Patrick Hartford

Many people consider it an honour to be the estate trustee for a friend or family member - a privilege reserved for a special, trusted person. But being an estate trustee isn't easy. It's a massive time-consuming responsibility that should not be taken on lightly.

Estate trustees have an ongoing fiduciary obligation to pay all estate debts in full, which means that trustees handling insolvent or bankrupt estates must be extra cautious when administering the estate.

It's always a good idea for an estate trustee to retain a lawyer. Estates and trust litigation is a complex area of law, and making mistakes can mean personal liability.

The estate trustee is the person who is primarily responsible for the administration of the estate. They have a fiduciary duty to hold the estate in trust for the beneficiaries unless a contrary intention is expressly provided in the will.

If you’re an estate trustee then you should advertise for creditors to protect yourself from personal liability.

If you draft wills for clients, you need to know if someone is looking for one of the wills stored in your vault.

This one-year period starts after the estate trustee obtains a “Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee” from Superior Court, which formally names them as the estate trustee for the estate in question.

Administering an estate is no easy feat. Depending on the size and complexity of the estate, the duties and responsibilities of the estate trustee will vary.