When the person who made a trust dies, the successor trustee takes on real legal duties right away, and the beneficiaries have rights the trustee has to honor. I represent trustees through the entire administration, and I represent beneficiaries when a trustee is not doing the job.
Trust Administration in Clackamas and Marion Counties
From our Lake Oswego office, we serve trustees in Clackamas and Marion Counties and Oregon’s wider mid-valley region, including Lake Oswego, Oregon City, Canby, Woodburn, Hubbard, Gervais, Molalla, St. Paul, Silverton, Stayton, Wilsonville, West Linn, Aurora, Donald, and Mt. Angel.
What I handle:
- Getting the trustee started: accepting the role, the trust’s tax ID number, IRS Form 56, and retitling accounts and real property to the trustee
- The written notice of trust existence that Oregon requires the trustee to send the beneficiaries after a trust becomes irrevocable
- A trustee’s report with the disclosures that start the one-year clock on claims against the trustee
- Oregon estate tax planning after the first spouse dies: disclaimers, funding the credit shelter trust, and the Oregon Special Marital Property election
- Administering credit shelter trusts so both the husband’s and the wife’s $1 million Oregon exemptions are used, and so the trustee meets the administration and reporting requirements Oregon law imposes on them and beneficiaries are entitled to
- Close coordination to ensure appraisals and valuation documentation to ensure the best tax benefits and closely working the CPA to ensure alignment with the Oregon estate tax return (OR-706) and, if needed, the trust’s income tax returns and K-1s issued to the trust’s beneficiaries
- Ongoing administration of trusts that continue for years, including credit shelter trusts created to utilize the Oregon $1 million exemption for both husband and wife, trusts for younger beneficiaries: annual trustee reports, accountings, and distribution decisions
- A written plan of distribution, beneficiary consents, receipts, and closing the trust
- Trust disputes: petitions for instructions, trustee removal, and objections to a trustee’s accounting, whether I represent the trustee or the beneficiary