You probably know that trustees administer property and assets on behalf of a third party. However, many trust instruments define the trustee’s duties. That means you can’t say what the trustee can or cannot do without reading between the lines.
In this video, Paul Rabalais from Rabalais Estate Planning LLC gives you expert advice on trusteeship. As an attorney, he gets many trust-related questions, mostly from skeptical trust beneficiaries worried about a trustee’s actions.
Below are five essential duties of a trustee.
First, an individual trustee should not lend funds to themselves, their employees, or business partners unless otherwise provided by the trust instruments. Secondly, the trustees should not buy or sell property from the trust to themselves. This means they should eschew doing business with the trust. But, like with the first limitation, it depends on what the trust instrument says.
Moreover, the trustee must keep and render an accurate account of the administration of the trusts. Also, upon request, the trustee shall give beneficiaries complete information on the nature and amount of the trust. And finally, the trustee shall administer the trust prudently and with reasonable care. The trustee accepts these responsibilities when they agree to the delegated trust.
