How to Choose the Right Executor or Trustee for an Uncontested Estate

What May Be Your Most Important Estate Planning Decision?

When you set up a trust or write your will in Southern California, you’ll need assistance from an Orange County estate planning attorney, and you will also need to designate a trustee or executor, someone you authorize and trust to manage your estate on your behalf.

After you write a will or set up a trust, the person you’ve named as executor or trustee assumes management of your estate upon your death. Selecting the right executor or trustee may be your most significant estate planning decision.

Even if you expect your will or trust to be uncontested and handled smoothly, choosing the right executor or trustee is still critical. An Orange County estate planning lawyer can advise you about making the right choice.

Will Your Estate Be Contested?

When an estate is uncontested, the beneficiaries agree on the validity of the will or trust and the way the estate will be administered. When an estate is contested, the beneficiaries may resolve their disagreements through court litigation or through a mediation.

If your estate is contested, your executor or trustee will need the legal help an Orange County estate planning attorney can provide. Even when there are no disputes or challenges, your executor or trustee should still retain an attorney’s help for several reasons.

If your estate is uncontested, an estate planning attorney can help an executor or trustee prepare any required legal paperwork, meet deadlines, pay the decedent’s debts and taxes, and distribute the estate’s assets to the decedent’s beneficiaries.

Who Should Be Your Estate’s Executor or Trustee?

Most Californians ask a spouse, an adult child, or another family member to act as an executor or trustee. Others choose someone who isn’t a relative to avoid family tensions and confrontations. Before you select an executor or trustee for your estate, ask if you are choosing someone who:

1. Is responsible and financially independent?
2. Is on good terms with your family?
3. Is able to devote the time to handle the responsibility?
4. Is sophisticated enough to hire an attorney or accountant if necessary?
5. You believe can competently carry out the duties of executor or trustee? 

Your executor or trustee should be someone you trust to manage your affairs on your behalf after you pass away. This person should be organized, detail-oriented, at ease when working with legal and financial professionals, and dedicated to you so as t your carry out your intent manifested in your Will and Trust.

Should You Choose a Professional Trustee?

When you set up a trust, your trustee may be a friend, relative, attorney, or your bank’s trust department. Many prefer a relative or close friend, but choosing a neutral third-party trustee, such as an attorney or a bank, at least as a successor, offers several benefits.

A professional trustee isn’t affected by your family members or their conflicts and manages your trust strictly according to your instructions and the law. A bank’s trust department has considerable experience managing trusts and handling any obstacles or issues that may arise.

If you choose a professional trustee, ask any questions and express any apprehensions you have about the estate administration process in advance of naming that professional trustee. Take the opportunity to raise questions about taxes and any other concerns.

What Happens if Your Trustee or Executor Cannot Serve?

Over time, events may affect the person you’ve chosen as your executor or trustee. When you prepare a will or trust, name an alternate executor or trustee because your executor or trustee may:

1. Relocate to another state or country
2. Suffer an illness, injury, or condition that makes fulfilling the duties impossible
3. Take on new responsibilities that make fulfilling the duties impossible
4. Become unwilling to serve as your executor or trustee
5. Pass away before or following your death

Your alternate executor or trustee should also be on good terms with your family and willing to take on the responsibility. If you need an alternative trustee or executor and do not designate one, a California court may appoint someone to act on your behalf.

Why Are Estates Contested?

While you may expect your estate will be uncontested after your death, you and your executor or trustee should be prepared for the possibility of legal challenges. An estate in California may be contested for reasons that include disputes over:

1. the will’s validity, undue influence, and the decedent’s capacity or lack of capacity
2. the will’s execution and its compliance with California law
3. the division and distribution of the estate’s properties and assets

While an uncontested estate offers a smoother and more straightforward process, if you are a beneficiary, executor, or trustee of an estate in Southern California, you should have the advice of an estate planning lawyer, whether the estate is contested or uncontested.

When Should You Speak to an Estate Planning Lawyer?

When a loved one has passed away, talking about legal matters may feel inappropriate. Your family needs time to grieve, but you should consult an estate planning lawyer as quickly as possible to ensure that your family can move positively and constructively into the future.

A discussion with an Orange County estate planning lawyer can help you understand the estate’s complexity, protect its value, and ensure a fair division and distribution of the estate’s assets. At the Kiken Group, we are ready to help you manage and administer an uncontested estate.

Let The Kiken Group Prepare Your Will or Trust

With more than twenty-five years of estate planning and administration experience, The Kiken Group provides outstanding probate and estate planning services to our Southern California clients and their families.

If you expect your estate to be uncontested and you need to prepare a will or establish a trust in Riverside County, Los Angeles County, or Orange County, or if you are the executor or trustee of an uncontested estate in Southern California, an attorney at The Kiken Group can help.

We are familiar with the obstacles that executors and trustees encounter even when an estate is uncontested, and we can help you overcome those obstacles. Call The Kiken Group at 657-286-4782 to schedule your free first consultation with one of our legal professionals.