This guide is intended to give individuals a working knowledge of what is involved in settling an estate and managing a trust. Its purpose is to assist executors and trustees who find themselves in these roles and those who simply want to oversee the process. The chapters in this book will take you through the entire estate settlement process and describe in some detail what your responsibilities will be when managing a trust. Both the estate settlement and trust administration processes follow a logical order and that is how this guide has been formatted. You should not skip any of the chapters or sections as you go through the text. To do so might cause you to leave out an important step or responsibility that relates to another part of the process.
The first two chapters deal with basic definitions and the standards of care that apply to all executors and trustees. These are important topics and you should cover them thoroughly before proceeding to the other chapters. Most of the chapters have checklists, which can be used as a quick review of the material covered in the chapter and to assist you with your administration. As you go through this guide it might also be helpful to refer to the Estate Administration Checklist and/or the Trust Administration Checklist located in Appendix A & B respectively to make sure you have covered all of the items that come into play when you administer an estate or trust.