When a Michigan parent passes away with both a trust and a will, someone has to step up and manage the aftermath. Often, that someone is the same person, an adult child named as both successor trustee of the parent’s trust and personal representative (executor) of the parent’s probate estate.

Most people assume these are basically the same job. They’re not. A trustee and a personal representative operate under different legal frameworks, different sources of authority, different reporting obligations, and different liability exposures. Getting one role right while mishandling the other can, and regularly does, create personal financial liability for the person serving.

The trustee’s authority comes from the trust document and Michigan’s Trust Code (MCL 700.7101 et seq.). The personal representative’s authority comes from a court appointment under Michigan’s Estates and Protected Individuals Code (MCL 700.3101 et seq.). Different statutes. Different duties. Different deadlines. Different consequences for mistakes.

For families across Macomb County, Oakland County, and Wayne County, understanding the distinction between these roles isn’t an academic exercise, it’s the difference between a smooth administration and an expensive, adversarial mess. Whether you’ve been named to one role or both, knowing exactly what you signed up for is where competent administration begins.

Appointment and Authority: Where Each Role Gets Its Power

The Trustee’s Authority

A trustee’s power comes from the trust document itself, not from any court. When the settlor (trust creator) dies, the revocable trust becomes irrevocable, and the successor trustee named in the document steps into authority. No court petition is required. No judge needs to approve the appointment. No letters of authority are issued.

The trustee’s powers and limitations are defined by two sources working together. Under MCL 700.7105, the terms of the trust generally prevail over the default statutory provisions, meaning the trust document is the primary source of the trustee’s authority and limitations. Where the trust is silent, Michigan’s Trust Code fills the gaps.

Those default powers are substantial. Under MCL 700.7816, a trustee may exercise all powers conferred by the trust terms, plus, unless the trust limits them – all powers over trust property that an unmarried competent owner has over individually owned property, and any other powers appropriate to achieve proper investment, management, and distribution. MCL 700.7817 further enumerates specific powers including the authority to sell, lease, invest, borrow, employ professionals, settle claims, continue business operations, and make distributions in cash or in kind.

However, certain statutory duties cannot be overridden by trust terms – no matter what the document says. Under MCL 700.7105(2), mandatory provisions include the duty to administer in good faith under MCL 700.7801, the obligation to notify qualified beneficiaries and provide information under MCL 700.7814, and the court’s power to adjust unreasonable trustee compensation. These are the non-negotiable floor of trustee obligations that protect beneficiaries regardless of what the settlor drafted.

This means the trustee can begin acting immediately upon the settlor’s death. There’s no waiting period, no court filing, and no public proceeding. The trade-off is that the trustee operates with less court oversight – which means more autonomy but also more personal exposure if something goes wrong.

The Personal Representative’s Authority

A personal representative’s power comes from the probate court. Under Michigan’s EPIC, the personal representative is appointed through either informal or formal probate proceedings. The court issues letters of authority – the legal document that gives the personal representative power to act on behalf of the estate.

Until those letters are issued, the personal representative has no legal authority to access bank accounts, sell property, pay debts, or take any official action on behalf of the estate. This is a critical distinction from the trustee role: the personal representative cannot act until the court says so.

The personal representative’s authority is also subject to the type of administration. In unsupervised estates, the personal representative has broad powers under MCL 700.3715 – though some counties, including Macomb County, require court approval for real estate sales even in unsupervised estates. In supervised estates under MCL 700.3501, the court must approve major transactions before the personal representative can proceed.

The key difference: a trustee’s authority is private and immediate. A personal representative’s authority is court-granted and public. Both carry fiduciary obligations, but the mechanisms are fundamentally different.

Core Duties and Timelines: What Each Role Requires

Trustee’s Core Duties

The successor trustee’s obligations begin the moment the trust becomes irrevocable. Under Michigan’s Trust Code, these include:

• 63-day beneficiary notification. Under MCL 700.7814(2)(b) and (c), the trustee must notify all qualified trust beneficiaries within 63 days of accepting trusteeship – informing them of the trust’s existence, the trustee’s identity and contact information, and their right to request trust terms. This obligation cannot be waived or eliminated by the trust document – it’s one of the mandatory provisions under MCL 700.7105(2)(j). It is one of the most commonly missed deadlines in Michigan trust administration.

• Duty to administer in good faith. Under MCL 700.7801, the trustee must administer the trust in good faith, expeditiously, in accordance with its terms and purposes, and for the benefit of the trust beneficiaries. This is another mandatory duty that trust terms cannot override.

• Prudent investment. Under MCL 700.7803, the trustee must act as a prudent person in dealing with trust property, following the standards of the Michigan prudent investor rule. If the trustee has special skills or was selected based on claimed expertise, they are held to a higher standard. This means you can’t leave assets sitting in a non-interest-bearing account for months, and you can’t take speculative risks with trust funds.

• Duty of loyalty and impartiality. Under MCL 700.7802, the trustee must administer the trust solely in the beneficiaries’ interests. Self-dealing transactions – those where the trustee has a personal financial interest – are presumptively voidable and can be challenged by affected beneficiaries. The statute specifically presumes a conflict of interest in transactions between the trustee and the trustee’s spouse, descendants, siblings, parents, agents, or attorneys.

• Recordkeeping and separation of assets. Under MCL 700.7811, the trustee must keep adequate records and keep trust property separate from the trustee’s own property – commingling is a direct statutory violation.

• Follow the trust terms. While the Trust Code provides the floor, the trustee is primarily bound by the trust document’s specific instructions regarding distributions, asset management, and administration. Under MCL 700.7105(1), the trust terms generally prevail over default statutory provisions.

Personal Representative’s Core Duties

The personal representative’s obligations follow a more structured, court-driven timeline:

• Open the estate promptly. File the appropriate petition (informal or formal) in the county where the decedent was domiciled and obtain letters of authority.

• Inventory and safeguard assets. Create a comprehensive inventory of all probate assets – property, accounts, vehicles, personal property, business interests – and take steps to preserve their value.

• Creditor notice and claims. Publish notice to creditors and serve known creditors directly. Under MCL 700.3801, creditors generally have four months from the date of published notice to file claims. The personal representative must evaluate and pay valid claims according to the statutory priority established in Michigan law.

• Tax filings. Ensure the decedent’s final Form 1040 is filed, determine whether a federal estate tax return (Form 706) is required, and file any necessary fiduciary income tax returns.

• Distribute and close. After the creditor period expires and all obligations are met, distribute remaining assets to beneficiaries according to the will (or the intestacy statute if there’s no will) and file the necessary closing documents with the court.

Accountings and Reporting: Different Standards, Different Audiences

Trustee Reporting

Under MCL 700.7814(3), the trustee must send at least annually to distributees and permissible distributees of trust income or principal, and to other beneficiaries who request it, a report of trust property, liabilities, receipts, and disbursements, including the source and amount of the trustee’s compensation and a listing of trust property with market values where feasible.

Beneficiaries can waive this reporting requirement under MCL 700.7814(5), and can later withdraw a previously given waiver. But the trustee’s baseline duty to keep beneficiaries reasonably informed about the administration and material facts necessary to protect their interests under MCL 700.7814(1) remains even when annual reports are waived.

The trustee’s reporting is primarily to the beneficiaries – not to a court. This means there’s no judge reviewing the numbers unless a beneficiary files a petition challenging the trustee’s administration. The benefit is less bureaucratic overhead. The risk is that mistakes or self-dealing can go undetected longer unless beneficiaries are actively monitoring.

Personal Representative Reporting

The personal representative’s reporting obligations depend on the type of administration:

• In informal, unsupervised estates, the personal representative files an inventory and a closing statement – but the court’s review is limited
• In formal estates, more detailed accountings may be required
• In supervised estates, the personal representative must file detailed accountings and the court reviews and approves each one before the estate can move to the next phase

The personal representative reports to both the court and the interested parties (heirs, beneficiaries, creditors). This dual accountability creates more oversight but also more administrative burden and cost.

“In our experience serving families across Macomb County, Oakland County, and Wayne County, the most common complaint from beneficiaries in both roles is lack of communication – not technical accounting errors. Trustees and personal representatives who provide regular, plain-language updates face fewer challenges than those who go silent and produce accountings only when required.”

Compensation and Personal Liability

What Each Role Can Be Paid

Both trustees and personal representatives are entitled to reasonable compensation for their services under Michigan law. What’s “reasonable” depends on the complexity of the estate or trust, the time involved, the expertise required, and what comparable professionals charge.

For trustees, the trust document may specify compensation terms, and if it doesn’t, the Michigan Trust Code allows reasonable fees. Notably, under MCL 700.7105(2)(h), the court retains the power to adjust trustee compensation that is unreasonably low or high, even if the trust document specifies a particular amount, this is another mandatory provision that trust terms cannot override.

For personal representatives, compensation is often based on hourly billing or a percentage of the estate’s value.

Beneficiaries and heirs can challenge compensation they believe is excessive. If the trustee or personal representative pays themselves more than what’s reasonable given the work performed, they risk a surcharge petition, a court action requiring them to return the excess and potentially pay the challenger’s legal fees.

Personal Liability: Where the Real Risk Lives

Both roles carry personal liability for breaches of fiduciary duty – but the triggers and consequences differ.

Trustee liability risks include:

• Premature distributions – distributing assets before creditor claims are resolved can make the trustee personally liable under MCL 700.7608
• Commingling funds – mixing trust assets with personal accounts violates MCL 700.7811
• Failure to notify beneficiaries within the 63-day window under MCL 700.7814
• Imprudent investment – failing to follow the Michigan prudent investor rule under MCL 700.7803
• Self-dealing – any transaction affected by a conflict between personal and fiduciary interests is voidable under MCL 700.7802
• Failure to follow trust terms – distributing differently than the trust directs
• Abuse of discretion – under MCL 700.7815, even broad discretionary authority (“absolute,” “sole,” “uncontrolled”) doesn’t protect a trustee who acts dishonestly, with improper motive, or fails to exercise judgment in accordance with the trust’s terms and purposes

Personal representative liability risks include:

• Improper distribution priority – paying beneficiaries before creditors, or paying lower-priority creditors before higher-priority ones
• Tax filing failures – missing filing deadlines for income, estate, or fiduciary returns
• Failure to inventory or safeguard assets – allowing property to deteriorate, lose value, or go missing
• Unauthorized transactions – acting without court approval when it’s required (especially in supervised estates or counties like Macomb that require real estate sale approval)
• Inadequate record-keeping – inability to account for estate transactions when challenged

The common thread: personal liability means your own assets are at risk, not just the estate’s or trust’s. A trustee who distributes $100,000 prematurely and can’t recover it from the beneficiary may owe that amount from personal funds. A personal representative who pays a family member before secured creditors may be personally liable for the difference.

When One Person Should, and Should Not, Serve in Both Roles

It’s extremely common for the same person to be named as both successor trustee and personal representative. For many families, this makes sense. For others, it creates problems that proper planning could have avoided.

When Dual Service Works Well

• Efficiency and unified decision-making. One person managing both the trust and the probate estate can coordinate asset transfers, tax filings, and creditor claims without the communication delays that come with two separate fiduciaries.

• Lower professional fees. A single person working with one attorney and one CPA can often manage both roles more cost-effectively than two separate fiduciaries each hiring their own professionals.

• Simpler family dynamics. When all beneficiaries trust the person serving and the estate is straightforward, dual service reduces complexity rather than adding it.

When Dual Service Creates Risk

• Blended families with competing interests. If the trust benefits the surviving spouse while the probate estate benefits children from a prior marriage, the person serving in both roles faces inherent conflicts. Decisions that benefit trust beneficiaries may disadvantage estate beneficiaries, and vice versa. This perception – even if the fiduciary acts impeccably – can fuel disputes and litigation. Under MCL 700.7802, transactions affected by a conflict between personal and fiduciary interests are presumptively voidable – and serving in dual roles with overlapping beneficiary groups heightens that scrutiny.

• Business-owner estates. When the estate includes business interests that interact with both the trust and the probate estate, dual service creates complex valuation and allocation questions where the fiduciary’s decisions affect different groups differently.

• Burnout and overwhelm. Trust administration and probate administration running simultaneously is a massive time commitment. The 63-day trustee notice, the creditor publication timeline, the tax filing deadlines, the court reporting requirements – managing both tracks while grieving, maintaining your own life and career, and navigating family dynamics is more than most people anticipate.

• Perception of self-dealing. Even when no actual conflict exists, a fiduciary who serves in both roles and also happens to be a beneficiary faces heightened scrutiny. Other beneficiaries may assume that dual control means the fiduciary is favoring themselves – a perception that triggers challenges even when the administration is flawless.

“Many Michigan families don’t realize that naming the same person to both roles is a convenience that becomes a liability when family dynamics are complicated. In blended families or estates with significant assets, naming separate individuals – or a professional fiduciary for one or both roles – can prevent conflicts that cost far more than the additional professional fees.”

If Mom Named You Trustee and Personal Representative: Here’s What You Actually Signed Up For

If you’ve just learned that a parent named you as both successor trustee and personal representative, here’s the reality of what that means:

You are now managing two separate legal processes simultaneously. The trust administration and the probate estate are distinct, different assets, different rules, different timelines. Assets held in the trust don’t go through probate. Assets outside the trust do. You need to know which is which and handle each appropriately.

Your time commitment is significant. Expect to spend 10 to 20 hours per week during the first few months on combined trust and probate administration tasks, gathering documents, meeting with attorneys and CPAs, communicating with beneficiaries, managing property, filing paperwork, and making decisions. This is on top of your regular life and career obligations.

You need a professional team. This is not a DIY project. At minimum, you need:

• A probate and trust administration attorney to guide both processes
• A CPA experienced in estate and fiduciary taxation
• Potentially a financial advisor for investment management of trust assets
• Appraisers for real estate, business interests, and valuable personal property

You are personally liable if you make mistakes in either role. The fiduciary standard applies to both. Every decision you make, or fail to make, can be challenged by beneficiaries, and errors can result in personal financial liability.

Communication is your most powerful tool. Keep beneficiaries informed. Document everything. When in doubt, get professional advice before acting. The trustees and personal representatives who face the fewest challenges are the ones who are transparent, organized, and proactive from day one.

Frequently Asked Questions About Trustees and Personal Representatives in Michigan

Protect Yourself While Honoring the Trust Placed in You

Being named trustee, personal representative, or both is an act of confidence from someone who trusted you to handle their most important affairs. But confidence doesn’t come with instructions, and the legal obligations that accompany these roles have real consequences for mistakes.

At Boroja, Bernier & Associates, we help fiduciaries across Macomb County, Oakland County, Wayne County, and throughout Southeast Michigan and Mid-Michigan understand their obligations, avoid personal liability, and administer trusts and estates with the preparation and accountability these roles demand. With our main office in Shelby Township and satellite offices in Troy, Ann Arbor, and Lansing, we assemble the professional team you need so you don’t carry the weight alone.

To schedule a consultation with the Michigan trust and probate attorneys at Boroja, Bernier & Associates, call our law offices at (586) 991-7611. The sooner you have the right team around you, the better you protect yourself, and the people counting on you to get this right.