What is the role of a successor trustee?

A revocable living trust is a flexible estate planning tool. It allows the trust creator to act as the initial trustee. They have the authority to modify the trust by changing beneficiary designations, funding it with additional assets or making other adjustments while they are still alive.

They also need to name someone to act as their successor trustee. Understanding the obligations of a successor trustee can help people who are establishing a trust choose the right person for that position.

Successor trustees eventually manage the trust

The person who establishes a revocable living trust might manage the trust for decades. The younger they are when they create the trust, the more time they may spend administering it. However, a successor trustee take over that responsibility when the initial trustee dies or becomes incapacitated.

After the original trustee can no longer administer the trust, the successor they previously selected assumes responsibility for carrying out trust instructions. They must make distributions to beneficiaries as necessary and appropriately manage trust resources.

The successor trustee generally needs to administer the trust until they have exhausted the trust’s resources or fulfilled the ultimate purpose of the trust. Successor trustees generally need to be younger than the original trustee and healthy enough to hold their position for years, if not decades, after the trustor dies or is no longer capable of administering the trust.

Having experienced estate planning guidance while creating a revocable living trust helps people ensure that they appoint an appropriate successor trustee and that the trust has adequate funding. The selection of the right successor trustee is one of many critical details to address when creating a trust as part of a comprehensive estate plan.