Estate & probate
Trustee
A trustee is the person or institution that holds and manages the assets inside a trust, under a legal duty to act in the interests of the trust’s beneficiaries.
Also called successor trustee
For a revocable trust you are usually your own trustee while you are able, and the important appointment is the successor: the person who steps in when you cannot. That successor’s authority begins without a court, which is much of the point of having the trust.
A trustee’s duties are ongoing and real: managing investments prudently, keeping records, treating beneficiaries fairly where their interests conflict, and making distributions according to terms someone else wrote. It is a job, and it is often a long one.
What it does not do
A trustee is not the same role as an executor, and appointing one does not remove the need for the other. The trustee handles what is inside the trust, the executor handles what is not. A trustee also cannot manage assets that were never funded into the trust.
This entry is a general explanation, not advice for your situation, and it deliberately avoids thresholds and figures, because those are the part most likely to be out of date. Reviewed August 27, 2026. If a decision turns on any of it, ring the office rather than relying on a page.
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