Что делать, если вас назначили управляющим в Огайо

Before you act: read, then decide

Read the trust instrument and every amendment before doing anything in the trustee's name. Acceptance may be by conduct — taking delivery of the property, exercising powers or performing duties — as well as by the instrument's method, and a designee who does nothing within a reasonable time after knowing of the designation is deemed to have rejected (R.C. 5807.01(A), (B)). A person designated as trustee may act to preserve the property without accepting, by sending a rejection within a reasonable time after acting (R.C. 5807.01(C)). On accepting, the trustee administers the trust in good faith, in accordance with its terms and purposes (R.C. 5808.01).

The two beginnings that matter, and what they ask of you

Ohio counts its two trustee notices from two days of your own. Within 60 days after accepting the trusteeship, the trustee notifies the current beneficiaries of the acceptance and of the trustee's name, address and telephone number (R.C. 5808.13(B)(2)). Within 60 days after the date the trustee acquires knowledge that a formerly revocable trust has become irrevocable — the settlor's death, for most living trusts — or of the creation of an irrevocable trust, the trustee notifies them of the trust's existence, the settlor's identity, the right to request a copy of the instrument and the right to a trustee's report (R.C. 5808.13(B)(3)). Record the date you accepted and the date you learned of the death; the notices run from them, not from the death itself. The trustee's report follows at least annually (R.C. 5808.13(C)).

The documents to find in the first week

The trust instrument and every amendment or restatement; the death certificate; the deeds and any recorded memorandum of trust (R.C. 5301.255); the account statements and the beneficiary designations; the will, which may have been deposited with the probate court (R.C. 2107.07); any power of attorney, which ended at the principal's death (R.C. 1337.30(A)(1)); and any writing naming a beneficiary surrogate, which only the instrument can do (R.C. 5801.04(C)).

Assets by how they are titled

A trust governs what is titled to the trustee. Property in the decedent's own name passes by will or intestacy through the probate court (R.C. 2101.24, 2105.06); real property under a recorded transfer on death designation affidavit passes to the named beneficiaries (R.C. 5302.22); accounts and policies payable to a named beneficiary pass by designation, and a designation naming a trustee passes to the trustee serving at the time (R.C. 5810.14); life insurance proceeds held for a spouse, children or dependents are free from the insured's creditors (R.C. 3911.10). List each asset with its title, its value at the death and where the records are; a certification of trust (R.C. 5810.13) is what a custodian asks for before retitling.

The beneficiaries, and what they are owed

The current beneficiaries — the distributees and permissible distributees of income or principal on the date of determination (R.C. 5801.01(F)) — receive the two notices and the report; the qualified beneficiaries, who add the next in line (R.C. 5801.01(Q)), receive a resignation notice (R.C. 5807.05) and notice before an uneconomic trust is terminated (R.C. 5804.14). A beneficiary who requests it receives a copy of the instrument — redacted to the provisions relevant to that beneficiary's interest unless the whole is expressly requested (R.C. 5808.13(B)(1)) — and prompt responses to requests for information (R.C. 5808.13(A)). A minor's or an incapacitated beneficiary's notice may go to a person who may represent and bind that beneficiary (R.C. 5803.03). List every beneficiary the instrument names and note your own answer, for each, to whether that person is a current beneficiary today; the question is one a licensed Ohio attorney of your choosing answers.

Сроки попечителя в Огайо: что предусматривают законы

Сверено с законами Огайо 2026-10-15. Общая информация, не юридическая консультация; официальный текст имеет приоритет.

The estate, the creditors, and the reserve

Where an estate is opened, the executor or administrator files the inventory within three months of appointment (R.C. 2115.02); every creditor presents its claim within six months of the death, whether or not an estate is opened, or is barred (R.C. 2117.06); the Medicaid estate recovery notice goes to the program within thirty days of the letters where the decedent or the decedent's spouse received Medicaid (R.C. 2117.061); and the surviving spouse elects within five months of the initial appointment (R.C. 2106.01). The trust code has no clause making the trust answer for the deceased settlor's debts (R.C. 5805.06); a reasonable reserve for debts, expenses and taxes may be retained on a termination (R.C. 5808.17(B)). A contest of the trust is commenced within two years of the death, or six months from a notice with the instrument (R.C. 5806.04).

Money, taxes, and the record from day one

Keep the trust's money separate from your own, in accounts titled to you as trustee (R.C. 5808.10; R.C. 5810.14). Keep adequate records: every receipt, every disbursement and every asset's value is what the trustee's report draws on (R.C. 5808.13(C)). The trust's Ohio income tax return is filed by its fiduciary on or before April 15 (R.C. 5747.08); Ohio levies no estate tax on a death on or after January 1, 2013 (R.C. 5731.02); the federal returns have their own dates. Record your compensation's basis, and notify the current beneficiaries before changing its method or rate (R.C. 5807.08; R.C. 5808.13(B)(4)).

The checklist, printable

The steps above, as a list to print and keep with the record.

• Read the trust instrument and every amendment; decide whether to accept (R.C. 5807.01).
• Record the date of death, the date you accepted, and the date you learned the trust was irrevocable.
• Within 60 days of accepting: notify the current beneficiaries of the acceptance and your name, address and telephone number (R.C. 5808.13(B)(2)).
• Within 60 days of learning the trust is irrevocable: notify the current beneficiaries of its existence, the settlor, the right to a copy of the instrument and the right to a report (R.C. 5808.13(B)(3)).
• Record how and when each notice was sent, and to whom (R.C. 5801.08).
• Gather the instrument, the death certificate, the deeds, the statements, the designations and the will.
• List every asset by how it is titled and its value at the death; take control of and protect the property (R.C. 5808.09).
• Open trust accounts in the trustee's name; keep trust property separate (R.C. 5808.10).
• Review the assets within a reasonable time under the prudent investor rule (R.C. 5809.04).
• Identify the current beneficiaries and anyone who may receive notice for a beneficiary; note your own answers.
• Record the estate's clocks — the inventory, the six-month claims period, the Medicaid notice, the spouse's election.
• Keep the ledger current for the trustee's report, at least annually and at termination (R.C. 5808.13(C)).
• Before any distribution, sale, payment to yourself or related-party transaction, pause and consider a licensed Ohio attorney of your choosing.

What to avoid in the first months

Distributing before the facts, the claims and the contest period are known — a distribution may have to be returned (R.C. 5806.04(C)). Transactions with yourself, your spouse, your relatives, your agent or your own business, which the duty of loyalty presumes conflicted (R.C. 5808.02(C)). Commingling trust money with your own (R.C. 5808.10(B)). Changing your compensation without advance notice to the current beneficiaries (R.C. 5808.13(B)(4)). Letting a beneficiary's request for information or for the instrument go unanswered (R.C. 5808.13(A), (B)(1)). Signing a contract without the words "as trustee" after your name (R.C. 5810.10(A)).

When a licensed Ohio attorney is the right next call

Whether to accept, who the current beneficiaries are, whether the instrument names a surrogate or varies a default, whether a creditor's claim reaches the trust, and whether a distribution is protected are questions a licensed Ohio attorney of your choosing answers from the instrument and the facts. TrusteeClear organizes the record, shows the clocks from your dates and prepares the notices and the certification from your entries; it decides nothing.