All Practice Areas

Trust Administration

Guzman Law Group provides individualized attention to a new trustee in the performance of his or her duties. A trustee is in a position of sudden responsibility and accountability to the beneficiaries.

Guzman Law Group assists a trustee or executor in creating the very transparency that the beneficiaries seek in understanding the value of the trust assets and how and when they will be distributed. We assist with annual accounting, fiduciary tax returns, and reports to beneficiaries.

In administering the trust, we often facilitate in the liquidation of trust assets, including complex assets such as commercial and rental properties, business interests, and second homes. During the trust administration, we advise the trustee on in-kind distributions and assist in facilitating buyout agreements between beneficiaries.

Sub-Trust Funding

Upon the death of a spouse, the surviving spouse is left with the decisions as the sole surviving trustee. We personally assist a surviving spouse in the administration of the trust, with a focus on subtrust allocation to best preserve the trust assets and utilize the maximum tax incentives.

Trust Litigation

Disagreements often arise during the administration of a trust. Conflict arises when there is disagreement between a trustee and a beneficiary, amongst co-trustees, or amongst beneficiaries. We understand that any such conflict can be extremely damaging to personal relationships with family members or close friends. Guzman Law Group knows how to navigate the delicate nature of these matters and, when appropriate, resolve them through mediation, or other forms of alternative dispute resolution. In representing a trustee, we sometimes have to seek supervision or instruction from the courts to insure the trustee’s exposure to liability is limited. Alternatively, in representing a beneficiary, we will seek the courts’ intervention in matters of the trustee’s breach of a fiduciary duty.