Responsibilities of Successor Trustee/Beneficiary

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Question:

Once a trustee dies what is the responsibility of the Successor Trustee. Can the successor trustee keep the funds in the same trust or do they need to get their own trust drawn up. The successor is also the beneficiary of the trust.

Answer:

A successor trustee has the same responsibility as the original trustee. They must abide by the existing trust agreement (whatever that might be) and doing anything that is not allowed within that agreement is a breach of their fiduciary responsibilities. Trustees come and go, the trust itself goes on.