiently as possible. It's hard work but crucial for everyone involved because wrongfully taking an asset from someone else could break up their family or even lead people into bankruptcy! What happens to Read More
