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We recently interviewed estate attorney and professional trustee Marc Cusano, Esq., of Borchers Trust Law on the topic of professional trustees. Below are a few thoughts he shared that we thought were especially beneficial to families in the estate planning process.

From Marc Cusano, Esq.

When someone passes away and their trust takes effect, we find that many families assume one person will step in to handle everything. In reality, there are usually two types of trustees involved: an administrative trustee and a long-term trustee.

The administrative trustee steps in right after the death of the last surviving spouse, generally the person who created the trust. Their job is mostly short-term and focused on managing the transition of the estate. They’re responsible for:

  • Paying final bills, taxes, and funeral costs
  • Collecting and valuing the estate’s assets
  • Making sure everything is properly transferred into the trust
  • Distributing funds to the right beneficiaries

This is a task-intensive time, and our experience is that this stage usually lasts six to eighteen months. Once everything is in order, the administrative trustee’s work is done.

After the assets are distributed, the long-term trustee takes over. Their role is ongoing, sometimes for decades.

For example, our clients generally leave the largest portions of their wealth to their heirs through trusts. Each child could then have their own inheritance trust, which might last for their lifetime or even longer. The long-term trustee’s job is to:

  • Manage investments
  • Make distributions based on the trust’s rules
  • Protect the assets over time

This role is about stewardship and making sure the trust keeps working as intended, even as life and generations change.

Do they need to be the same person?

No, and often, they shouldn’t be. The administrative trustee needs to be organized and detail-oriented for a short, intensive period. The long-term trustee needs patience, relational intelligence, investment knowledge, and good judgment for the years ahead.

For families with more complex estates, we recommend considering a professional trustee. Look at your financial world and create a job description for the two trustee roles. Within your family, do you have individuals well prepared to manage the responsibilities? Do they have financial experience? Are we setting our children up for conflict by making them make large financial decisions together?

If families have worries about either the complexity of the balance sheet or avoiding conflict, it’s worth asking about a professional trustee for one or each of these roles.