Queens Will Trustee

One of the primary purposes of a will is to specify who will get our property once you pass away. That is typically done by state which relative, friend, employee, or entity will receive specific pieces of property, or specific sums of money. However, you can also decide that instead of an asset going directly to a beneficiary upon your death, instead you can put language in your will that creates a trust. The property that you want to leave to the beneficiary will be transferred to the trust with the person named as the trust beneficiary. You will also name a trustee, who will be responsible for making distributions from the trust to the beneficiary according to the terms of the trust document. You can decide to create a will trust, also referred to as a testamentary trust, for a variety of reasons. For example, if you children as minors at the time of your passing, you can leave them property in a trust for their benefit. To learn more about the features and benefits of will trust and to determine if creating one would help you reach your estate planning goals, discuss the matter with an experienced Queens will trustee lawyer.

Duties of a will trustee

The trustee of a trust created in a will is responsible for the overall management of the trust and the trust’s assets. This means that the trustee must make sure that the property in the trust is will managed that it is used only for the benefit of the beneficiaries. It is critical that the person you name as the trustee is someone who is trustworthy and who has the skill to fulfill the responsibility of managing the trust.

• Trust Administration. Trust administration involves making sure that the trust is managed in manner that is consistent with the purpose of the trust. For example, if the trust was created to pay for the beneficiary’s college tuition and expenses, the trustee must make sure that is done. Thus, it would be inappropriate to withdraw funds from the trust to pay for the beneficiary to go on a summer vacation, or to purchase a luxury sports car. To ensure that there is no misunderstanding as to the purpose of the trust and how it should be managed, contact an experienced Queens will trustee lawyer to help create the trust documents.
• Investment management. The trustee must make sure that the assets in the trust are well managed. Thus, the trustee would avoid risky investment that would put the fund’s assets at risk. While the trustee may not necessarily personally make investments, it is ultimately the trustee’s responsibility to hire an investment advisor who is capable, trustworthy and responsible.
• Recordkeeping. The trustee is accountable to the beneficiaries. Thus, the trustee must keep meticulous records of all trust related activities including distributions, investments, and expenses.

If a trustee fails to properly fulfill his or her duties, the beneficiaries have the right to challenge the trustee and initiate trust litigation.

Will trust and probate

As a will trustee attorney in Queens will explain, probate is the legal process that a decedent’s estate must go through before the property in the estate can be distributed to the beneficiaries that the decedent names in his (or her) will. During probate the executor winds up the estate by collecting the estate property, paying the estate’s bills, and ultimately distributing the assets to the named beneficiaries. The problem with probate is that it takes a long time. It will take at least 7 months and can last significantly longer. The assets cannot be distributed during this time.

There are strategies to make sure property is not subject to probate. One such strategy is to place property in to a trust. However, a trust that is created in a will is not the type of trust that helps avoid the probate problem. The property that will be transferred to the trust based on the terms of the will will first have to go through probate.

Contact the Law Offices of Stephen Bilkis & Associates

To ensure that the trust your establish in your will is managed according to your wishes, it is important to have experienced representation. The will trustee lawyers serving Queens at the Law Offices of Stephen Bilkis & Associates have decades of experience representing clients in matters related to testamentary trusts, wills, and other estate planning matters. Contact us at 800-696-9529 to schedule a free, no obligation consultation regarding your case. We represent clients in the following locations: Nassau County, Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Staten Island, Suffolk County, Bronx, Long Island, and Westchester County.

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