Asset Management

• The trustee's responsibilities begin as soon as the transferor who established the trust gives her control of the assets. The Discretionary Trust Act says the trustee has an obligation to "collect, hold, manage, invest, and reinvest trust property" using the same standard of care any "prudent person" would use when dealing with someone else's property. If the trustee was chosen for a particular skill set -- stock investing, for example -- she has to use those skills in managing the trust.
  
  

Record Keeping

• The trustee must maintain a complete record of all trust property and all transactions the trust participates in, including activities like buying or selling real estate, investing in stocks and cashing in bonds. If the beneficiary asks to look at the books, the trustee is obligated to present complete accounts for the previous 12 months, or longer if it's necessary for the beneficiary's tax return. The beneficiary's attorney or his guardian -- if he has one -- is also entitled to look at the books.
  
  

Expenditures

• The beneficiary can look at the trust records, but that doesn't give him a say in the management of the trust. The beneficiary cannot treat trust property as his own, or as a source of money he can tap when he chooses; the trustee decides when and how the money will be spent, subject only to the transferor's stated wishes in the trust documents. For example, the transferor can set up the trust to provide for the needs of the beneficiary that are not met by any other sources.
  
  

Termination

• A Maryland trust ends when the beneficiary dies; a specific date or event identified in the trust documents takes place, such as the beneficiary turning 21; or the trustee decides that because of some legal action, the trust property now belongs to the beneficiary. If the trust terminates with the beneficiary still alive, the trustee must distribute the assets to the beneficiary in accordance with the transferor's instruction in the trust documents.