Staff:

Holly Sprague – Trust Services Director
Melanie Porterfield – Realty Specialist

MISSION & GOALS

Trust Services provides local assistance to the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, Tribal members, and trust landowners on issues that arise with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) or the Office of Special Trustee (OST), including land transactions, opening of probate, and Individual Indian Money accounts.

 SERVICES

Leasing:  Trust Services assists lessees with the process of obtaining a lease on trust land, including obtaining surveys and appraisals and getting the lease approved by the BIA.

Right-of-Ways and Service Line Agreements:  Trust Services will assist in the negotiation of the right-of-way or services line agreements for a limited purpose (ie: roadway, power line, etc) and work with landowners on approval of the right-of-way or service line agreement.

Gift Conveyance:  Trust Services helps landowners who want to give their trust land interest to someone else and will help get the gift approved by the BIA.

Land Sales:  Trust Services helps landowners sell their trust land.  This includes working in the landowner's best interest on the sale and having the sale approved by the BIA.

Land Consolidations:  Trust Services helps co-owners of undivided interests in a trust allotments wish convert the allotment from co-ownership of the whole parcel to individual ownership of smaller parcels. 

Management of Trust Lands:  Trust Services assists landowners with the protection of trust lands, which includes acting as a liaison between the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian landowner.

Estate Planning & Probate:  Trust Services will help family members with filing for BIA Indian Probate of loved one's estate.  We also assist tribal members with the estate planning process by ordering Indian land inventories and providing contract will drafting services through an outside attorney.

Office of Special Trustee (OST):  Trust Services occasionally performs tasks that assist the OST in the performance of its duties towards trust account holders, including determining if payments to OST have been made and when the account holder should expect to receive payment.

Lands of the Muckleshoot Tribe – Click here to view webmap.