What happens when a Trustee is deceased?
If you are a co-trustee, or if you are a successor trustee and all trustees are deceased, you should do the following: • Review the trust document to determine what provisions are in place for asset disposition, and provide us with the trust documentation supporting this. • Provide optionsXpress with an original Certified copy of the Death Certificate. • If a successor trustee is named in the trust and wishes to maintain the account, please update the existing account by providing optionsXpress with a new signed application and documents supporting the successor trustee’s authority. • Open a new account based on the language of the trust document. • If the language of the trust allows the trust to continue so long as a co-trustee is living, then this step may be skipped. • Provide optionsXpress with a Letter of Authorization instructing us to move the assets from the trust account to the newly established account, if a new account has been opened.
