Estate Planning

Trustees for Blended Families.

By Jennifer Sawday

Estate planning is a must for blended families. Families where there are children from a prior marriage or a relationship need estate planning to make the parents' wishes known and protect all of the children involved accordingly. A three-way marital trust is often advised for blended families.

When setting up a three-way marital trust, one of the conundrums is who should be trustee? Many parents name their two oldest kids -- one from Mom's side and one from Dad's side to serve as co-trustees. Some parents name the most trusted or responsible child as trustee. Some name other family members altogether to serve as trustee.

One thing to consider is to name a corporate trustee (such as a bank's trust department, an independent trust company or private fiduciary) to serve in the event your first and second choice nominations cannot serve. It also allows all of the named successor trustees to voluntarily resign in favor of the corporate trustee named last if administering the trust becomes contentious or otherwise problematic for the children or family members named to act.

As always, discuss your objectives and concerns with your estate planning attorney.

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Estate Planning, Probate and Trusts involve complex areas of law. Individual circumstances must be considered before any advice can be given.  The general information above is not to be construed as legal advice, which can only be given after consideration of the unique facts of each matter. Please seek the advice or counsel of your attorney, financial advisor or CPA as it may be appropriate.

Full post as published by Estate Planning Practice Blog on November 08, 2008 (boomark / email).