Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
My mother died, leaving approx $900,000 in a living trust. I was co-trustee of her living trust while she was alive and now am trustee. What fee can I charge the trust for making distributions, filing tax returns, etc. after she died.
1 Answer from Attorneys
One guide that is often helpful for smaller trusts where there is not going to be any long term ongoing management of the assets is the statutory fee for executors that is set forth in the California Probate Code. That fee is based on the amount of the assets and is easy to calculate. You then have to see if that fee seems reasonable in light of what you actually had to do. You should also try and keep track of the time you spend. If you have to do a lot of work to, for example, clean out and sell a house you might be entitled to more. As a side note, if there is only about $900,000, it is not clear what tax returns there are to do other than a final income tax return.
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