A trust is a legal arrangement where one person (or an institution such as a bank or law firm), called a “trustee”, holds legal title to property for another person, called a “beneficiary”. If you have been appointed the trustee of a trust, this is a strong vote of confidence in your judgment. It is also a major responsibility.
As a trustee, you stand in a fiduciary role with respect to the beneficiaries of the trust, both the current beneficiaries and any remaindermen named to receive trust assets upon the death of those entitled to income now. As a fiduciary, you will be held to a high standard, meaning that you must pay more attention to the trust investments and disbursements than you would for your own accounts.
Your investments must be prudent, meaning that you cannot place money in speculative or risky investments. In addition, your investments must take into account the interests of both current and future beneficiaries. For instance, you may have a current beneficiary who is entitled to income from the trust. He would be best off if you invested the funds to generate as much income as possible. However, this would not be in the interest of remainder beneficiaries who would be happiest if you invested for growth of the principal. In addition to balancing the interests of the various beneficiaries, you must consider their future financial needs. Does a trust beneficiary anticipate buying a house or going to school? Will he be depending on the trust income for retirement in 15 years? All of those questions need to be considered in determining an investment plan for the trust.
One of your jobs as trustee is to keep track of all income of the trust and expenditures by the trust. You must give a periodic account of this information to the beneficiaries.
Depending on whether the trust is revocable or irrevocable and whether it is considered a grantor trust for tax purposes, the trustee will have to file an annual tax return and may have to pay taxes. In many cases the trust will act as a pass through with the income being taxed to the beneficiary.
Consult your estate planning attorney for further information.