Most people agree to serve as a successor trustee without a clear picture of what the job actually involves. It sounds straightforward: step in when needed, distribute the assets, and wrap things up. In practice, the role carries significant fiduciary obligations under Washington law, and trustees who don’t understand those obligations can find themselves personally liable for mistakes made during administration.
If you’ve been named as a successor trustee in a Washington revocable trust, or if you’re in the process of naming one, understanding what the role requires is genuinely important.
The Fiduciary Standard That Governs Washington Trustees
Washington’s trust law is governed primarily by the Washington Trust Act, codified at RCW Chapter 11.98. Under that framework, a trustee is a fiduciary, meaning they’re required to act in the interests of the trust’s beneficiaries, not their own interests, at every stage of administration.
The fiduciary standard isn’t just a general principle. It translates into specific legal duties that Washington courts take seriously. Breaching those duties can result in personal liability to the trustee, even when they acted with good intentions.
The Duty of Loyalty
A trustee must administer the trust solely in the interests of the beneficiaries. Self-dealing is prohibited. That means a trustee can’t buy trust assets for themselves, lend trust funds to themselves or family members, or use their position to create personal financial advantage.
This sounds obvious, but it comes up more often than people expect. A successor trustee who is also a beneficiary occupies a position where personal interests and fiduciary obligations can conflict. Navigating that tension carefully, and documenting decisions clearly, is part of what responsible trusteeship looks like.
The Duty to Administer Prudently
Under Washington law, a trustee must manage trust assets with the same care and skill that a prudent person would exercise when managing assets for the benefit of others. If a trustee has special skills, like financial expertise or investment knowledge, they’re held to an even higher standard when those skills are relevant.
For most successor trustees managing a parent’s estate, this means making reasonable decisions about holding versus selling assets, maintaining adequate records, and not letting administration drag on indefinitely. It doesn’t require perfect investment performance, but it does require reasonable judgment and documented decision-making.
The Duty to Keep Beneficiaries Informed
Trustees have an affirmative obligation to keep beneficiaries reasonably informed about the trust and its administration. Under RCW 11.98.078, this includes providing beneficiaries with a copy of the trust document upon request and reporting on the trust’s assets, liabilities, and transactions at regular intervals.
Many trustee disputes arise not from financial mismanagement but from poor communication. Beneficiaries who feel kept in the dark become suspicious, and suspicious beneficiaries hire attorneys. Regular, clear, written communication prevents most of those situations from escalating.
The Duty to Account
Related to the communication obligation is the duty to account. A trustee should maintain accurate records of all transactions involving trust assets: income received, expenses paid, assets bought or sold, and distributions made. Those records need to be preserved and made available to beneficiaries on request.
A Renton revocable trust lawyer can provide guidance on what adequate accounting looks like and help new trustees set up a record-keeping system from the start rather than trying to reconstruct records later.
The Duty to Administer Impartially
When a trust has multiple beneficiaries with different interests, the trustee must act impartially. A common scenario involves a surviving spouse who benefits from trust income during their lifetime, with adult children from a prior marriage set to receive the remainder. The trustee’s investment decisions affect both groups differently, and Washington law requires that neither group’s interests be systematically favored at the expense of the other.
This duty can create real tension, particularly in family situations where the trustee is also a beneficiary or has closer relationships with some beneficiaries than others. Recognizing that tension and addressing it transparently is part of responsible administration.
What Happens When a Trustee Makes Mistakes
A trustee who breaches a fiduciary duty can be removed by a Washington court on petition by a beneficiary. They can also be held personally liable for damages caused by the breach, including any financial loss the trust suffered as a result of their actions or inaction.
Courts don’t require bad intent to find a breach. Negligence is enough in many situations. A trustee who simply didn’t know what they were supposed to do isn’t automatically excused.
Eastside Estate Planning works with both grantors who are naming trustees and successor trustees who need guidance stepping into the role. If you’ve been named as a trustee in a Washington revocable trust and want to understand what your obligations actually look like, reach out to a Renton revocable trust lawyer to make sure you’re starting the administration process on solid footing.
