June 2012 - Senior Spectrum Newspaper

What Does It Mean To Be a Trustee?Brought to you byBradley B. AndersonAnderson, Dorn, & Rader, Ltd.The American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneyswww.probatebusters.com • blog.wealth-counselors.comIf a family member orfriend has chosen you toserve as Trustee of theirLiving Trust, you’ve beengiven a great honor. It meansthey believe you are honestand responsible, and theyhave a great deal of faith inyour abilities and your personalintegrity. It also meansthat you have an important,and sometimes complicated,job to do.Basic DutiesWhile no two Trusts areexactly alike, all Trusteesshare the same basic obligations.A Trustee is chargedwith the responsibility ofmanaging the assets thatbelong to the Trust. In doingthis, the Trustee is requiredto follow the terms of theTrust document.Current vs. SuccessorTrusteeYour obligations might beginimmediately, or they may notstart until some point in thefuture. This depends onwhether the person creatingthe Trust – called theTrustor – has named you thecurrent Trustee or the successorTrustee.Let’s imagine your father isthe Trustor. It’s common forsomeone creating a Trust toserve as his own Trustee aslong as he is alive and well,and your dad is no exception.He has chosen you as hissuccessor Trustee, so youdon’t have any obligationsuntil your father dies, oruntil he suffers an illness orinjury that renders him incapableof managing the Truston his own.If your dad became mentallyor physically incapable ofserving as his own Trustee,you would step in and followthe instructions in the Trustdocument for having yourfather removed as Trustee.Normally, this means gettinga physician’s statement thatyour father is no longer ableto manage his own affairs.You would then follow theterms of the Trust to manageTrust assets for your dad’sbenefit. If your father laterregained the ability to serveas his own Trustee, he wouldhave the option to once againtake over that role.If your father died, youwould need his death certificateto take over the role ofTrustee.AdministrationAs Trustee, you have theresponsibility to follow theterms of the Trust documentand manage the Trust assets(Trustee page 8)June • 2012 • 7