| Books for Trustees on Trust Administration |
When you agree to serve as successor trustee of a living trust or trustee of any other type of trust, it comes with a great deal of responsibility as well as legal liability. You may not realize what you embarked upon until it is too late to turn back. All sorts of questions will arise and many will be time-sensitive. While the ideal scenario is to have a trust attorney answer all your questions, the legal bills will mount quickly if you use that approach. In most cases, a trustee must answer basic questions about trust administration on his own. Most trustees purchase one or two reference guides to refer to throughout the process.
The most popular guide for new trustees is The Trustee's Legal Companion: A Step-by-Step Guide to Administering a Living Trust . It covers all essential elements of the trust administration process, but also includes chapters on some of the more complex tasks of being a trustee, such as investing trust assets, preparing a trust accounting, and preparing final tax returns. Written by estate planning attorneys, it guides you through what to do when complications arise, such as when certain trust assets aren’t actually titled in the name of the trust. The Trustee's Legal Companion: A Step-by-Step Guide to Administering a Living Trust is a great resource at an affordable price with nearly 400 pages of essential information, including state-specific resources.
For trustees who are also named executor or personal representative of the decedent’s estate, The Executor's Guide: Settling a Loved One's Estate or Trust may be used in conjunction with The Trustee’s Legal Companion. The Executor's Guide takes the first-time executor through the same step-by-step approach to estate administration. It includes several chapters on handling trusts which may be part of the deceased person’s estate, including living trusts, trusts for children, and marital bypass trusts. The Executor's Guide: Settling a Loved One's Estate or Trust takes the executor through the process of collecting monies due the estate, paying creditor’s claims, navigating probate, and handling assets that pass outside of probate. This comprehensive guide is currently one of the best books available for the first-time executor.
The books listed below and to the right are also recommended for trustees. Many of them contain forms, checklists, sample letters, and other tools to help trustees wade through the process of trust administration.
The Complete Guide to Trust and Estate Management: What You Need to Know About Being a Trustee or an Executor Explained Simply
On Being a Trustee: A Practical Guide
Special Needs Trust Administration Manual: A Guide for Trustees
Your Trustee Duties: How to Dissect a Trust Contract, Prepare Form 1041, Distribute Income and Principal to Beneficiaries, and Terminate the Trust (Series 300: Retirees & Estates)
Administration of Wills, Trusts, and Estates
Estate & Trust Administration For Dummies
For a general overview of the activities involved in administering a living trust, see our Trust Administration page.
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