Trustee's Legal Companion, The: A Step-by-Step Guide to Administering a Living Trust

by Liza Hanks, Carol Elias Zolla

You’re the trustee. Now what?

Living trusts are popular estate planning tools, but when you’re chosen to serve as a trustee, you might wonder where to begin. . The Trustee’s Legal Companion has everything you need to get organized, get started, and get the job done.
You’ll learn how to:

decide whether to take on the job of trustee
set up ongoing trusts for surviving spouses, children, or beneficiaries with special needs
invest trust assets
get help from lawyers, financial planners, and other experts
handle taxes and prepare accountings
work effectively with beneficiaries, and
distribute trust property.

The authors—attorneys who have helped many a bewildered trustee—show you, step by step, how to administer a living trust with confidence.

Genres: Nonfiction

416 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2010

About the author

Also Published as Liza Weiman Hanks

Reviews

[Cheryl A.]

For accounts left out of trust:
"Ethan was the successor trustee of his father's Living Trust. After his father died, Ethan discovered that his father had left a brokerage account worth $20,000 outside of his trust. Because it wasn't held in the trust, Ethan had no authority over it. But under the terms of his father's pour-over will, the trust inherited the brokerage account. As a result, Ethan could claim it on behalf of the trust. (He didn't have to go to probate court, because the account's value was low enough to qualify for a simple, out-of-court transfer process under state law.) Once the account was in the trust, Ethan divided it into equal thirds and distributed to his siblings."

Between tax hit and bad family feelings, maybe I shouldn't take the fee, or, if I do, donate the after-tax value to charity (we can agree on Crex Meadows).

If I need to hire accountant, attorney, any other expert, I can use the assets of the trust to pay for them. Of course I'm still responsible for understanding their recommendations, and choosing whether to follow them.

Be sure to keep good notes. Esp. if there's something like a college-age beneficiary has to maintain good grades, or an adult has to have a job. Or if you do keep a fee, to justify it. Especially if you're also a beneficiary.

If there's likely to be a large medical bill, talk to an attorney Asap about notifying creditors through the court to protect the trust from (unwarranted? old?) claims.
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Ok, that's all in the first third or so. I have not been able to make myself finish the book. I hope that I get my husband's mess straightened out, then establish a will & trust for me, before I have to settle my mother's estate. When she does pass, this looks like a very good guide, but I can probably get it and/or other books from the library. I have a feeling none are complete, but there's also a lot of overlap. And of course there's the web.

Sept. 2025

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has been indispensable to me as successor trustee of my Mom's living trust. It provides information on who to notify after a death, how to get a taxpayer ID number for the trust, probate, insurance and other assets outside the trust, selling property and dealing with taxes. Some of the information can be found online, but it is often lacking or confusing. I checked this book out at the library and have renewed it twice, but it would have been worth the price to purchase.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic resource for anyone who is struggling with all of the planning and paperwork involved with managing a trust after a loved one passes away. The process takes quite a while, so I renewed the book multiple times, then checked it out from another library. I also found some chapters available online. This book is invaluable!

[Sherry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing amount of information that would / will be really helpful for a person who is entrusted as a trustee for a trust. It covers so much information and most of it is totally understandable by a non legal scholar.

[Charles Chlipala · Rating 4 out of 5]

My dad died. Someone had to know what had to be done, even if the sister my appointed won't

[LC · Rating 5 out of 5]

Required reading of course, but incredibly informative with great examples.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful and concise, written in language that is easy to understand.

[Joanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great reference book. Used the March 2023 edition.

[Aaron Polish · Rating 5 out of 5]

very good, now I know what to do if this spirals out of control for the loss of my loved one.