What a Successor Trustee Can Do Without a Court

A living trust is a legal arrangement in which the trust, not the person, owns property such as a home. The person who created it usually manages it during their life. When they die, the successor trustee named in the trust document steps in to manage the trust's property and carry out its instructions.

If you have been named successor trustee for a parent's Los Feliz home, you may be feeling the weight of that while also grieving. It helps to know that the role, while serious, is also practical. Because the trust owns the house, there is no need for a court to appoint you or to approve the sale.

A good first step is to read the trust itself, or have the trust's attorney walk you through it. It names you, describes your powers, and says who the beneficiaries are and what each is to receive. Everything about the sale of the house flows from that document.

As successor trustee, you can usually:

• Secure the home and confirm the insurance still covers it, since some policies limit coverage when a house sits empty.
• Hire a real estate agent and sign the listing agreement.
• Decide on the price, with your agent's guidance.
• Accept an offer and negotiate its terms.
• Sign the documents to close escrow.

There is no wait for Letters, no Notice of Proposed Action, and no court confirmation hearing. To close, title and escrow commonly ask for a copy of the trust or a shorter document called a certification of trust, plus a certified death certificate. Our process page shows how a trustee's authority compares with probate.

Not needing a court does not mean acting alone. A successor trustee has to follow the trust's terms and act in the interest of all of its beneficiaries, not only the ones who are easy to reach. Within about 60 days after the trust becomes irrevocable, the trustee generally has to send a formal notice to the beneficiaries and the heirs.

Beyond the legal duties, which the trust's attorney explains, there is a practical side. Keeping the beneficiaries informed about the house, keeping good records of what was spent and why, and making decisions in the open tends to keep a family steady through the sale. Your attorney can tell you what the trust requires. Your agent can help you keep everyone updated.

Most trust sales never see a courtroom, but a few situations can bring one in:

• The house was never deeded into the trust. A court petition, often called a Heggstad petition, may confirm the home belongs to the trust.
• The beneficiaries disagree. A serious dispute over the sale may end up before a judge.
• The trust's instructions are unclear. A trustee can ask the court for instructions.

Each of these is a legal decision for the trust's attorney. The real estate side waits where it has to and moves forward where it can, such as preparing the house while the question is resolved.

Two tax questions come up with almost every inherited home. Heirs often receive a stepped-up tax basis equal to the home's value at the date of death, which can reduce or remove capital gains tax on a sale soon after. And under Proposition 19, an inherited home is usually reassessed for property tax unless a child moves in and makes it their principal residence, within limits. A CPA confirms how each applies to your family.

On privacy, trust administration is generally not filed with a court, so the details of the trust and the sale do not become part of a public case file the way a probate does. For many Los Feliz families, that matters.

At Rooster Homes, our work starts the same day you are ready to sell. Brandon S. Arlington holds the Certified Probate & Trust Specialist designation, and we work alongside the trust's attorney so the paperwork title needs is in order early. You receive a real, specific update after every showing and open house, and weekly updates through closing, which you can share with the beneficiaries.

If you have been named successor trustee for a home in Los Feliz or nearby and are not sure where to begin, we are glad to walk you through it. Start a confidential conversation whenever you are ready.