Estate and Trust Administration: Key Tasks, Forms, Procedures and More

Estate Administration Road Map: Preliminary Considerations

1. 1. Overview of the Probate Process and Timeline
   2. Administration Procedures: Testate vs. Intestate Estates
   3. Intestacy: Who Inherits?
   4. Rights of a Surviving Spouse
   5. Formal vs. Informal/Summary/Independent Administration
   6. Distinguishing between Probate and Non-Probate Assets
   7. Ancillary Administration – Which State’s Law Applies?
   8. Know your Deadlines

Key Tasks and Procedures of Estate Administration

1. 1. Filing the Will, Petition for Probate, and other Required Documents
   2. Qualifying/Appointing the Estate Administrator or Personal Representative
   3. Locate, Inventory, and Manage Estate Assets
   4. Digital Assets: How to Find Them and What to Do with Them
   5. Providing Mandatory Statutory and Non-Statutory Notices
   6. Handling Creditors’ Claims Against the Estate
   7. Collecting Debts Owed to the Estate
   8. Sample Forms, Letters, and Documents

Key Tasks and Procedures of Closing an Estate

1. 1. Distributions in Kind
   2. Distributions to Minors, Surviving Spouse, and Trusts
   3. Settlement of the Estate: Accounting and Closing Procedures
   4. Compensation and Discharge of the Administrator
   5. Sample Forms, Letters, and Documents

Trust Administration Road Map: Preliminary Considerations

1. 1. Overview of the Trust Administration Process and Timeline
   2. What Happens when Revocable Trusts become Irrevocable?
   3. Trustee Powers, Duties, and Liabilities

Key Tasks and Procedures of Trust Administration

1. 1. Providing Required Notices
   2. Receiving and Managing Trust Assets: Inventorying, Investing, and Accounting
   3. Resolving Debts and Paying Expenses
   4. Preparing the Accounting and Distribution Plan
   5. Disposition of Trust Assets: Real Property, Personal Property, and Other Asset Types
   6. Paying the Trustee and Terminating the Trust
   7. Sample Forms, Letters, and Documents

Tax Hurdles in Estate and Trust Administration

1. 1. Identifying Income to the Estate
   2. Filing Annual and Final Tax Returns
      1. Tax Treatment of Heirs
      2. Tax Basis Reporting Requirements
      3. Tax Deadlines and Handling Extensions
      4. Estate and Generation-Skipping Transfer Taxes
   3. Resolving Tax Disputes
   4. Sample Forms, Letters, and Documents

Ethical Issues in Estate and Trust Administration

1. 1. Breach of Fiduciary Duties
   2. Spotting and Avoiding Conflicts of Interest
   3. Protecting Client Confidentiality
   4. Ethical Issues in Joint Representation
   5. Fee Agreements

Speakers

Sophia Y. Cizmarik

Senior Counsel

scizmarik@donahue.com