Trust Administration

Being a trustee means that you have legal title and control of property, but it also means that you have many duties to uphold.

Changes to the law in recent years have made it much more difficult to meet one's obligations as trustee. Trustees can't just hold onto property without considering reinvesting the property in appropriate investments. These new rules come as a shock to many of our clients who are trustees.

Karisch Jonas Law Attorneys

The lawyers at Jonas Karisch Law can help you understand your responsibilities and take appropriate action. 

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Trustees must put their own interests aside and act solely in the interests of the beneficiaries. 

If you are named as the trustee or successor trustee of a trust, we can:

  • Explain your powers and duties under the terms of the trust and applicable law.

  • Explain the standards to which you will be held when you invest trust property, including your obligations under the Texas Uniform Prudent Investor Act.

  • Help you account to trust beneficiaries.

Unless the trust instrument says otherwise, trustees must:

  • Treat each beneficiary and class of beneficiaries impartially -- trustees can't favor the beneficiary now receiving distributions over the people who will get the trust property when the trust terminates.

  • Meet their obligations to account to beneficiaries and to keep beneficiaries informed about key events.

  • Manage the trust assets as required by the Texas Uniform Prudent Investor Act, which requires diversification and active management of trust assets in accordance with the modern portfolio theory.

  • Account for the money received and the money paid out under special rules applicable to trusts.

  • Act in good faith toward beneficiaries and treat them fairly.

  • Comply with tax reporting and payment requirements applicable to trusts.

Karisch Jonas Law Office - Austin TX

Contact Karisch Jonas Law if you would like to talk to us about representing you as a trustee. 

Glenn Karisch has worked actively on legislation in this area since 1997 and is familiar not only with the statutes themselves but also the reason the statutes are there in the first place.