One of the most important elements of establishing a trust is selecting someone to be the successor trustee. The successor trustee is the person who becomes the trustee when you and, if married, your spouse no longer have the ability to do so yourselves.
The successor trustee that you choose will hold legal title, in your benefit, to the assets in the trust. In addition, they are usually the person who manages the trust estate. In order for your trust to work properly, the successor trustee is needed to essentially take control of the trust.
The successor trustee can be a bank, trust company, or an attorney. But more and more often, an adult child or children are chosen to take on this role. In this manner, the trust operation is kept within the family. However, an estate planning attorney is often used to guide the trustee through the process. This ensures that all details are followed in accordance of the law.
If more than one adult child is chosen as co-successor trustees, it is important to be very specific in your wishes about the distribution of your estate. Problems can occur when your estate planning documents don't address the specifics that you intend - which often happens when just using boilerplate provisions for your successor trustee, or trustees, to follow. For example, you might need to make clear if certain assets are to be liquidated and if so, how the proceeds are to be split.
In addition, when two adult children are chosen as successor co-trustees, you should determine whether there may be a chance that your children will disagree on various matters that affect the administration of your trust. Here again, an estate planning attorney can help to avoid possible disputes between successor co-trustees and help to lead a smooth trust administration.
It is also important to provide detailed directions for your successor trustee(s) to follow in the distribution of assets that could avoid family disputes, even for future generations. Failing to think through various scenarios may cause beneficiaries to question the trustee's actions. This is especially true in the case where the successor trustee may want to take title to an asset from the trust estate. Therefore, directions should be addressed specifically in your trust, with the help of your estate planning attorney.
Although much discretion can be given to your successor trustee(s) via the direction of the trust as to how certain assets are to be distributed, it still helps to discuss with your estate planning attorney what you hope will occur as a result of your successor trustee(s)'s decisions.
0 comments:
Post a Comment