Trustee Advisory Support
Ongoing counsel for the person administering the trust: interpreting the terms, sequencing the transfers, and documenting every decision so the trustee is protected.
Trust Administration
You were named trustee. Now what?
Administering a trust is a legal responsibility, not just paperwork. We give Ohio trustees the advisory support to do it correctly, and we keep the underlying estate plan current as the family changes.
The Trustee's Role
A trust does not administer itself.
When the person who created a trust dies or can no longer act, the successor trustee steps in. That role comes with real duties owed to every beneficiary, and most people are handed it with no training and no warning.
A trustee holds property that belongs to someone else and has to manage it under the terms of the document, not under their own judgment about what would be fairer. Ohio law calls that a fiduciary duty, and it is enforceable by the beneficiaries.
The work itself is rarely dramatic. It is a sequence of steps that has to be done in the right order and documented as you go:
- Read the trust and know your authority. What the document allows is the whole job description.
- Notify the beneficiaries and keep them reasonably informed as the administration moves.
- Inventory and value what the trust actually holds, including anything that was never properly transferred in.
- Retitle and transfer assets into the trust's name, or out to beneficiaries, in the form the trust requires.
- Coordinate the tax filings with the family's accountant so nothing is missed or filed twice.
- Keep records. Clean accounting is what protects a trustee if a beneficiary later questions a decision.
Advisory Support
You stay the trustee. We stay your counsel.
We do not take over the role, and we do not represent families in probate court. We advise the trustee so the administration holds up.
Most trustees do not need someone to do the work for them. They need to know what the document actually requires, what order to do it in, and where the personal risk sits. That is the service.
Engagements run on a flat fee agreed before anything starts, so calling with a question never costs you anything extra.
- A written read of the trust in plain English, including what discretion you do and do not have
- A step-by-step administration plan with the documents each step needs
- Review of transfers, deeds, and beneficiary designations before they are signed
- A named attorney to call when a beneficiary pushes back or a decision is not obvious
What We Handle
Three ways we support an existing plan.
Trust administration rarely arrives alone. Once a family is in the document, the next questions are usually about who comes after, and what needs to change.
Succession Planning
Who serves as trustee when the current one cannot, and how assets move to the next generation. We name successors, set the conditions, and remove the ambiguity that turns into a family argument.
Amendments to Estate Plans
Life moves. We amend or restate an existing trust, update powers of attorney, and refresh beneficiary designations so the plan still says what you mean.
“A trustee is holding someone else's money and someone else's expectations. Our job is to make sure they never have to guess.”
Wills & Trusts
The foundation: a will that directs your wishes and a living trust that keeps your family out of probate court.
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Living Trusts
A revocable living trust that keeps your estate out of probate, private, and under your control while you're alive.
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Powers of Attorney
Name who can act on your behalf (financial and healthcare) if you can't speak for yourself.
Learn moreLiving Wills & Advance Directives
Your wishes on life-sustaining treatment, in writing, paired with a healthcare power of attorney so your family never has to guess.
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Advanced Trust Planning
Tailored trusts for minors, special-needs heirs, blended families, and staged distributions over time.
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Dynasty Trusts & DAPTs
Permanent protection for real estate, investments, and business, shielded from taxes, creditors, and probate.
Learn moreIrrevocable & Asset Protection Trusts
Irrevocable structures (including the Ohio Legacy Trust) that put wealth beyond the reach of future lawsuits and creditors.
Learn moreCommon Questions
Trust administration questions, answered plainly.
Read the trust before you move a single asset, and do not distribute anything until you know what the document allows. Then gather the death certificate, the trust and any amendments, and a list of accounts and property. We can review all of it and give you a written administration plan before you take your first step.
No. Costaras Law is a transactional firm and does not handle litigation or contested court matters. We advise trustees on the administration itself, and if a dispute becomes contentious we refer you to a litigator we trust.
A revocable trust can be amended or fully restated while the person who created it is alive and has capacity. An irrevocable trust is harder to change, though Ohio law offers routes in some circumstances. Either way, the fix is a drafted document, not a note in the file.
After any major life event (a marriage or divorce, a birth or a death, a move to another state, a sale or purchase of a business or property), and every few years otherwise. Most plans do not fail because they were drafted badly. They fail because nothing was updated after the family changed.
You get a flat-fee proposal in writing before any work begins, scoped to what the administration actually needs. No hourly clock, and no charge for the introduction call.