estate planning South Florida

Trust Administration to Lessen or Eliminate the Probate Process

Trust Administration

Trust administration is the legal process of administering your trust and ultimately protecting your assets. The advantage of trust administration is that its saves time and money by drastically lessening or eliminating the probate process. It can also save a lot of heartache by assuring the particular assets in your estate are protected.

Allowing our South Florida law firm to handle your Trust Administration will not only give you the assurance of proper asset protection but will lessen the stress of the mandatory legal procedure involved in administering your trust. That procedure includes inventory of the trust’s assets, the assessment of the value of the assets, the filing of tax returns, the notification of creditors, the notification of beneficiaries, the payment of debts, the attending of all hearings, and the filing of court ordered reports.

Trust administration is a mandatory legal process during which an attorney must be used. The Florida Courts govern the process and administration of a trust according to the Florida statutes. The legal process of trust administration begins immediately at the death of a settlor, and includes time sensitive, court set deadlines that must be adhered to for estate settlement.

At the death of the settlor, a successor trustee selected by the settlor administers the trust. For a person to qualify as a successor trustee, he or she must be a mentally competent, Florida resident of at least 18 years of age with no prior felonies on his or her criminal record. The attorney can help the settlor choose a successor trustee to assure that the trustee has sufficient legal and accounting knowledge to administer the trust properly. In some cases, if the settlor does not have a specific trustee in mind, it may be best to select the estate attorney as the trustee considering that he or she is already familiar with the exact wishes and intentions of the settlor.

The successor is selected at the time the trust is created. It is imperative to consult an attorney when selecting a successor because it is a decision that will absolutely influence the effectiveness of an estate. Such responsibilities of a successor trustee include the duty to be loyal and unbiased to all parties and potential beneficiaries of the trust, assure the trust assets are in an interest bearing account to keep the trust productive, decide on whether to make potentially prudent investments, inform beneficiaries of the trust’s status, and file tax returns, distribute income, keep records and handle all expenses.

For more information on successful Florida estate planning and asset protection techniques, please contact the South Florida law firm of Wild Felice & Partners, P.A. at 954-944-2855 or via email at info@wfplaw.com to schedule your free consultation. It’s a Wild world. Are you protected?