Legal Steps After a Death

​
Experts agree that after death, the responsible person should take the necessary legal steps. If a will or trust is involved, the first step is to find the document. And then:​

• read it with focus;
• take the quiet time needed; and
• read it more than once if complex.

Steps to take after a death
If a will is involved, the post-death process is called probate. If a trust is concerned, we call it post-death administration.

When a living trust is involved in which its creator was the original trustee, the trust may name a successor trustee to manage the trust and a beneficiary (one or more) to receive the trust's assets after death.

Law statutes and the trust itself dictate the duties a successor trustee has. The terms of a trust can differ widely from each other.

So, there is no substitute for reading the legal documents. It is common to have an attorney review the materials as well as the named executor (will) or trust (successor trustee).

Trust administration depends on the particular circumstances. The trust document may contain various ways of leaving assets to specific persons in case of:
​

• young beneficiaries
• beneficiaries with special issues or needs
• blended families
• different sets of children
• marital or domestic partnership status
• assets greater than the federal estate tax exemption amount
• significant gifting to charitable causes

​​
​Managing a trust can be time-consuming and overwhelming when dealing with the responsibilities and emotions caused by the death of a loved one.  

We can help you, the trustee, so that the responsibilities of trust administration are more manageable.
​

• Notify beneficiaries of the settlor's death, the name of the trustee, and the trustee's address.
• Notify intestate heirs (people who would inherit under Massachusetts law in the absence of a will or trust) of the same.
• Take an inventory of the assets of the trust.
• File and pay trust taxes.
• Maintain careful records of the trust's expenses and asset investments.
• Treat all beneficiaries impartially.
• Selling assets (if the trust calls for a total distribution of assets to the beneficiaries only in cash).

The successor trustee can be held personally liable by the beneficiaries if they do not meet the requirements of the trustee as set out by the trust.