You may choose different counsel for the trust administration
The attorney who prepared a trust does not automatically become the attorney for the trustee, surviving spouse, or beneficiaries after a death. Although the original attorney may be familiar with the estate plan, the people responsible for carrying it out may seek advice from another qualified trust and estate attorney.
Cardon Law can provide trust administration guidance for trusts prepared by another attorney, whether the document came from a large firm, a solo attorney, an online service, or another source.
Drafting the trust and administering it are different services
Estate planning creates the instructions. Trust administration is the process of carrying those instructions out after a death, incapacity, resignation, or other triggering event.
The administration may require the trustee to establish authority, identify and control property, work with financial institutions, maintain records, address tax matters, communicate with beneficiaries, make distributions, and eventually close or continue the trust.
An attorney advising the trustee does not need to have drafted the original document to help with that work. The governing trust and applicable law provide the starting point.
The first step is reviewing the complete document
Cardon Law will need to review the complete trust agreement and every amendment. A summary, certification of trust, or family member’s recollection may not contain all the provisions that control the administration.
The review can help determine:
- Who has authority to serve as trustee
- Whether the trust became irrevocable or divided into separate shares
- What information or accountings beneficiaries should receive
- How expenses, taxes, and distributions should be handled
- Whether property outside the trust requires another process
- Whether the trust continues or ends after the administration
When the document does not answer a question directly, applicable default rules may need to be considered.
The trustee should understand who the attorney represents
During an administration, family members sometimes assume that one attorney represents everyone involved. That may create uncertainty when the trustee and beneficiaries have different responsibilities, interests, or questions.
An attorney advising the trustee generally helps the trustee understand and carry out the trustee’s obligations. A beneficiary may decide to obtain separate advice when the beneficiary needs guidance about individual rights or concerns.
Clarifying the attorney’s role at the beginning can prevent misunderstandings as the administration proceeds.
Changing attorneys does not change the trust
Choosing Cardon Law for the administration does not rewrite the trust or replace its instructions. The document remains controlling unless a permitted amendment, agreement, court order, or other lawful process changes the result.
The purpose of the review is to understand the trust as written, identify the responsibilities it creates, and help the trustee carry them out properly. If the family’s expectations differ from the document, that difference should be identified before property is transferred or distributed.
An unfamiliar trust should not become a reason to delay
Trustees sometimes postpone an administration because they do not know the drafting attorney, cannot locate the original firm, or assume they must return to the office named in an old letter. Meanwhile, accounts, property, tax matters, and beneficiary questions remain unresolved.
Cardon Law can review an existing trust, identify the immediate priorities, and organize the administration into manageable phases. Bringing the complete trust and amendments, available death certificates, and basic information about the property allows that review to begin without requiring the original drafting attorney’s involvement.
