Page 13 - Successor Trustee Handbook
P. 13

If you do not reside with the Trustor, change the Trustor’s mailing address so that
                 you can receive his or her mail.  You will need to complete a Change of Address
                 Form and submit it to the U.S. Postal Service.  It may be done online through
                 www.usps.com.    Proof  of  your  authority  to  change  the  mailing  address  is
                 typically  not  required.    This  address  change  will  be  valid  for  only  a  limited
                 number of months, so as mail comes in, you should notify any senders that future
                 correspondence should be mailed directly to your address.


                 As  soon  as  you  begin  to  locate  the  Trustor’s  important  papers  (as  set  forth
                 above),  notify  the  Family  First  Firm  and  make  an  appointment  to  review  the
                 Trustor’s estate planning documents and assist you with some of the remaining
                 items on this checklist.  (Family First Firm offers a free initial consultation, if you
                 qualify, even if the estate plan was not prepared by Family First Firm.)



                 In the event that the Trustor’s condition is terminal, or the doctors do not believe
                 the  Trustor  will  live  beyond  one  year,  you  should  consult  with  an  attorney
                 regarding  the  advisability  of  pursuing  last  minute  estate  planning,  such  as
                 gifting, paying certain deductible taxes, withdrawing certain taxable accounts,
                 converting to a Roth IRA, other planning to reduce potential income and estate
                 taxes  or  revising  the  estate  plan  to  be  current  with  recent  laws.    Generally,
                 these actions may be taken by you under the Trustor’s Durable Power of Attorney
                 for Property, but the attorney will need to confirm this by consulting the exact
                 terms  of  that  document.    These  last-minute  actions  may  wind  up  saving
                 significant sums of money for the Trustor’s loved ones and beneficiaries.


                 Take the legal steps necessary for you to assume the position of Trustee.  If you
                 are the spouse of the Trustor and have already been serving as a Co-Trustee,
                 you may be able to act as sole Trustee on certain accounts without requiring
                 further  legal  documents.    However,  it  is  still  advisable  that  you  pursue  the
                 following steps in order to take over other matters as sole Trustee.  Whether you
                 are the spouse or not, the process of installing you as acting Trustee may occur
                 in one of four ways.






           If  the  Trustor  is  legally  competent,  that  is,  capable  of  making  and  agreeing  to  a
           voluntary resignation, you may proceed to act as Trustee once the Trustor signs an
           appropriate Trustee resignation document, which should be notarized.  You may need
           an attorney’s assistance when determining the capacity of the Trustor and formalizing
           the resignation document.  The original Trustee resignation should be placed with the
           original  Living  Trust  document  and  a  copy  placed  with  the  other  document  copies
           (that may already be in the Family First Firm “Estate Planning Portfolio”).






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