Mature Life Features

By Cecil Scaglione

Mature Life Features

Finding one or more trustees for your trust presents both emotional and economic problems.

Do you want someone in the family to handle all the responsibilities and conditions outlined in the trust that you, and your spouse and your attorney agonized over? Or do you feel more comfortable putting all this work in the hands of an impersonal professional?

Trusts are merely tools to help you with taxes and planning for the distribution of your estate. The costs and fees for preparing and managing a trust vary widely. So shop around.

You’ll need to talk to an attorney. He or she will probably prepare the trust with you. And you can name the attorney a trustee if you and he/she agree. More than likely you will name one or two friends or family members as the main trustees. Some financial experts suggest you name an “outsider” as a backup trustee. This can be your attorney, a brokerage firm, your financial consultant, a mutual fund, or your bank.

There should be provisions in your trust to replace a trustee whot may become too expensive or doesn’t perform his or her job according to the terms of the document. There also should be provisions allowing you or the beneficiaries of the trust to move to another state.

The trustee(s) you name can hire their own experts to help manage the trust. These duties include the responsibility of distributing the assets to beneficiaries, investing assets according to instructions in the trust, filing tax returns,  and any other paper work.

Most institutions set the minimum trust size they will handle. Before you begin shopping around for an institutional trustee, discuss the matter with your attorney, accountant, people you know who have appointed such trustees, and with the individuals you have named or plan to name as trustees of your assets.

Mature Life Features. Copyright 2003