The vastness of the area that comes under the legal protection of probate Law is not known by most of us, except the ones who acquired concerned legal degrees. There are many elements that come under this particular segment of law in the state of Los Angeles and it is definitely not possible to discuss on every aspect of it at the same time. One of the most important elements of probate law is estate planning or management. There are innumerable numbers of litigations in probate court in relation to estate or property. Most of these cases are different from each other as they stand on different platform of facts and reveal varying characteristics with complexities which are hard to be compared or to relate with other cases. One effective and solution tool that is used by the LA Probate Law court for managing a big estate with critical crisis is by forming a trust. An individual could be asked to serve as a trustee, this job carries a heavy load of responsibilities and hence one must be definite about the role that is required to be performed before giving confirmation. Each estate has its own issues and features, hence the wish list and demand from a trust is never same, and it is the trustee who is the one to administer everything and make sure that things are in place as per the requisites. A trustee required to be always alert and informed about everything as there are ample instances of an honest trustee with good and genuine intentions subject to litigation for being just uninformed on a petty issue. Ironically, a trustee despite of its most sincere and satisfactory role in most of the cases never receive an appreciation or words of gratitude. The role of a trustee in estate planning is the subject matter of this article.
Since, a trustee is the ultimate authority to administer the trust on the basis of the set terms and conditions. It is an absolute necessary for the trustee to go through all the terms and understanding of each of them. The individual is expected to make each and every person associated with estate to sit across the table and to make them understand his/her role on the basis of the set guidelines to avoid any nuisance or confusion in future. As each trust is different from others, so it is essential that trustee must not skip any information and if required the LA Probate Law permits a trustee to take the assistance of an attorney who holds the experience and knowledge of trust administrations. One of the most important jobs of the trustee is to maintain the book of accounts. This is done on an annual basis, and the report consists of all the income and expense that happened in that specific year and this detail account report must be served to the beneficiaries of the estate. If a trustee fails or get late to deliver the report, there is always a statue of limitation to protect the trustee by preventing the beneficiaries to file a petition against the trustee instantly. The tenure of statute of limitation varies from one state to another and thus a trustee enjoys sufficient time to prepare the account report and to serve it to the beneficiaries.
Due to the service given for estate planning, a trustee is paid. The compensation policy of a trustee varies from one trust to another. In certain trusts, the trustee receives a compensation which is a fixed percentage or fee of the value of assets. On the other hand, another type of trusts provides reasonable compensation to the trustees. This form is little bit critical and complex, as the meaning of reasonable could vary from one person to another. Hence, to avoid any confusion with the compensation, LA Probate Law insist the trustees must keep an account of the total time in terms of hours that is being spent on the trust matters. If any dispute arises with the compensation, then the trustee will be able to produce the extensive report showing total time devoted to the matters related to the trust. A trustee must ensure that the assets in dispute are transferred into the trust and vested in the name of the trustee. If some asset is not included, best efforts must be given to include those assets into the trust and an effective search must be done to locate potential assets which are not included in the trust and need to make sure if such asset is found, it also get included.
It is always essential for a trustee to be neutral, as any beneficiary could feel that he or she is not treated fairly and this could lead to challenging the role of a the trustee which holds could lead to a litigations. On many occasions a trustee is caught in a very complex situation, where some of the beneficiaries could be family or near and dear ones and simultaneously keeping them happy and performing the trust matters is not easy. In such case, the trustee must raise him or herself from private emotions and comply with the rules and conditions set forth by LA Probate Law in the best interest of the trust. It will be always wise decision for a trustee to take advice from a lawyer on disputes and issues of the trust to avoid litigations and it is almost a compulsion to a have an insurance done to provide protections from mistakes or any error in trust matters. If such insurance is not done, if a beneficiary able to prove some financial loss, the amount is compensated from the personal asset or holdings of the trustee.
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