When someone asks you to be the executor of their estate, it might seem straightforward — but the role can be more complex, time-consuming, and emotionally challenging than expected. From covering funeral costs out of pocket to handling mountains of paperwork and navigating family conflicts, executors face unexpected burdens. The good news? Thoughtful life & legacy planning can ease the process, protect your loved ones, and prevent unnecessary stress. Read the full blog to learn how to make things easier for your future executor. READ MORE
Posts Categorized: Trustee
Why You Need a Trust – Even If You Aren’t Rich
A trust isn’t just for the wealthy—it’s a versatile and essential tool for anyone looking to protect their loved ones, streamline the distribution of assets, and avoid the delays and costs of probate. Whether you’re a parent of minor children, part of a blended family, or planning for your own future in case of incapacity, a trust offers privacy, security, and peace of mind. Discover how a trust can benefit your unique situation by scheduling a Life and Legacy Planning Session today. READ MORE
What You Should Know Before Agreeing to Serve as Trustee
Being asked to serve as a trustee for a loved one’s trust is both an honor and a significant responsibility. Trustees are legally required to manage and distribute trust assets according to the trust’s terms, protect the interests of beneficiaries, and ensure all legal and financial duties are met. While you don’t need to be an expert in law or finances, you may need professional guidance, which can be covered by the trust. Before agreeing to serve, it’s important to fully understand the duties involved. If you’ve been asked to serve as trustee, or are considering it, we can help you assess whether it’s the right role for you. Schedule a Life and Legacy Planning Session with us to gain the clarity you need. READ MORE
Should the Trustee of My Trust Be Different during My Incapacity Than at My Death?
When you create a trust, choosing a trustee is one of the most important decisions you will make. If you create a revocable living trust – that is, a trust that you establish during your lifetime and can revoke or amend – you may opt to act as trustee for your trust, retaining the full control over and benefit of the money and property it holds. However, what happens if you develop a health issue or are injured in a car accident and are unable to manage your own affairs? With today’s longer life expectancies, it is much more likely that you will experience dementia in your later years, making it impossible for you to handle your own finances. And what will happen when you pass away? It is crucial that you name a successor trustee (and an alternate in case the first successor is unable or unwilling to serve) who will step into the role of trustee to manage the trust on your behalf if you become incapacitated or die.
There are certain characteristics you should look for in any trustee. They should be trustworthy and responsible, capable of making wise financial or investment decisions, and interested in carrying out your wishes as expressed in your trust document. Depending on your particular circumstances, it may be prudent to name different trustees to serve at your incapacity and at your death. On the other hand, some may prefer to have the same trustee serve in the event of both incapacity and death. READ MORE
Investment and Distribution Trustees: Why Would I Need Both?
When creating a trust, it is common to name yourself as the initial trustee who is responsible for all aspects of administering the trust. However, when considering who will take over when you can no longer act (either because of illness or death), it is sometimes helpful to divide the responsibilities between two or more successor trustees. For example, you may decide to have one trustee who manages the accounts and property held by the trust and another trustee who makes decisions about distributions to the trust’s beneficiaries. There are some important reasons why you may want your trust document to bifurcate the trustees’ duties in this way.
Benefit from specialized knowledge or aptitudes. Trustees have a variety of duties and responsibilities in administering a trust, and it is sometimes beneficial to divide them up between more than one trustee based upon the expertise or skills needed to perform a particular aspect of the trust’s administration. For example, if your sister-in-law is knowledgeable about investments and experienced in making financial decisions, but is not as skilled at handling potentially difficult interpersonal interactions, it may be beneficial to name her as your investment trustee, which is a trustee whose sole duty is to make discretionary decisions about the investment of funds held by the trust. READ MORE
Before You Agree to Be a Trustee, Read This!
Although every Trust is different, serving as a Trustee comes with a few core requirements: managing assets held in the name of the Trust, accounting for those assets, and following the terms of the Trust regarding distributions of income and/or principal to the beneficiaries of the Trust.
Remember, a Trust is simply an agreement between the grantor and the distribution of assets. The Trust agreement directs distribution to a Trustee to hold and manage the assets “inside the Trust” for the benefit of the beneficiaries. READ MORE
Red Flags When Hiring a Professional To Be Your Trustee
When you form a trust as part of your estate plan, one of the most important decisions you will make is who will oversee the trust’s management when you are no longer able to manage it (also known as your successor trustee). Because a trustee’s work may be time-consuming, complicated, and risk liability, many people who create a trust consider naming a professional fiduciary as their trustee. Keep in mind that if you ask your estate planning attorney to serve as your successor trustee, you should ask for a separate engagement letter from the one you sign engaging them to create your estate plan. When looking to hire a professional to serve as your trustee, the following are several red flags you should keep in mind.
A professional’s agreement to act as your trustee does not guarantee that they have the resources needed to administer your trust properly. Be proactive about asking questions. Trust administration is an important job, and you should satisfy yourself that the person you appoint as your trustee is well-equipped to fulfill the role. READ MORE
Things to Consider Before Accepting Your Inheritance
An inheritance, like the loss of a loved one, can be life-changing. While there is no law that requires you to accept an inheritance, there are sometimes good reasons for doing so. And if you choose to turn down a gift, that does not mean it will end up in the hands of the state. Before accepting or rejecting an inheritance, you might seek legal and tax advice about the implications of either decision.
An estate plan contains instructions for distributing a person’s money and property when they pass away. Some families discuss who will receive certain accounts or property. For example, maybe all of the kids are asked if they would like to inherit an item from mom’s collection of family heirlooms. READ MORE
What To Do if Your Trustee Is Unresponsive
First things first, if your trustee has not responded to you, try examining your contact method. How have you tried to contact them? If you have left them a phone message, try sending them an email instead. If a text message has received no response, try sending a letter through the mail. And it should be obvious, but if you are argumentative or hostile, it is not surprising that the trustee is not responding, even if they have a duty to do so.
If you cannot speak in a civil manner to the trustee, try keeping all of your communication in writing, be clear about your questions and requests, and do so without accusations or threats. If you have tried multiple methods of communication with your trustee in a civilized manner and still have not received any response, then it is probably time to take it to the next level of involving the attorney. READ MORE
How to Keep Your Child’s Inheritance Out of Your In-Law’s Hands
During a marriage, the lines between what each partner owns can blur. Generally, whatever is acquired during the marriage by either partner becomes a marital property that is subject to division in the event of a divorce, but there are exceptions.
One exception is a bank account that is kept separate during the marriage. Inheritance money that you leave to your child or monetary gifts that you give to your child during your lifetime can theoretically go into a separate account. However, in practice, it can be difficult for spouses to avoid commingling bank accounts. Even something as simple as depositing marital money into the account or using it to pay bills during the marriage could make the account marital property. READ MORE
Estate Planning FAQs For LGBTQ+ Couples
As we wrap up another Pride Month, the LGBTQ+ community faces an increasingly uncertain legal landscape. In the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, ending the recognition of a constitutional right to abortion, many are worried that other rights, especially those enjoyed by same-gender couples, might also be threatened.
In fact, with Roe overturned, legal experts warn that the Supreme Court’s new Republican majority may come for landmark LGBTQ-rights decisions next, including marriage equality established by Obergefell v. Hodges. In light of this potential challenge, same-gender couples must ensure their estate plans are carefully reviewed and updated by an estate planning lawyer who understands the special needs of LGBTQ+ planning to address any such developments. READ MORE
If You’ve Been Asked To Serve As Trustee, Here’s What You Should Know
If a family member or friend has asked you to serve as trustee for their trust either during their life or upon their death, it’s a big honor – this means they consider you among the most honest, reliable, and responsible people they know.
That said, serving as a trustee is not only a great honor; it’s also a significant responsibility, and the role is not for everyone. Serving as a trustee entails a broad array of duties. You are ethically and legally required to execute those duties properly, or you could be liable for not doing so. READ MORE
Silent Trusts: Could I Be the Beneficiary of a Trust and Not Know It?
After a trust has been created, the trustee has specific legal duties to the beneficiaries. Although a trustee’s duties vary by state, in most states, a trustee must disclose the trust’s existence, identify themselves as the trustee, and send the beneficiaries yearly accounting statements on request with information about the trust’s assets (accounts and property), taxes, distributions, and performance.
A silent trust eliminates the legal requirement that the trustee tells the beneficiaries about the trust’s existence or terms for a period of time. Typically, a silent trust’s terms will provide a triggering event, such as the beneficiary reaching a certain age or achieving a particular milestone or the trustmaker’s death or incapacity. The trustee’s obligations to inform the beneficiary begin only upon the occurrence of the triggering event. READ MORE
Does a Domestic Partner Have the Same Rights as a Spouse When It Comes to Estate Planning?
Everyone knows what a marriage is, but not everyone knows what a domestic partnership is. To answer whether domestic partners have the same estate planning rights as married spouses, it is helpful to define what a domestic partnership is.
A domestic partnership is an alternative to marriage created for same-sex couples who could not legally marry. However, when the US Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in 2015 in Obergefell v. Hodges, marriage became an option for same-sex couples. A domestic partnership is not just for same-sex couples; any couple can choose this status when marriage is not something they desire, for whatever reason. READ MORE
How to Protect Yourself from Claims of Self-Dealing When Serving as a Trustee
A trustee usually has quite a bit of discretion in managing a trust’s accounts, money, and property (known as assets). At the same time, as a fiduciary, a trustee also owes the trust’s beneficiaries a duty of loyalty, which prohibits the trustee from self-dealing. In the simplest terms, self-dealing happens when a trustee uses the trust’s assets for their benefit instead of for the beneficiaries’ benefit.
Despite this simple definition, self-dealing can be much harder to identify in practice and is often done in ignorance, particularly when complicating factors such as the trustee being a trust beneficiary. READ MORE