What New York Trustees Must Do In The First 90 Days After A Grantor’s Death

In this article, you will discover:

• When beneficiaries must be notified after a trust grantor dies in New York.
• The documents a trustee needs to gather after a grantor’s death.
• The notice a trustee is required to send to creditors after a grantor’s death.

When Must A Trustee Notify Beneficiaries After A Grantor’s Death?

The case law states that a trustee must notify beneficiaries as soon as reasonably possible. While there’s no actual ticking clock, there’s a lot for the trustee to do.

Being a trustee is not just an honor; it’s a high-stakes job with a strict to-do list. Therefore, the sooner you notify beneficiaries, the sooner you can get started.

What Trust Documents And Financial Records Must A Trustee Gather Immediately After Death?

You should gather the trust agreement and the death certificate of the person who set up the trust. You should also:

• Be aware of, or locate, assets owned by the trust
• Have account statements for any assets owned by the trust
• Be mindful of whether the trust was listed as a beneficiary on any assets, such as an IRA or life insurance policy

If you were the trustee while the deceased was alive, you should have the account statements for the trust assets. Otherwise, you’ll have to locate assets that have named the trust as a beneficiary.

Each trust situation is different. What you’ll need to gather depends on what the deceased originally put into the trust. It could be a house, a bank account, a life insurance policy or a retirement account.

When the deceased’s attorney covers all bases by ensuring ownership or beneficiary designations for all assets and keeps a well-organized file and extensive notes, it makes your job as trustee much easier. Specifically, when you contact the attorney for direction, you’ll have a good starting point for your search.

How Soon Must Trust Assets Be Identified And Inventoried Under New York Trust Law?

No inventory filing is required. However, as the trustee, you owe a duty to the beneficiaries to ensure you’ve identified all assets and can account for them. If the attorney kept a thorough list of the deceased’s assets, a trustee can probably discover everything the trust consists of within 90 days.

How Will A Trustee Identify Assets When A Pour-Over Will Is In Use?

Sometimes a trustee must work with the executor of a will. This situation commonly occurs when the deceased had a trust and a pour-over will.

While the trust spells out who inherits what, a pour-over will instructs that when that person dies, anything they own without a beneficiary is left to the trust. This provision requires the trustee to work with the executor.

Often, the executor and trustee are the same person. When they’re not, they must work together because more assets are flowing into the trust, which lengthens the process to perhaps nine months or one year.

How Will A Trustee Identify Assets When A Revocable Trust Is In Use?

If you’re the trustee of an irrevocable trust, you won’t have to worry about the deceased’s creditors. However, if you’re the trustee of a revocable trust and the deceased had creditors, there’s a potential for creditors to access the trust to be repaid.

It’s not possible to put all of one’s assets in a revocable trust, take on heavy debt, and be safe from creditors. If that were possible, everyone would do it. Therefore, in a revocable trust, creditors may seek reimbursement. The trustee wouldn’t have to delay distribution of assets in this scenario, unlike an executor of a will who must honor a creditor period.

Attorney Paul Hyl and Arthur Conte are skilled lawyers based in Lindenhurst, New York, who have helped clients like you navigate the intricacies of trust administration law. With years of experience between them, they are prepared to assist you with estate administration and understanding your duties and obligations as a trustee.

Still have questions? Ready to get started? Contact Hyl Conte Law, PLLC, today to schedule an initial consultation.

In most cases, trusts can be wrapped up in well under a year, unless you need to sell a house or something similar. If the only assets being dealt with are bank accounts, investment accounts, or cash, trust administration can probably be wrapped up in under six months.

What Creditor Notices Is A Trustee Required To Send After A Death?

There is no formal requirement for trustees to notify creditors. Nor is there any creditor period where you must wait before distributing money to beneficiaries. That notification requirement applies to executors of wills, but not to trustees.

The executor, if there’s a will, would pay debts first. Under a trust, if the deceased has a creditor, the trustee cannot simply pay that debt unless they know there is no other available money in the deceased’s name. In that situation, it would be in a trustee’s best interest to seek legal advice.

What Considerations Are Needed For Trusts Created Inside Of Wills?

When you consider the obligations of trustees generally, they don’t necessarily apply to trustees of trusts created within a will. In that instance, trustees have many more restrictions and must answer to New York’s Surrogate’s Court. The Surrogate’s Court requires them to work hand-in-hand with the executor.

Typically, the trustee wouldn’t have to worry about debts and expenses, because the executor would have been handling them from the start. However, their overall experience differs because they must answer to the court, meaning there are more reporting and permission requirements for trusts created within a will or governed by someone’s estate.

Are There Legal Penalties For Trustee Delays Or Mistakes During Estate Administration?

The price of a mistake is called a surcharge, meaning you, as the trustee, could be personally liable if you were slow or sloppy in your work or favored one beneficiary over another. The courts can hold you responsible and make you pay out of your own pocket for mistakes you made.

Still Have Questions? Ready To Get Started?

To learn more about trustee duties after death in New York, an initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (631) 483-7796 today.