February 2022
When you create a trust, you will choose a trustee to handle things once you are gone. The trustee must be a trustworthy person who is responsible and able to handle the duties of the position. SmartAsset explains a trustee can be a person, business or other entity. It can be a professional or someone with whom you have a personal relationship. In any situation, the duties remain the same. Specific to trust Trustee duties depend largely on the trust itself. The design of the trust will often dictate what the trustee must do. The trust should include guidelines for the trustee to follow that explain his or her duties. Common duties Trustees may need to handle taxes on the assets within the trust. He or she may have to track down the beneficiaries or send them notices. Trusts that have gradually distribution of the assets may require a trustee to maintain the assets and handle each distribution period. The trustee is financially responsible for the trust and safeguarding the assets within it. He or she must protect the assets and defend against any challenges to the trust. In some cases, he or she may have to sell assets or invest them. Other duties may include managing bank accounts, handling insurance, collecting rent, keeping records and delegating tasks. The most important aspect of the trustee’s duties is protecting the trust assets and ensuring your wishes go as planned. The duty of a trustee is something that may require special knowledge or outside assistance. When setting up a trust, you should set your trustee up with everything he or she will need to do the job properly.
As someone who has dealt with aspects of estate planning, you understand that it contains many moving and complex parts. Though each piece may seem small and unimportant on its own, they come together to offer you a smooth path to where you want to go. An advance directive is one of those small pieces. Though it might seem superfluous or unnecessary at first, you could actually benefit from it hugely in the future. Reasons for having an advance directive The National Institute on Aging discusses the importance of an advance directive . First, what is an advance directive, anyway? In short, it allows for you to leave behind directions for what you want to be done medically speaking in the event that you cannot communicate with anyone. For example, say you struggle with a degenerative disorder like dementia. If you have an advance directive, you can determine what you want to be done in certain medical situations. You can specify when you want to be on life support and for how long, or if you have any situations where you would prefer no life support used and no resuscitation. Who is it useful for? This is useful even for people without neurological or degenerative disorders, though, anyone could get into an accident that leaves them comatose. Anyone could suffer from traumatic brain damage that may have a doctor declaring them braindead or in a vegetative state. If you end up in these situations, you likely still have a strong idea of what healthcare you want to receive. An advance directive is the best way to ensure you get that care, while simultaneously removing the burden of decision-making from your loved ones.
