Estate and Trust Administration

Estate Administration refers to the process of "settling" a decedent’s estate. It includes tasks such as marshaling the estate assets, paying the bills of the decedent and the estate, preparing and filing all applicable federal and state tax returns, identifying and erecting the trusts created by the decedent’s Will (or Revocable Trust document), and distributing the "estate" assets in accordance with the directions in that Will (or Revocable Trust). Most importantly, for our firm, the estate administration process is about walking with the decedent’s family and guiding them through all these many tasks in a careful and caring way.

Trust Administration is an ongoing process of managing a trust in manner that is faithful to the governing trust document and compliant with state and federal law. It includes essentially three component parts: (1) overseeing the prudent investment of the trust assets; (2) tax planning and filing of required tax returns; and (3) making periodic distributions from the trust to the beneficiaries as directed by the trust document in a way that best addresses each beneficiary’s particular needs and goals. Depending on the needs and wishes of the client, our firm can serve as the Trustee or as advisor to the Trustee in the trust administration process.