Trustee Manual · Phase 2 of 11
Accepting the trusteeship
You can say yes, and you can say no. The trust names an order of successors for that reason. Decide on purpose.
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Read who is supposed to serve
Find the article that names the initial trustee and the successors. Note conditions such as "if willing and able," a requirement that a bank serve, or a co-trustee. The person who is trustee today depends on facts the document may not recite: whether earlier successors have died, resigned, or declined, and whether anyone was removed.
If two people are named to serve together, assume you must act together until the document clearly says one may act alone. Do not let a sibling "just handle the bank" while your name is also on the page.
Accepting, or declining, in a way other people can follow
South Carolina law generally treats you as having accepted if you follow the method the trust describes, or if the trust is silent, if you accept the property, exercise powers, or otherwise show that you accept. If you do nothing for a reasonable time after you know you were named, you can be treated as having declined. The statute does not give that time as a fixed number of days.
If you decline, do it in writing, date it, and deliver it so the next person knows the job has moved. Do not leave the family guessing while the mortgage payment comes due. If you need a short time to decide, say that in writing and keep preserving property while you decide.
Bond, pay, and the power to resign later
Many revocable trusts say the trustee serves without bond. A waiver is common and is generally respected. A court can still require a bond when the circumstances call for one. If the trust is silent, that is a question for a lawyer.
Also mark the sections on compensation, resignation, and removal. You will want them later, when someone asks what you are allowed to pay yourself or how you step down. You do not have to decide compensation this week.
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Note any co-trustee and any condition on serving.