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Trust Administration Checklist: Document Requirements

Estate Planning Attorney and Client Resource

Administer a revocable or irrevocable trust after a death or incapacity with a document checklist. Collect the trust agreement and amendments, death or incapacity evidence, trustee identification, a funded-asset inventory (deeds, accounts, business interests), beneficiary names and notice information, tax-identification records, and prior gift or estate-tax filings so the successor trustee can notify beneficiaries, retitle assets, and prepare accountings. This is not legal or tax advice; notice statutes, creditor-claim periods, and tax elections vary—confirm current state trust law and IRS rules with counsel.

Trust Administration Checklist: Document Requirements form template preview

Key Benefits

Locate the trust, amendments, and certification of trust
Document the event that triggered successor-trustee authority
Inventory assets actually titled to the trust
Build the beneficiary notice list required by statute
Gather tax IDs, prior returns, and cost-basis records
Separate trust work from any leftover probate assets

Common Use Cases

Successor trustees meeting counsel after a grantor's deathAttorneys opening a trust-administration fileFamilies funding or retitling overlooked assetsAccountings for remainder beneficiariesIrrevocable-trust trustees gathering Crummey or GST filesDirected trustees collecting investment-advisor reports

Frequently Asked Questions

What proves the successor trustee may act?
The trust (and amendments) naming them, plus a death certificate or physician statement if the trigger is death or incapacity. Many institutions also want a certification of trust rather than the full instrument. Bring ID and, if required, a taxpayer ID for the now-irrevocable trust.
Do beneficiaries have to receive a copy of the trust?
Many states require a notice that the trust became irrevocable and offer beneficiaries a way to request a copy, with short windows to contest. Read the local statute before you send anything. Keep proof of mailing.
What if an asset was never titled to the trust?
It may need a pour-over probate, an affidavit of heirship, or a Heggstad-style petition depending on the state. The checklist still asks for those assets so they are not ignored. Funding gaps are common; do not assume the trust owns everything the grantor meant to transfer.
Is this tax advice?
No. A new EIN, final individual return, estate-tax return, and income-tax elections (including basis reporting) are fact-specific. Use counsel and a CPA familiar with trust administration.

Checklist

Instrument

Signed trust, all amendments, and any restatement or certification of trust
Required

Confirm you have the latest restatement. Note the governing-law clause and successor-trustee article.

Authority

Death certificate or incapacity documentation that starts successor authority
Required

Some trusts require two physicians. Match the evidence to the instrument.

Successor trustee identification, contact information, and acceptance of office
Required

Banks often want a notarized acceptance and a new EIN letter for a decedent's trust.

Assets

Deeds, account statements, and entity records showing title in the trust name
Required

List unfunded assets separately. Include life insurance if the trust is the beneficiary.

Beneficiaries

Beneficiary names, addresses, and any statute-required notice package
Required

Calendar the contest window. Include remainder and contingent beneficiaries the statute covers.

Tax

Grantor's recent income-tax returns, gift-tax returns, and cost-basis files
Required

Needed for the final 1040, 1041, and any 706. Keep 1099s that still arrive in the grantor's SSN.

Administration

Known debts, last-illness costs, and trustee-fee records
Required

Some states allow a short creditor process for trusts. Do not pay without a process counsel approves.

Probate Overlap

Pour-over will and notes on assets still in the grantor's individual name

Opens a parallel probate checklist if anything was left unfunded.