Legal Assistance for Estate Heirs
In a time of grieving for your lost loved one, you may not feel like you are in a place to act as an administrator of the trust. To assist with your trust administration needs, our staff at the Stone Law Offices, Ltd. offers trustee services that are tailored to meet your individual needs. We take clients by the hand and walk them through the trust administration process step by step.
Our office provides back office support, completing paperwork, and putting you on a schedule so that the steps in the administration process are completed in a timely fashion. The way we proceed through trust administration is broken down into several steps.
Initial Administration Meeting
In this step, we focus on client education, contact the beneficiaries, handle initial notices for estate heirs, address small details that may get overlooked, and generally get you through the first 30-45 days
Estate Inventory Meeting
Here we identify assets to be administered, help place a value on the estate (for estate tax or income tax purposes), manage any investment policies, and ensure that all documents are correctly titled and in place.
Accounting Meeting
We help make sure that all debts and expenses have been identified, see that checks have been cut, and assist clients on getting set up on a bookkeeping system.
Tax Meeting
This meeting is to ensure that the decedent’s tax returns are prepared and an accountant is identified to help with this process. Any other tax issues are also addressed.
Distribution Meeting
This appointment is dedicated to wrapping up administrative tasks and preparing to distribute the assets of the trust. Here we also determine if any additional trusts are to be established, identify the assets to be distributed, and get receipts for any necessary expenditures.
Final Modes – Proceeding in one of two ways:
- Maintenance Mode
Keeping quarterly appointments with our client in order to ensure full compliance with the continued terms of the trust. - Termination Mode
Distribution of trust to estate heirs, shutting down the trust, and closing the trustees.
Contact the Stone Law Offices, Ltd. to learn more about how our trustee services can benefit you and your loved ones. Our staff is proud to offer flexible appointment times to suit your busy schedule. Let us stand by you every step of the way.
