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Disclaimer: This site provides general legal information and free self-help tools for South Carolina successor trustees. It does not create an attorney-client relationship.

Settle the TrustAnderson Law Firm
864-228-7808

For successor trustees in South Carolina

You were just named trustee. You do not have to guess what comes next.

Someone you love has died, and the trust names you to settle it. This free guide from Anderson Law Firm in Fountain Inn walks a successor trustee through the usual order of the work, in plain English.

Start the Trustee ManualUpload the trust

Three ways to begin

01

Start the Trustee Manual

Eleven phases, from death certificates to the final receipt. Check off steps as you go. They stay on this device.

Open the manual

02

Upload the trust

Add the agreement and any amendments. You get a structured reading aid aimed at a successor trustee. The file is not stored.

Upload a PDF

03

Ask Owliver Trust

Practical questions only. What an EIN is. What a certification of trust is. What usually comes before a distribution.

How it works

A path, not a statute book.

No account. No hourly clock on this site. The tools are free so you can see the shape of the job.

  1. 1

    Read the phase you are actually in

    You do not have to start at the funeral if the bank appointment is tomorrow.

  2. 2

    Check off what is done

    The list lives in this browser. Come back on the same device and it is still there.

  3. 3

    Ask Owliver Trust, or upload the trust

    Vocabulary and a structured summary. Neither one is advice about your family.

  4. 4

    Call when you want it handled

    Anderson Law Firm settles trusts for successor trustees who would rather not do it alone.

The manual

Eleven phases, start to finish.

See the whole path
  1. 1First daysThe first week is for protecting people and property, and for finding the papers. You do not have to understand the whole trust today.
  2. 2Accepting the trusteeshipYou can say yes, and you can say no. The trust names an order of successors for that reason. Decide on purpose.
  3. 3EIN and trust accountsAfter death, the trust needs its own taxpayer number. New accounts are opened in the trustee's name, for the trust, not in your personal name.
  4. 4Notifying beneficiariesSouth Carolina expects a new trustee of an irrevocable trust to tell the qualified beneficiaries that the trust exists and how to reach you.
  5. 5Inventory and valuationYou cannot settle what you have not listed. Values are as of the date of death, not as of the day you happen to open the mail.
  6. 6Real estate and retitlingThe deed controls the house, not a sentence in the trust that hoped the house was included. Read the recorded deed.
  7. 7Creditors and probateA trust does not erase the funeral bill, the last illness, or the credit cards. Pay attention to creditors before you pay beneficiaries.
  8. 8Tax returnsPlan on more than one return, and plan on a preparer who has filed a fiduciary return before. This manual cannot tell you what this family owes.
  9. 9AccountingsYou have to be able to show where every dollar went. A plain spreadsheet plus the bank statements is enough if it is complete.
  10. 10Red flags and disputesSome settlements should not be finished from a checklist. Pausing to hire a lawyer is part of doing the job, not a failure at it.
  11. 11Final distributionDistribution is the last step, not the first. Checks, deeds, and receipts come after the bills, the taxes, and a report the beneficiaries can read.

Questions

Before you start signing things.

Is this only for South Carolina?

Yes. Trust and probate rules differ by state. The Trustee Manual, the examples, and the statute notes are written for a revocable trust being settled in South Carolina after the settlor's death. If the decedent lived elsewhere, or the land is in another state, use this only as background and talk with a lawyer in the right place.

Does using this site make Anderson Law Firm my lawyer?

No. Reading the manual, chatting with Owliver Trust, uploading a trust, or sending the contact form does not create an attorney-client relationship. That relationship begins only when you and the firm sign an engagement agreement. Until then, do not send confidential information.

What does this cost?

The manual, the checklist, the chat, and the trust summary are free. They are a way to get oriented. If you hire Anderson Law Firm to administer or settle the trust, the firm will quote that work separately. Calling 864-228-7808 does not obligate you to hire anyone.

Will you store my trust agreement?

No. The PDF is read in memory to extract text and prepare a summary, then discarded. The site does not keep the file or the summary. The checklist and the chat acknowledgment live in your browser's local storage, on your device.

Can I upload a scanned PDF?

The summary tool reads selectable text. A scan that is only a photograph of the pages will be refused with a clear message. Print the trust to a text-based PDF from the drafting software, or ask the lawyer who prepared it for a digital copy.

All questions

The firm

Talk to a trust settlement attorney

If the house was never deeded in, a beneficiary is upset, or you simply do not want this job alone, call. The manual will still be here either way.

864-228-7808

302 N. Weston St., Fountain Inn, SC 29644

Do not send confidential information, account numbers, or the trust itself until Anderson Law Firm has agreed to represent you in a signed engagement agreement.

Preferred contact method