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Frost Law GroupSummerville, SC(843) 419-6653
Probate · Summerville, SC

Trust Administration and Inherited Assets in Summerville, SC

A trust avoids probate, but it does not administer itself. What a successor trustee must do, and how beneficiaries make sure it is done.

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Who can assist with managing inherited assets in Summerville, SC?

Frost Law Group advises successor trustees on administering a trust after a death—notices, inventories, taxes, distributions and accountings under the South Carolina Trust Code—and helps beneficiaries manage or protect what they inherit, including inherited retirement accounts and real estate.

The successor trustee's job

  1. Accept the role and get the paperwork. A certification of trust, the death certificate and a tax ID for the now-irrevocable trust let you deal with banks and brokerages.
  2. Notify beneficiaries. South Carolina's Trust Code (S.C. Code § 62-7-813) requires the trustee to keep qualified beneficiaries reasonably informed—including notice of the trust's existence, the trustee's contact information and the right to a copy of the trust.
  3. Inventory and value. Everything the trust owns, at date-of-death value, which also sets the new income-tax basis for most assets.
  4. Pay and file. Final expenses, valid debts, and the decedent's and trust's tax returns.
  5. Distribute per the document. Outright shares, continuing trusts for young or vulnerable beneficiaries, or a marital trust—exactly as written, with receipts.
  6. Account. Beneficiaries are entitled to a report of the trust's assets, liabilities, receipts and disbursements at least annually and at termination.

Managing what you inherit

  • Inherited retirement accounts follow strict federal timing rules; most non-spouse beneficiaries must empty the account within ten years. The election you make in the first year matters.
  • Inherited real estate usually receives a stepped-up basis; keep the appraisal. Decide early whether to keep, rent or sell, and who pays carrying costs meanwhile.
  • A continuing trust for you means a trustee decides distributions; you have rights to information and to ask the court if the trustee is unreasonable.
  • Inheritance and your own plan. A large inheritance is the moment to review your own will, beneficiary designations and asset-protection planning.

When trusts go wrong

A trustee who will not communicate, mixes trust money with their own, favors one beneficiary, or simply does nothing can be compelled to act or removed by the probate court. We represent beneficiaries in those petitions and trustees who need to respond to them.

Just became a trustee—or a beneficiary?

Bring the trust and the account statements. We will give you the checklist and the deadlines.

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Questions people ask

Does a trust go through probate?

No, if it was funded. Assets left outside the trust in the decedent's name may still require probate or a small estate affidavit.

Can a trustee be paid?

Yes, reasonable compensation as the trust provides or the Trust Code allows, and reimbursement of expenses.

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