We see this situation all too often with our trust administration clients. A married couple was proactive early in their lives and properly created an estate plan with a revocable living trust; but unfortunately, after the first spouse died, the trust was not properly administered. This can lead not only to complications for the surviving spouse, but can also lead to a more complicated distribution upon the second spouse’s death for the successor trustees and beneficiaries.

Depending on the type of trust that was created, various steps need to be taken to ensure that the surviving spouse is still properly taken care of by the original estate plan. The first is to properly review the trust document that was originally created.

A traditional revocable trust, known as an “AD” Trust, distributes the entire trust estate to the surviving spouse. Additionally, the surviving spouse can change some or all of the original Trust, depending on what would be best for spouse and the beneficiaries. Most of the Trusts that are created these days are “AD” Trusts.

However, if an “AB” Trust was created, the Trust must be split into two parts: the surviving spouse’s portion and the deceased spouse’s portion. This is usually done for estate tax planning purposes. While the surviving spouse will still be able to change their portion as much as they like, they can no longer change any part of the deceased spouse’s portion of the Trust. In fact, the original Trust document will already contain the terms for each spouse’s trust in this circumstance.

Administering a Trust begins with the most basic step: reviewing the original Trust document. There are several estate planning and tax planning considerations to think about when first administering a revocable trust. We try and work with our clients to ensure that they are educated at every step of administering their trust. We want to make it as straightforward and hassle-free of a process, so that you and your beneficiaries will have one less thing to worry about in such a difficult time. If you find yourself in this situation, please feel free to call us for a complimentary initial consultation to review your estate planning documents.

Glendale Location

616 E. Glenoaks Boulevard, Suite 203

Glendale, CA 91207

Sherman Oaks Location

15303 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 900

Sherman Oaks, CA 91403