Trust Administration & Probate

Social Security will continue to send out benefit checks until they are notified of an individual’s death. The executor/spouse/trustee should contact the local Social Security Administration office and notify them of the death, or if a benefit check is received, send it back with a letter notifying them. This is important. If checks continue to be deposited, the recipient can incur liability later when Social Security learns of the recipient’s death. … [Read more...] about What do I do about Social Security?

If you are a relative of the deceased, this is simple in most states. To transfer the title of vehicles owned by the deceased, simply take the death certificate to the DMV, and perform the transfer, paying whatever fees they require. If not a relative, bringing along the will and or any trust documents indicating your status should be sufficient. … [Read more...] about How do I transfer the car(s) into my name?

The answer depends upon the language of the trust document. Certain trusts include “pick and choose” language that allows trustees to selectively place assets into the “B” trust. … [Read more...] about Can I pick and choose what assets go into the “B” trust?

To summarize the process, trust administration can be broken into five basic steps: Inventory assets Determine estate tax Division of trust assets File the Federal and State tax forms Distributions to beneficiaries Although the trust administration process seems relatively straightforward, there are several reasons it can sometimes be drawn out over several months or even years. The first step, the inventory of assets, must be completed before the trust administration can … [Read more...] about Does the Trust Administration process take a long time?