Comments on: Should You Use a Professional Trustee for Your Trust?

By: Private trustee

Private trustee — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 17:53:21 +0000

Another option exists: professional private fiduciaries. In California, individuals can replace professional trustees to manage, administer, and wrap up trusts, estates, and the like. The benefit: one on one contact, independent third party management, and broader range of abilities than professional trustees.
In 2008, the state of California wrote into law professional fiduciaries: individuals with specialized training, licensing requirements, and annual education requirements to keep current.

One of our common uses: prevent family in-fighting, such as that listed above by Nunzio Bruno and Evan.

It’s unfortunate that money can tear a family apart…even worse, indecision over the care of an aged family member can take an enormous toll on everyone concerned.

Please recognize that another option exists to professional, large, commercial trustees and family members.

By: TRUST WHO

TRUST WHO — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 02:59:50 +0000

HI ALL,,, I have been reading intently all info regarding TRUST accounts,,, TRUST being the main word to make the focus on…. I am soon to be paid a fairly large sum of a settlement from a car crash accident in which i was injured in which has in turn left me disabled,,, I have been the black sheep of my family for years and therefore dont see much of them anymore… As if things are not bad enough, NOW of all things on top of my disabilities my wife wishes for a divorce or at least a separation for the difficulties of the past few years due to my disabilities since the accident has left its toll on our relationship,, I no longer trust her like i used to and really did wish to have her as trustee on my trust account for my settlement fund with myself as the other trustee … Now as we are about to part company I am in no way inclined to trust her with the control of my funds,, especially as i have recently found a great number of statements from credit cards and loans in which i had no idea that she had ever had… It is not the problem that i never knew she had them, the fact is that she is a great many thousands of pounds in debt and I have absolutely no idea what she has spent any of the money on… Also , although she wont agree, she is an alcoholic .. I have found many empty bottles hidden in wardrobes from wine, vodka and all sorts. this has been an ongoing thing for a very long time and we have had many rows about her secret alcoholic binges…. it had got to such a stage that i have decided that i just did not wish to keep confronting her anymore because she would get extremely angry which would then get me and her having serious shouting matches,,, furthmore There is the gambling problem that she has,,,, need i say anymore…. I simply do not wish for her to have ANY ACCESS OR CONTROL OVER MY FINANCES,,,,,, I simply just do not know who is the best to now trust,,, Can anybody please tell me what are my best options for getting a professional trustee,,What are the pro’s & con’s
Has any of you had any sort of experience with a professional firm that are trustworthy and not too expensive and easy to deal with when wishing to have access to ANY Amount of your funds
Any helpful advice will be much appreciated

By: Sam

Sam — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 14:04:30 +0000

Everyone that I’ve approached about this, being a trustee to keep my kid from blowing the money, has said they’ll just hand the money over to my son’s Dad.
My son’s Dad is the most financially irresponsible person I know – he buys whatever crosses his eye no matter what bills are due to be paid (while we were together the power got shut off 3 times because of his video game habit).
So, given that most of the money is for my son to keep/maintain the house (if he wishes), for my son to go to college and get a decent start in life (regardless of his Dad’s irresponsible ways), I’m doing a professional trustee so my wishes are followed to a “T”. I did add a paragraph that if six people (from a list of 20) from both sides of my family sign a letter saying the trustee is not following the rules of the will and not acting in kiddo’s best interest then all the money will transfer to a brokerage acct within 30 days. That brokerage acct will pay a percentage out annually to my son till he’s 32 when he gets the lump sum. Don’t know if it’s a good plan but it is a plan (BTW – I’m open to advice/other ideas).

Also, I put clauses in there that if my son passes away all the money is go to charity after debts & such are paid off. And that any spouses he may have, have absolutely no entitlement or claim to the money.
I got those from my grandpa’s trust papers – the family has tried several times to bust his trust open & they can’t so I modeled mine after his.
My Grandma’s got busted open within a year of her death and it makes me sad her wishes weren’t followed.

By: Neal@Wealth Pilgrim

Neal@Wealth Pilgrim — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 14:48:46 +0000

Mrs. Modern,

First, I’m really sorry you had that experience. Sounds really really terrible.

Second…I’m glad you disagree….that’s how I learn.

Third, I’m SO HAPPY you posted this reply. I believe it shows that there are horror stories on both sides of the story.

Certainly, there is no way for anyone to guarantee that a family member will be better or worse than a professional. I haven’t heard many horror stories like this but your story proves it can and does happen.

Personally, if I know someone well, I’d probably take the chance and name a family member.

By: Mrs. Modern Tightwad

Mrs. Modern Tightwad — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 14:38:30 +0000

I hate to say it (possibly because it’s the first time ever) but I completely disagree with you. Having been the beneficiary of an educational trust with a family member trustee it was without a doubt the worst event in my life. While the family member believed they were acting in my “best interest,” they had ideas as to what the money should be used for, regardless of what was originally intended, and used money as a lever at a time when I was particularly vulnerable. I found a clause that allowed me to remove the money at age 21. I wished for the relationship I had with the family member before the trust and decided to try and remove money from the equation. Now, 10 years later, I barely have a relationship with that person who decided I was greedy, spiteful and ungrateful, and I wish the trust had never existed. I am a strong believer in having an independent trustee. Being a family member doesn’t mean there isn’t a conflict of interest and the damage can be farther reaching than financial.

By: Neal@Pilgrim

Neal@Pilgrim — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 19:59:47 +0000

Little House,

Maybe if you send them this post they’ll change their minds! Good luck and keep us posted.

By: Little House

Little House — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 16:10:49 +0000

This is great information. My parents (I have two sets) are getting older and I’ve started approaching them with questions about where they want to be buried, if their will is in order, and who the executor is. My one set of parents are currently updating everything, so I’m feeling a bit more relieved. My other set, where my step-father is two years shy of 80, is being very vague and they have a fairly large estate. I tried broaching the subject with them, but they remained pretty silent. Either they are in denial that they will eventually pass away, or they aren’t ready to share any of their estate / will information. At least I know what kind of burial plans they’d like (sort of). Hopefully they’ll share their plans in the near future. I’d hate to find out they hired an outside executor to handle everything.

By: Nunzio Bruno

Nunzio Bruno — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 02:27:07 +0000

That can be such a headache. You are absolutely right about the conflict of interest with the professional trustees as well. (Great pic by the way I went back for a second look and laughed pretty hard after reading the post)Appointing someone you trust is important and it’s sad to hear about all the wasted time and money on what really can be a very simple process..especially on a smaller estate where wishes and directions are explicitly laid out. Great post!

By: Evan

Evan — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 20:50:11 +0000

I agree that a professional trustee is not needed in most situations, but if you want to kill a family as quick as possible – have one family member in charge of the other’s money…

There is a whole set of other problems (at least in NY) with trustee liability. So you have Uncle in charge of the investment choices. What happens when he puts into a business? or junk bonds or even CDs when the market is getting double digits? Kind of a rough position to put Uncle in.

Just some thoughts.