What Are The Responsibilities of a Trustee?

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There are a variety of ways that you can handle your asset management. You can handle all of it on your own if you like. However, you can also set up a trust and let someone else take care of it as the trustee. It is essential you choose someone that you can trust with your assets.

It is also a good idea to choose someone with some asset management experience. A trustee has a number of important responsibilities that they have to fulfill when managing your assets. Let’s get into some of the responsibilities you should expect a trustee to handle with regard to asset management.

Trustees Handle Investments

When discussing trustee services, one of the responsibilities that the trustee has is to handle investments as the grantor wishes. The grantor is the person who actually owns the assets that the trustee is managing. The trustee has to invest assets as the grantor wishes since the trustee is the one who manages the assets.

Additionally, the trustee also has to adjust or allocate investable assets according to what the grantor wants. It is worth pointing out that the trustee cannot decide to invest assets on their own. Only the grantor can make that decision and the trustee has to carry it out using the assets in question.

Trustees Have to File Reports to Federal and State Regulators

Another thing that the trustee has to do is file reports with federal and state regulators as necessary. The trustee has to make sure that the information about the trust is reported accurately and on time to these regulators. You can learn more about the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s guidelines about trusts here. In addition to that, the trustee also has to update the beneficiaries about the trust on a regular basis. The beneficiaries should know the state of the assets in the trust.

Trustees Talk to the Beneficiaries

Something else that the trustee needs to do is communicate with the beneficiaries on a regular basis. It is essential that the trustee should start this communication and not wait until the beneficiaries contact them. The trustee can reach out to the beneficiaries via phone calls, email, text messages, and more.

The trustee should use whatever form of communication helps them reach the beneficiaries most effectively. The trustee needs to inform the beneficiaries about the grantor’s wishes when it comes to the trust. Additionally, the trustee should also be able to answer any questions that the beneficiaries may have for them.

Trustees Have to Keep Assets Safe

The trustee also has to ensure that the assets in the trust are kept safe. This means that the trustee has to be able to account for all of the assets within the trust. The trustee has to know who the beneficiaries of the trust are and understand what rights they have when it comes to the trust in question. Trustees have to make sure that the trust’s assets remain separate from the grantor’s other assets, as well. This is a vital responsibility of the trustee.

Trustees Have to Administer the Grantor’s Trust Properly

Naturally, the trustee has to administer the grantor’s trust properly, too. This can mean a number of things. The trustee has to ensure that they keep accurate records of all the transactions that affect the trust.

It is crucial that the trustee securely stores these records so that no one can gain unauthorized access to them. The trustee also has to distribute assets as needed in accordance with the wishes of the grantor. This is another reason why it is vital for the grantor to choose a trustworthy trustee or trustee service provider.