A trustee is the person (or institution) legally responsible for managing the assets held in a trust for the benefit of someone else. Under New York law, that role is not a casual favor — it is a fiduciary position, meaning the trustee must act with absolute loyalty, invest the trust’s assets prudently, keep meticulous records, and account to the
When the person who created a trust (the grantor) dies, the successor trustee steps in to settle and distribute the trust — this process is called trust administration, and in New York it is governed by the Estates, Powers and Trusts Law (EPTL), Article 7. Unlike a will, a properly funded trust avoids the public, court-supervised probate process in the
If you want control and flexibility, you generally want a revocable living trust; if your goal is estate-tax reduction, asset protection, or Medicaid eligibility, you generally need an irrevocable trust. That is the short answer. The longer — and more important — answer is that most New Yorkers choose the wrong one, or use the right one incorrectly, because they
You protect your assets with a trust in New York by choosing the correct type of trust under the New York Estates, Powers and Trusts Law (EPTL) Article 7, funding it properly, and appointing a trustee who will honor strict fiduciary duties. A revocable living trust keeps you in control while avoiding probate and managing incapacity; an irrevocable trust can
Yes, a properly drafted and properly funded revocable living trust avoids probate in New York for the assets it holds. That two-word qualifier — “properly funded” — is where most New Yorkers stumble. A living trust avoids probate because assets titled in the name of the trust are no longer owned by you as an individual at death; they are
Yes — contrary to what the name suggests, a New York irrevocable trust can sometimes be changed, and in many cases it can be “decanted,” which means pouring the assets of an old, problematic trust into a brand-new trust with better terms. But the word irrevocable exists for a reason: these trusts are deliberately rigid, and the techniques used to