The basic estate planning questionnaire that we provide to our clients ask questions that will allow us to determine whether they might need to use a trust in their estate planning. Not all Estates need to have a trust created. However, there are many reasons why at rest is a good idea. The purpose of this blog post is to not talk about the uses of a trust, but rather to talk about what a trustee does when a trust is created.
WHAT IS A TRUSTEE
Simply put a trustee is the person or group that you have named who has the obligation of administering and taking care of the trust that you have created. What this means is that this person is required to follow the terms of the trust as you have designated them, and to provide distributions from the trust to the people that you have named as beneficiaries. These beneficiaries could be yourself, your family, or charitable groups. The really is no limit on who you name as a beneficiary.
So to summarize and put it into simple terms, the trustee takes care of the trust. The trustee also works directly with the beneficiaries when making distributions from the trust. Finally, the trustee takes care of providing documentation to the beneficiaries or to the other trustees as required by the trust document.
WHAT IS A SUCCESSOR TRUSTEE
A successor trustee is another individual or group that you have named who will act as the trustee if your first choice for trustee either can’t or won’t serve in that capacity. Let’s say for instance that you need your attorney to be the trustee of your trust. However your attorney retires from Practice and is no longer in the area. In this instance your trust document should have named another individual who will become the trustee if your attorney can’t do it. A successor trustee is usually granted the same responsibilities and powers that the original trustee help.
WHO CAN BE NAMED AS A TRUSTEE
In a previous blog post we talked about who can be named as a trustee in more detail. Here we can simply describe that a trustee can be any individual including yourself, any family member, a professional, a corporation, and/or a bank. The person or group that you need to be your trustee will often be determined by the type of trust you have created, or by the beneficiaries that you have designated who will receive distributions from your trust.
If you have any questions about creating a trust, or if you have questions about the trust you already have in your estate plan, we can help. Call us toll free at 877-232-6101 or 208-232-6101 for a consultation with Lane Erickson and the Racine Olson team of Estate Planning attorneys in Idaho. You can also email Lane Erickson directly at lve@racinelaw.net. We will answer your Idaho Estate Planning questions and will help you solve your Idaho Estate Planning problems.
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