Professional Trustee

A Professional Trustee is a Trust Company or the Bank Trust Department who will manage your Trust for you.

WHAT IS A PROFESSIONAL TRUSTEE?

Learn what a Professional Trustee is and whether or not you need one.

Anytime you set up a Trust, you need to appoint a Trustee to manage and administer all the assets inside the Trust. Sometimes, a Trustee can be a friend or relative whom you trust, but other times, you might want to consider using what’s known as a Professional Trustee.

Professional Trustees can be beneficial for a number of reasons. Before you name a Trustee, you should understand the difference between using someone close and personal to you and using a Professional Trustee.

Decide if a Professional Trustee is the route you should take, or if you should just use a family member, spouse or close friend as your Trustee.

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WHAT THEY DO

What a Professional Trustee Does

Professional Trustees do much of the same duties as any other Trustee would. Some of a Trustee’s common responsibilities could include:

Filing and paying all taxes
Keeping assets safe and distributing them
Overseeing various business interests
Managing investments
Resolving Beneficiary disputes
Keeping records
Communicating status with Beneficiaries
And more

What to Look for in a Professional Trustee

While you can expect a Professional Trustee to be knowledgeable and an expert in their role, there are a few things to look for. Mostly, you want to find somebody you feel compatible with and who you believe you can trust. Understand the following before selecting your Professional Trustee:

You Want Competence and Expertise
Look for a Professional Trustee or Trust Company with experience handling your size and type of estate.
Be Aware of the Cost
Have the money conversation upfront. You should know if your state has a reasonable compensation law and what the average percentage or cost to act as Trustee tends to be. Ask about the location of the estate and the Professional Trustee. A Corporate Trustee might have an office in a location that could allow you to avoid certain fees and taxes. And remember, you’ll likely have to compensate any Trustee, even a close friend or family member. It’s a tough job, and they do deserve compensation for their time and work.
Think about Liability
There is a sense of liability that falls on a Trustee. Anything from the mishandling of assets (whether it be intentional or unintentional), to accounting mistakes, to bad investment decisions and more could result in legal action against your Trustee. Not only would a Professional Trustee understand all these liabilities, they would likely have insurance to protect them. But beyond that, they have the knowledge to avoid any potential issues in the first place.

Learn More

What to Look for in a Professional Trustee

You Want Competence and Expertise
Look for a Professional Trustee or Trust Company with experience handling your size and type of estate.
Be Aware of the Cost
Have the money conversation upfront. You should know if your state has a reasonable compensation law and what the average percentage or cost to act as Trustee tends to be. Ask about the location of the estate and the Professional Trustee. A Corporate Trustee might have an office in a location that could allow you to avoid certain fees and taxes. And remember, you’ll likely have to compensate any Trustee, even a close friend or family member. It’s a tough job, and they do deserve compensation for their time and work.
Think about Liability
There is a sense of liability that falls on a Trustee. Anything from the mishandling of assets (whether it be intentional or unintentional), to accounting mistakes, to bad investment decisions and more could result in legal action against your Trustee. Not only would a Professional Trustee understand all these liabilities, they would likely have insurance to protect them. But beyond that, they have the knowledge to avoid any potential issues in the first place.

Learn More

HOW IT WORKS

Create a Legally Valid Estate Plan in 3 Steps

1

Create your estate plan
Creating a will or trust through our platform is easy, and for your first time, we’ll ship your documents to you for free. Once you have your plan, make sure to get them signed, witnessed, and notarized to help ensure your plan is legally valid.
2

Schedule your signing ceremony.
Finding a notary, gathering your witnesses, coordinating your appointment—it can be a hassle. To make matters worse, not all notaries will notarize estate planning documents. We make this step much easier through our notary partners. Click here to log in to your Trust & Will account and view your notary options.
3

Sign, witness, and notarize.
Properly sign your documents in the presence of your witnesses and notary. After your witnesses also sign, the notary will provide their signature and seal. Then, safely store your documents for safekeeping. No need to mail your documents back to us.

Your dedicated support team.

Questions about your plan? Don’t rely on googling or guesswork - your support team is on the case. Even if we’re not in-office, we always respond as soon as possible. We’re here to make the process easy.

We’re available:
• Monday-Friday 7am-5pm PT