How to Settle a Trust in Indiana
After the person who sets up a trust, known as a trust grantor, dies or becomes incapacitated, the person appointed to manage the trust, known as the trustee, takes over. The trustee must settle or administer the trust in accordance with the trust agreement, distribute trust property to beneficiaries and file federal tax returns and other documents.
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Instructions
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Provide written notice of administration to trust beneficiaries. Name yourself as the administrator of the estate, and provide written instruction on how interested parties may contact you.
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Provide written notice of administration to the county clerk. The county clerk will publish notice of the estate administration in the county where the court is located, once each week for two consecutive weeks.
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File the trust agreement in a probate court serving the county where the trust grantor was residing at the time of her death. Provide your name and business address together with a statement of your relationship to the trust grantor.
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Recover trust property and contact creditors of the trust grantor. Hire a private asset search firm to assist in the recovery of undisclosed trust property or file an affidavit in probate court to acquire personal property, accounts and intangible property belonging to the trust grantor. Provide the county clerk with the name, address, Social Security number and date of death of the trust grantor.
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Release personal property to trust beneficiaries, and make payments as instructed by the trust agreement. Hire a lawyer to re-title real property or transfer legal interest in real property to beneficiaries using an assignment form.
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File federal income tax returns. Include the cost and expenses of administration plus revenue from interest-bearing accounts and the sale of real property.
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Close the estate and petition the court for a decree of final distribution, which officially settles the trust.
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References
- EstatePlanningLinks: What Is a Living Trust?
- Office of Code Revision Indiana Legislative Services Agency: Rules Governing the Creation of Trusts
- Office of Code Revision Indiana Legislative Services Agency: Dispensing With Administration
- Office of Code Revision Indiana Legislative Services Agency: Probate and Grant of Administration
