Successor trustee duties: what to do after the person who made the trust dies

General information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Last reviewed Oct 31, 2026.

Quick answerWhen the person who created a living trust dies, the successor trustee named in the trust takes over. Your first jobs are to find the trust and every amendment, get certified death certificates, read the trust closely, get the trust its own tax ID number (EIN) from the IRS, and tell the beneficiaries. In New Hampshire, California, Florida and Ohio the law sets a 60-day deadline for that first notice. Then you take control of trust assets, pay valid debts and taxes, keep careful records, report to the beneficiaries and distribute what’s left as the trust says.

Step by step

Find the documents: the signed trust, all amendments or restatements, the pour-over will if there is one, deeds and account statements.
Order certified death certificates. Banks and brokerages will each want proof. See death certificates for estate matters.
Read the trust for who the beneficiaries are, whether shares go out now or stay in trust, and what powers and pay it gives the trustee.
Get an EIN for the trust and open a separate trust account. Don’t mix trust money with your own.
Tell the IRS you are acting as a fiduciary (Form 56).
Send the required notices to beneficiaries by your state’s deadline (table below).
List and value the trust assets. Anything not titled in the trust may have to go through probate instead. See when you need probate.
Show institutions your authority with a certification of trust instead of handing over the whole trust.
Pay valid bills and taxes, including the person’s final tax return and any trust income tax return.
Keep records and report to beneficiaries, then distribute and close the trust.

Federal tax stepsFederal law

The IRS issues EINs free online, and you generally need one to administer certain trusts and estates.
Form 56 notifies the IRS that a fiduciary relationship has started or ended.
Form 1041 is the income tax return the fiduciary of an estate or trust files to report its income, deductions, gains and losses. For calendar-year estates and trusts it’s due April 15 of the following year.

EINs are free from the IRS online; needed to administer certain trusts and estates. Source: IRS – Get an employer identification number, checked Oct 31, 2026.
Form 56 notifies the IRS of the creation or termination of a fiduciary relationship. Source: IRS – About Form 56, checked Oct 31, 2026.
Who files Form 1041 and what it reports. Source: IRS – About Form 1041, checked Oct 31, 2026.
April 15 deadline for calendar-year estates and trusts. Source: IRS – File an estate tax income tax return, checked Oct 31, 2026.

Notice and reporting rules in our pilot statesState law

State	First notice to beneficiaries	Ongoing reports
New Hampshire	Within 60 days after accepting the trusteeship or the death of the last surviving settlor, notify qualified beneficiaries age 21 and older of your acceptance and your name, address and phone. Within 60 days after learning the trust became irrevocable, was funded and the last settlor died, tell them the trust exists, that they can ask for a copy, and that they can get trustee’s reports.	A report at least once a year and at termination, listing trust property, liabilities, receipts, payments (including your pay) and asset values where feasible. Beneficiaries may waive reports.
California	Within 60 days after a revocable trust becomes irrevocable because of the settlor’s death, serve a “notification by trustee” on every beneficiary and every heir of the settlor. It must list the settlor, the trust date, each trustee’s contact details, the trust’s principal place of administration, and the right to a full copy of the trust, plus a bold warning that a contest must be brought within 120 days of service (or 60 days after a copy is delivered, if later). A settlor’s waiver of this notice is void.	Not covered in this guide.
Texas	See note below.	A beneficiary can make a written demand for an accounting. If the trustee doesn’t deliver it within 90 days, any beneficiary can sue to compel it, and the court may award attorney’s fees. A trustee doesn’t have to account more than once every 12 months unless a court orders it. The statement must list trust property, receipts and payments, assets, the cash balance and where it’s kept, and known liabilities.
Florida	Within 60 days after accepting, give qualified beneficiaries notice of the acceptance, the trustee’s full name and address, and that the fiduciary lawyer-client privilege applies. Within 60 days after learning the trust became irrevocable, notify them of the trust’s existence, the settlor, their right to a copy of the trust and to accountings, and the privilege.	A trust accounting at least yearly, at termination and on a change of trustee. A qualified beneficiary may waive it in writing.
Ohio	Within 60 days after accepting, notify current beneficiaries of the acceptance and your name, address and phone. Within 60 days after learning a revocable trust became irrevocable, tell them the trust exists, who the settlor was, and that they can ask for a copy and a trustee’s report. You may send a redacted copy unless the beneficiary asks for the whole document.	A report at least yearly and at termination, including your compensation and asset values where feasible. Beneficiaries may waive it.

NH notice deadlines, age 21, annual reports, waiver. Source: RSA 564-B:8-813, checked Oct 31, 2026.
Notification by trustee: who gets it, 60 days, contents, 120-day warning, waiver void. Source: Cal. Prob. Code § 16061.7, checked Oct 31, 2026.
Demand for accounting, 90 days, once per 12 months, contents. Source: Tex. Prop. Code §§ 113.151–113.152, checked Oct 31, 2026.
Notice within 60 days, accountings, written waiver. Source: Fla. Stat. § 736.0813, checked Oct 31, 2026.
Ohio notices, redacted copies, annual reports. Source: Ohio Rev. Code § 5808.13, checked Oct 31, 2026.

Not yet verified: whether Texas law requires a trustee to send beneficiaries an initial notice after the settlor’s death. We found the accounting-on-demand rule but not a notice deadline.

Proving your authority: certification of trustState law

Banks and title companies often ask for the trust. In each pilot state you can usually give them a shorter certification of trust instead, which doesn’t reveal who gets what.

New Hampshire, Florida and Ohio: the certification states that the trust exists and its date, the settlor, the current trustee and address, the trustee’s powers, whether it is revocable, and the co-trustees’ signing authority, and that the trust hasn’t been changed in a way that makes the statements wrong. New Hampshire adds the trust’s taxpayer ID number, and New Hampshire and Florida add how title to trust property is held. A recipient may ask for the excerpts that name you and give you the power to act. Someone who relies on it in good faith is protected. New Hampshire also has a recorded trustee’s certificate for selling real estate.
California and Texas: both recognize a certification of trust (California Probate Code § 18100.5, Texas Property Code § 114.086); their digital-assets laws accept it as proof of authority.

Contents of a certification, excerpts, reliance, recorded certificate for real estate. Source: RSA 564-B:10-1013, checked Oct 31, 2026.
Florida certification of trust. Source: Fla. Stat. § 736.1017, checked Oct 31, 2026.
Ohio certification of trust. Source: Ohio Rev. Code § 5810.13, checked Oct 31, 2026.
Refers to a certification of trust under § 18100.5. Source: Cal. Prob. Code §§ 878–879, checked Oct 31, 2026.
Refers to a certification of trust under Property Code § 114.086. Source: Tex. Estates Code § 2001.152, checked Oct 31, 2026.

Not yet verified: the full required contents of California and Texas certifications of trust.

Online accounts held in the trust: see digital assets after death.

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