Practice Areas - Trust Adminstration

In its most basic definition, a “Trust” is a document which creates a legal entity during a person’s lifetime, or upon their death.  The Trust oversees its corpus, or those assets which it legally owns or has control over.  These assets - the corpus - is managed or administered in the manner directed by the terms of the trust.  Generally, a trust will identify a “Trustee” who becomes responsible for administering the trust.  The trustee carries fiduciary duties to all others having an interest in the Trust.  A trustee can be an individual, multiple individuals, a professional fiduciary, or even a corporation. 

The complexity of a trust administration is generally dependent upon the intricacy of the trust documents and the nature of the trust corpus.  In almost all instances, the trust will allow for the trustee to retain legal counsel to assist and guide the trustee during the administration of the trust, as well as protect and defend their actions as fiduciaries to those interested in the trust.  Such legal representation is paid for from the corpus of the trust.

The attorneys of Rosenauer & Wallace are experienced in guiding all types of trustees through the most complex trust administrations, as well as defending them in the face of a challenge to their position or actions.  We are familiar with the many variations and forms of trust documents, and can assist in making the daunting task of enacting a trust administration smooth and efficient.