Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Georgia

The trust is not going to be governed by Georgia law. It will be governed by the law of the state where the mother set up the trust (either through a will or through a revocable living trust) or possibly Michigan if your friend was given money outright and wants to self-fund his own special needs trust.

However, your comments suggest that a trust is already set up. In that case, there is a trustee already appointed.

Your friend needs to contact an estate planning lawyer specializing in special needs trusts to review the trust created by your friend's mother. Contact an attorney in the county/state where the trust is set up.

Only in the event that funds were left to your friend outright can you be appointed as trustee. If a trust is already established, it probably names a trustee which is either a bank or some other person and your friend will have to deal with that person. I don't know what the trusts provides for a contingent trustee but it may be possible to have you appointed as the substitute trustee if there is no other person named.

However, don't think that by appointing you your friend can get his hands on money. The whole purpose of a special needs trust is so that the person's entitlement to benefits will continue and not be jeopardized. There are very strict rules as to how the money can be spent and each case depends on the circumstances which you do not relate. That is why your friend needs to see an estate planning attorney to make sure this is properly handled.

Depending on how the trust is written, the beneficiaries of a trust must be given an at least an annual accounting. I do not know when your friend's mother died and whether it is too soon for an accounting. The estate planning attorney needs to review that as well and if an accounting is due then the attorney can request an accounting for your friend if it has not been given. An accounting should divulge what assets were in the trust, any income received by the trust and the expenses paid out. Usually trusts are funded by money (like insurance proceeds) and possibly land (like rental property).

You mention that your friend is physically incapacitated. What about mentally? Does he need someone to assist with his financial affairs? If so, and if he has not set this up already, he may want to speak to a Michigan estate planning attorney about creating a power of attorney to enable someone to act on his behalf. This would include allowing you to deal with any trustee if there is an existing trust. This might be unnecessarily complicating the situation with the existing trust, and whether an agent is needed depends on circumstances. It is something which should be discussed as your friend may need someone to not only deal with the trust but also with Social Security or other agencies.