Trustee

How Does a Corporate Trustee Differ From a Family Member?

Published on: October 23, 2018 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Most of us consider naming a friend or relative with a background in finance or law to be a trustee for our family, but there is an alternative that is important to consider.

A corporate trustee will have a very different approach to managing a trust, and depending on your situation, may be a far better choice than a family member or friend. They’ll bring sound investment management skills and knowledge, minus the distractions of emotions.

The Dallas Business Journal’s recent article, “Fiduciary investment management and corporate trustees,” explains that one of the many benefits of appointing a corporate trustee, is that they are held to a fiduciary standard of care when managing a trust investment portfolio. That means that they’re legally required to place their client’s interests above their own when making investment decisions. While this may seem like a no-brainer, it’s not the rule for all financial professionals.

Choose Executor, Agent and Trustees Carefully

Published on: August 13, 2018 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Selecting the individuals who will make important decisions on your behalf, when you are incapacitated or have passed away, is not to be done lightly.

Is there a bomb ticking quietly in your estate plan? The chances are good that there is, says Forbes in “Defusing The Time Bombs In Your Estate Plan.” The only question is, how big will that explosion be? The “bombs” are the people, or the individual, who you name to act on your behalf.

Whether they act during your lifetime or after you pass away, these individuals frequently can make or break your estate plan. They can determine the fates of family relationships and financial security. However, most people don’t realize the potential consequences of their surrogates’ actions. As a result, they don’t give sufficient thought to whom they appoint to these important roles.

Living Trusts and Trustees: What You Need to Know

Published on: October 18, 2017 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

For living trusts, the person or people who set them up are usually named the initial trustees, but after that, there needs to be a successor trustee. Think carefully about who you would want to take on these responsibilities.

When the first spouse dies, the surviving spouse usually becomes the sole trustee, according to the article, “Women on Money and Mindset: Estate planning: choosing a trustee,” in The (Riverside CA) Press-Enterprise. When the second spouse dies, the trust passes to a successor trustee or trustees. Most people name an adult child, trusted friend or a family member who they trust. You can also name a bank or a professional fiduciary.

Children: Married couples often will name their oldest child as the successor trustee or they name all their children to act as co-trustees. This can work if there’s never been a divorce; there is only one child; she lives close; she doesn’t work and all the assets are investment accounts. However, most adult children will have full-time jobs. Adding the job of trustee can be a strain because it’s time-consuming and technical. The administrative burden of taking care of your final business can be overwhelming.

Know the Right Skill Sets Required for Trustee

Published on: December 29, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Trusts offer many advantages in estate planning. Privacy, avoiding probate, more control over personal finances, the ability to more closely monitor investments and tax planning are a few of the reasons to incorporate trusts into your estate plan, according to a recent article in Wilmington Business, "Selecting the Right Trustee."

Selecting the right trustee to execute your plans is just about the most critical decisions you can make—maybe even as important as the terms of the trust itself. Think about these qualifications when selecting your trustee:

• Administrative Skills and Knowledge. Your trustee must perform a lot of different tasks, like safeguarding assets, collections, reinvestment and distribution of income, document interpretation, bill paying, and many others.

How to Determine Your Trustee?

Published on: July 7, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Many people set up trusts to help provide for loved ones and favorite causes after they pass away. A trust can help manage the wealth you wish to transfer and ensures the efficient distribution of assets—such as property or a sum of money—over a set period of time. Yet a trust is only as strong as the trustee overseeing it.

A trustee is the individual or company that administers a trust for the benefit of named beneficiaries. Duties can range widely and may include paying bills and taxes, and managing property and investments.

Forbes recently had a nice article about this titled “How To Choose The Right Trustee For Your Estate.” Most importantly, the article says a trustee “has a legal fiduciary duty to manage a trust on a beneficiary’s behalf,” by always acting in the beneficiary’s best interests, as outlined by the trust.

Trustee, Co-Trustee … What Is the Best Houston Scenario?

Published on: October 27, 2014 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Whichever you select, consider ways you can structure the trustee’s duties and relationships to increase the probability of achieving your estate planning goals.

Selecting an executor or trustee of your estate plan is a very important decision that requires much thought. A recent Investing Daily article, titled "Making Your Most Important Decision," has some strategies to consider when selecting the financial fiduciaries for your estate.

The first is co-trustees. Both professional trustees and individual trustees each have advantages and disadvantages. You can try to get the best of both by naming co-trustees. There are different ways to structure a co-trusteeship, so ask your estate planning attorney about which way to go. Typically, the trust company could be the primary trustee. It would take care of the record-keeping, administration, and investments. Your trusted friend or family member serving as a co-trustee would have access to all the records, and he or she would be able to reviews them and spot any issues. The original article suggests giving the non-professional co-trustee the power to veto fees, investment decisions, and other key actions.

Choosing a Trustee to Control Your Houston Trust

Published on: June 17, 2014 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Here are three factors that your clients should consider when making this important decision.

How do you make sure you leave the trust in the right hands?

Picking a trustee can be a very difficult task. It is not the same as crafting words to paper – ink is cheap in a certain sense – because picking a trustee means picking the right person. You have to read people well and know the right people (or financial institutions) to pick. Financial Planning recently offered a few principals well worth mulling over if you’re in the process of creating a trust in an article titled “Selecting a Trustee? 3 Factors to Consider.”

An IRA That Protects Heirs From Themselves

Published on: January 16, 2014 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

One big advantage of the trusteed IRAs: IRA owners can prevent their beneficiaries from spending down the accounts right away.

An IRA is a very powerful tool, if you use it right. Your IRA can essentially serve estate planning purposes beyond simple retirement funding in the form of a “trusteed IRA.”

A good place to start your education is a recent MarketWatch article titled “Trusteed IRAs Can Help Heirs Manage Inheritance.”

Using Trust Funds To Purchase Home in Houston

Published on: October 31, 2013 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

As interest rates rise, more children of high-net-worth families are likely to tap into their trust funds to buy a home.

Buying a home means chaining yourself to a mortgage and the financial institution holding it. This arrangement is oftentimes considered a necessary evil of adulthood. But then again, when there are trust funds available to help, buying a home might not be such a necessary evil at all.

Under the right circumstances, trusts may be tapped to assist you and your loved ones, even when it comes to bypassing the bankers and buying a home. This is more and more useful as interest rates rise.