While these duties are for an Executor or Personal Representative of an Estate in California Probate many of these duties also apply to administering a Trust. Settling a Trust may not require petitioning the court but most of the other items will be necessary. In fact many of these responsibilities will also be required of an Attorney-in-Fact when a relative has dementia, is declared incompetent and needs to have special senior memory care.
In all of these situations it is important to have a trained Real Estate professional to help guide you through preparing and selling the house. If the family member lived there for many years there can be a lifetime of personal property that must be managed. It is important to have a trained professional that is familiar with both the legal documents and the pitfalls of managing both the real and personal property.
In a recent sale I managed the Successor Trustee had to be very careful to abide by the instructions on the disbursement of the personal property as much of it had been bequeathed to specified people. At the time family and friends want to come and be helpful but they may not be aware of the specific bequests and rush to donate or gift property incorrectly. And the Successor Trustee or Executor can be sued for mismanagement by other beneficiaries.
An Executor or Successor Trustee is required to safeguard the assets including real and personal property. If the property is vacant specific steps must be taken. For more information see my blog post https://janeybishop.com/real-estate-blog/tips-to-protect-a-vacant-probate-property/ or watch my video
https://janeybishop.video/vacant-home
As you can see there are many activities that an Estate or Trust Attorney will help with but many others that a trained Real Estate professional will be a very useful resource. That is why I have completed the training to be a Certified Probate Real Estate Specialist and Senior Real Estate Specialist.
For a free E-Book with even more info https://probate.janeybishop.com/managing-probate-with-purpose/
This is a photo of the garage of my first probate sale. The interior had almost as much personal property. That was my “aha” moment that I realized I could be the advocate for families in this often overwhelming situation. I was surprised by how often they were approached by people wanting to take advantage which brought up my protective instincts.
