A trustee is a person that oversees assets within a trust, an arrangement designed to shelter or manage property for the sake of one or more individuals or an organization. The trustee is obligated by the trust document to perform certain duties and act in good faith for the good of the inheritance. If the trustee doesn’t execute these basic obligations, he will be in breach of the trust agreement in addition to the law of the state in which the trust was created.
Inventory
The trustee must ensure that the trust has clear and unambiguous title to its assets, make sure that these assets are stored in a protected and insured location and conduct a whole inventory. This includes recording the value of property, such as bank account, securities, real estate and the face value and cash value of life insurance policies for which the trust is the beneficiary. The inventory must be made accessible to the beneficiaries of the trust by the terms of the trust documents.
Appraisal
For those assets which do not have a clear value, such as art or jewelry work, the trustee ought to have an appraisal carried out by an experienced appraiser and record the results with the trust inventory. The trustee also has the duty of ensuring that such assets are adequately insured against loss or theft.
Management
The organization manages assets within the trust, such as cash, bank accounts, securities, real estate and private property. A trustee has the capacity to purchase or sell assets as she sees fit in order to shelter and/or accumulate these assets and help the trust to achieve a good return on its various investments. The trustee must make an annual accounting of all transactions linked to the trust.
Disbursements
The trustee disburses property in the trust account in the management of beneficiaries and as stated by the constraints explained in the trust records. All such transactions should be recorded; the trustee issues certified checks in order to charge a legal audit trail or collects printed and signed receipts for cash disbursements.
Taxes
The trustee elicits the filing of any tax returns required by federal and state law, usually through the mission of a tax accountant. The trustee functions in collaboration with the trust guardian, if one has been named, and makes the essential taxation disbursements, while maintaining a comprehensive record of such obligations. For revocable trusts, the income is reported by the person settlor of the trust (that the person or company that created the trust).