How does a trustee sell the property held by the trust?
Full Question:
Answer:
It's not clear from your question whether you are asking about a living trust or a trust created upon the death of the trustor. If it is the later, the answer will depend on whether or not has probated the estate.
In order to handle the estate of a deceased person, a petition must be filed in the local probate court where that person resided. The petition would request in part to be appointed as the representative of the estate. Once appointed by the court, the adminstrator/representative would have authority to deal with the assets/debts of the deceased. It is not up to individuals/parents to administer an estate on their own.
When a person dies, their assets are distributed in the probate process. If a person dies with a will, a petition to probate the will is filed with the probate court in the county where the deceased resided at the time of death, asking for letters testamentary to be issued, giving the executor authority to handle the estate affairs. If a person dies with a valid will, an executor is named to handle the distribution of the estate. If the person dies without a valid will, the court appoints an administrator to distribute the decedent's assets according to the state's laws of intestacy. The court will issue letters of administration, also called letters testamentary, to the administrator, giving the authority to handle the affairs of the deceased. An heirship affidavit may also be used to conduct estate affairs when a small estate is involved. In cases where the decedent didn't own property valued at more than a certain amount, which varies by state, the estate may go through a small estate administration process, rather than the formal probate process.
If small estate procedures may be used, an affidavit may be used to distribute the assets of the deceased in a summary process. If the estate doesn't qualify as a small estate, it may be necessary to have the estate probated and receive letters testamentary. The court will issue testamentary letters to the executor or administrator, giving the authority to handle the affairs of the deceased.
To dispose of the real property interests of the decedent, the executor executes an executor's deed or fiduciary deed. For example, if a person who is a joint tenant dies, the executor of the estate can execute a fiduciary deed transferring their interest to the remaining joint tenants, or other person entitled to receive the interest under the will.
If the trustor is still alive under a living trust, the trustee may transfer assets of the trust by deed. Although typically a living trust has the grantor/trustor as the trustee also.
After creating the living trust, the grantor transfers personal assets into it, which is referred to as funding the trust. To transfer real estate into the living trust, a real property deed naming the living trust as grantee is executed and recorded. Bank accounts, retirement accounts and life insurance policies can be transferred as well. The grantor, as trustee of the living trust, then manages trust assets for his or her personal benefit as well as the benefit of the beneficiaries. Though the living trust is also managed for the benefit of beneficiaries, a trust beneficiary receives nothing until after the grantor’s death. Upon the grantor’s death, the successor trustee becomes acting trustee and passes Arkansas living trust property to the beneficiaries without need of probate.
Typically a quitclaim deed is used to transfer property to the trust and then the trust can executed a fiduciary or trustee deed to transfer property out of the trust.