In this Elder Law Minute, Wes Coulson explains the potential problems with naming co-trustees, including requiring two people to act together, confusion when either trustee can act independently, and what can happen when two trustees disagree and reach a tie. He also discusses why parents shouldn’t automatically assume a child will be offended if a sibling is chosen instead.
Introduction
Greetings I’m Wes Coulson from Dent Coulson Elder Law and this will be your elder law minute. We’re happy to present these because we think we can help inform you as to the ways in which we can help you and the things that you need to think about relative to the elder care and estate planning Journey. Hope you enjoy.
The Perils of Naming Co-Trustees
Want to talk to you today about the Perils of naming co-trustees. So often when I have clients come in especially if they have two adult children they want to name co-trustees. Their main concern there is they don’t want to offend either of their children by not naming them.
Will the Other Child Really Be Offended?
And by the way I I always smile when I hear that because when the parent comes in they’re afraid of offending one of their children and if they wind up naming one and then the kids come in when a trustee needs to take over the one that didn’t get named nine times out of a ten is not offended but rather they look at the other one and say oh my goodness thank goodness Mom and Dad dumped all that responsibility on you and not me have fun.
When Co-Trustees Must Act Together
But there are other problems with naming co-trustees. First if you say that they need to both act together then even simple things like writing a check going to a bank going to a broker to sign papers require two people to maybe take a half a day off work to get it done.
When Co-Trustees Can Act Independently
If you say that either one of them can do it individually then you have a situation in which they may not know what the other is doing or may think the other one’s not doing something right and be back and forth whipsawing and that’s not a good situation.
What Happens When Co-Trustees Disagree?
And then worst of all is what happens if they have a Thai vote. Well unless you have special language in your trust to deal with it what happens is nothing gets done.
Think of it as you and I are going out to dinner and I go well how about chicken and you go no I don’t like chicken how about we have spaghetti I go no I don’t want to get spaghetti all over my shirt and you go well how about something simple like hamburgers no I had hamburgers last night how about if we get a steak no I don’t want to spend the money on a steak.
We can go back and forth indefinitely and if we’ve decided to disagree with each other again the answer there is nothing gets done.
Closing
So to be honest with you when people come in and they want to name code trustees I’m generally telling them all that trying to talk them out of it. Thanks take care.
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Dent-Coulson Elder Law is dedicated to providing families in the St. Louis area with their Elder Law needs. Our practice areas include Asset Preservation Planning, Veterans Benefits, Medicaid Eligibility, Alzheimer’s Planning, Special Needs Planning, Estate Planning and more. We understand the financial challenges you may face as you and your loved ones grow older. At Dent-Coulson Elder Law, our clients’ well-being is our number one priority. For immediate help, call (618) 632-7000 (IL) or (314) 567-9292 (MO), or Contact Us and we will get in touch as soon as possible.
