The successor trustee must follow the directions given by the Grantor/Settlor/Donor in the trust.  The process of following the instructions of the trust while giving due consideration to property, trust, and tax laws, is called trust administration.

In order for a trust to work, legal title to property must be held by the Trustee.  During life, people with revocable living trusts act as their own trustee.  When they die, a new successor trustee who is named in the trust document steps in to take care of the property and follow the terms of the trust document.

Trust administration is often substantially easier and less expensive than probate (which is a court process for transferring a deceased persons assets, paying their bills and debts, and wrapping up their affairs).  Nevertheless, there is often a list of tasks a successor trustee must complete, and a new trustee often has many questions about the law and the process involved in order to distribute the trust property to the beneficiaries.

What a trustee specifically needs to do can vary significantly depending on the circumstances.  Some cases will be simple and straightforward.  Others will be more complicated.  How complicated a case will be may depend on many of factors such as the number of assets held in the trust, the types and nature of assets held in the trust (e,g,, residential or commercial real estate, stocks, bonds, bank accounts, private investments), the value of the assets in the trust, the number of beneficiaries (family members, non-family members, charities, etc.), and whether there are any outstanding legal issues for the trustee to address (for example, does someone claim the Grantor/Settlor/Donor owes them money? Does a beneficiary contest the validity of the trust? Has a beneficiary predeceased?).