A trustee is the person or institution legally responsible for holding, managing, and distributing the assets you place in a trust — and under New York law, a trustee owes the beneficiaries the highest standard of conduct the law recognizes, known as a fiduciary duty. In plain terms, a trustee must follow the trust’s instructions, invest prudently, treat beneficiaries with
The single most important difference between a trust and a will in New York is what happens at death: a trust generally avoids probate and keeps your affairs private, while a will must be filed and probated in the Surrogate’s Court, where it becomes a public record. A will only takes effect after you die and only after a judge
When the person who created a trust dies, the trust does not simply end — it enters a phase called trust administration, in which the successor trustee steps in, marshals the assets, settles debts and taxes, and distributes property to the beneficiaries according to the trust’s terms. In New York, this process is governed by the Estates, Powers and Trusts
To choose a trustee for your New York trust, select a person or institution who is trustworthy, financially competent, impartial, and willing to serve — someone who can faithfully carry out the fiduciary duties imposed by New York’s Estates, Powers and Trusts Law (EPTL), including the prudent-investor standard, the duty of loyalty, and the duty to account to your beneficiaries.
Yes — a properly structured irrevocable trust can save New York estate tax, because assets you transfer into it are generally removed from your taxable estate. That is the critical difference between the two main planning vehicles in New York: a revocable living trust keeps your assets fully within your control and therefore fully inside your taxable estate, while an
Yes — despite its name, an irrevocable trust in New York is not always set in stone. While the general rule under the New York Estates, Powers and Trusts Law (EPTL) Article 7 is that an irrevocable trust cannot simply be amended or revoked at will, New York gives families several controlled paths to modify one: decanting (pouring assets from
How New York families use trusts for foreign assets, why immigration status matters, and when to call a separate immigration attorney. Compare the options.