Trust Administration

Administering a trust for friends and family can involve surprising challenges.  Trustees must manage assets for the benefit of the beneficiaries, make decisions about when and how to distribute assets according to the trust’s terms, and keep the trust’s financial records. We assist our clients in administering trusts efficiently and work with our clients’ professional advisors, including wealth managers and accountants, to make sure our clients are properly carrying out their duties.  This may include reviewing trust documents and consulting with trustees and advisors about the performance of their duties, advising the trustees about distributions as well as preparing releases for the trustees when needed, and working with the accountant for the trust.

When requested, we also serve as trustee.  Many clients who want to use a professional trustee name one or more of our attorneys to serve as trustee because of the skill, experience, knowledge of the law, and knowledge of our clients and their families that we possess. We serve as trustees of estate planning trusts and various types of irrevocable trusts, including irrevocable life insurance trusts and gift trusts.

Unlike many Boston law firms, our firm does not custody trust assets or manage investments. We work with wealth managers and respected, licensed, insured financial institutions to hold and manage trust assets (often these are individuals and institutions that the family has built a relationship with over time). We monitor the trust assets to be sure they are appropriately invested, we keep in touch with beneficiaries to determine their needs regarding distributions, and we keep all the trust’s records and provide accountings as appropriate. This is one of the ways that we can work with clients to build continuity with different generations of the same family, while still achieving their individual goals.