Transferring Wealth: Administering Trusts and Estates with Clarity and Compassion

Why is it usually a good idea to get legal help when administering a trust or estate?

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Imagine your family having to sell your home just to pay for taxes. So San “Susan” and Dai Min “David” Kee were confronted with this possibility as they began their estate planning. In his mid 70s, David was beginning to have some health problems, so the Kees felt some pressure to act quickly. If they were to leave their home to their only son, John, however, they ran the risk of having it sold. The Kees worked with Grimaldi & Yeung to:

  • Create an estate plan that by-passed their son in favor of their grandsons in order to preserve the family’s assets.
  • Initiate a frank family dialog that resulted in the more qualified younger grandson being named as executor — with no resentments.
  • Straighten out previous erroneous legal work — including a deed that inadvertently conveyed the entire house to neighbors.
  • Administer the estate after David’s and Susan’s deaths.

Grimaldi & Yeung was able to function as a trusted advisor to and advocate for the Kees over three generations, helping them preserve a cherished family home and maintain peace within the family.

Estate Administration/Trust Management: Settling Trusts

Trusts avoid the court’s oversight and provide easier access to assets, but they still require settlement. As with executors of estates, there can be heavy demands on a trustee’s time and energy. Trustees need to collect assets from various financial entities, report on expenses, prepare full accountings of the trust’s assets and distributions and ensure that tax returns are filed. Grimaldi & Yeung collaborates with trustees to make their jobs easier and to provide legal guidance at critical moments. We:

  • Assist in gathering assets by preparing and filing the necessary documents.
  • Prepare accountings of the estate’s assets, expenses and commissions.
  • Secure releases from each beneficiary so that distributions can be made.
  • Prepare and file accountings with the New York State Attorney General if the trust includes charitable distributions.
  • Advise on tax payments and filings.
  • Make the necessary distributions to all parties.