Question about sub-trusts

[Radioman]

Does a trust continue to exist as long as its sub-trust exists?

I've changed the names to protect people's privacy, but this is a situation I'm facing in Virginia.

John Doe and Jane Doe each had bypass trusts that included slightly different sub-trusts for an adult spendthrift granddaughter, Jill Smith. John and Jane have both died, their assets have all been distributed by the trustee -- their daughter Susan Roe -- and the final fiduciary returns for the Does' trusts have been filed.

Two Jill Smith Trusts -- one created from each of the original trusts -- now exist and have different EINs. (This was necessary because the sub-trusts were not identical.) Susan Roe is NOT the trustee of the Jill Smith trusts; that job was turned over to a grandson, David Jones.

Is Susan's work done? Are her parents' trusts -- the John Doe and Jane Doe trusts -- now terminated? Or do they continue to exist, even with no assets or income, until the Jill Smith trusts have been depleted (which could be a decade or two from now)? What, if anything, is Susan's legal obligation as trustee of her parents' trusts?

 

[adjusterjack]

I'm no trust expert but it seems logical that the two Jill Smith trusts exist separately with their own terms and conditions and their own trustee.

The Doe's trusts are terminated and Susan's work is done.

Susan would be wise to confirm that with the trust attorney.

 

[TrustUser]

first, susan can retire from the job as trustee - she is not forced to continue

i have never liked the phrase "sub-trust", because it tends to infer that it is a subset of some other trust.

the terms are spelled out by 1 trust document.

if this document creates multiple trusts, then each trust can exist on its own. assuming that is consistent with the document, itself.

if there is any concern, david jones could certainly be named the trustee of the original trust - but with no assets, there would be nothing to do, as far as i can tell