If you are an older adult living in Spokane, Washington, you may be thinking of creating a revocable living trust. When you do this, you also need to consider who your revocable living trust trustee is going to be. Like many other aspects of estate planning, choosing a trustee that you can trust and depend on is absolutely essential. If you are struggling to make this decision, having the help of an estate planning attorney can be beneficial, especially when it comes to other aspects of creating a revocable living trust.
What is a Revocable Living Trust Trustee?
If you are working on your estate plan for your Spokane estate, you may want to create a revocable living trust. This is a type of trust that is created by a grantor during their lifetime, outlining their final wishes to be acted upon after they have passed away. Unlike an irrevocable living trust, this type of trust allows the grantor to make changes to their trust as they see fit.
Revocable living trusts are a common option for Spokane residents as they allow you to continue to benefit from your assets during your lifetime even if they are added to your trust.
One aspect of creating this type of trust is establishing a revocable living trust trustee to oversee your last wishes. Selecting a trustee that you can depend on is critical for long-term stability and financial protection, especially when it comes to the best interests of your beneficiaries.
The revocable living trust trustee will be the person who is in charge of your trust after you have passed away. They will oversee the process of probate, asset management, documentation, paying off debts, and dispersing assets to beneficiaries.
What Does a Trustee Do?
If you pass away without having any type of estate plan, the probate court will usually take over and establish an administrator on your behalf. However, when you have a revocable living trust, you have already made arrangements for somebody to take charge of your estate when you pass away.
A revocable living trust trustee will act according to your last wishes, settling debt, managing assets, taking the correct legal steps, and ensuring things like assets and heirlooms are given to the right beneficiaries. The trustee may also have to resolve conflict between family members or beneficiaries if there are legal concerns or issues with how assets are dispersed.
Here are some skills a trustee will need to have in order to do this job:
- Technical skills: Trustees may need to have some basic technical skills depending on your estate plan. These skills may revolve around investments, taxes, elder laws, estates, and income.
- Estate planning knowledge: A trustee will also need to have some administrative abilities regarding estate planning so that they can complete their duties thoroughly. This may include preparing and reviewing income and tax returns, making healthcare decisions, processing transactions, generating statements, and paying off debts.
- Leadership: Trustees will need to have strong interpersonal skills since they will be communicating directly with beneficiaries. They should have strong leadership abilities, allowing them to complete their trustee duties while maintaining empathy and impartiality.
If you don’t know how to pick a trustee for your trust or need help with other aspects of your revocable living trust, you need to hire an estate planning attorney. An attorney will have experience with revocable living trusts and can help you understand who can be a trustee of a trust and who would be the best fit.
Who Should Be Your Trustee?
Now that you know what the role of a trustee is in Spokane, Washington, how do you go about selecting a trustee who can do the job? This can be a hard decision to make, especially if you have limited options among your friends and family members. Keep in mind that in some situations, it may be better to hire a professional to act as your trustee.
For example, it is often best to choose a trustee who is not directly connected to a beneficiary since they may struggle to be impartial. Or you may have friends and family members who don’t get along with some of your beneficiaries, which could also create issues with impartiality.
Here are some attributes to consider when choosing a trustee to oversee the details of your revocable living trust.
Loyalty
One of the most important aspects of choosing a trustee is picking somebody who is loyal. You need to choose somebody who you can trust to uphold your last wishes and do their duties with the utmost integrity. Ideally, a trustee should have your best interest at heart as well as the best interest of your beneficiaries.
Impartiality
Possibly, one of the hardest aspects of choosing a trustee is finding somebody who can be impartial throughout the estate process. You do not want to choose somebody who is going to play favorites among your beneficiaries or make decisions in their own best interests.
Because of this, you may need to consider choosing a trustee outside of your immediate family, such as a friend or an estate planning professional.
Communication
When the grantor passes away, one of the biggest roles of a trustee is communication. The trustee will need to communicate with the probate court, any creditors, the IRS, and the beneficiaries.
Choosing somebody who has strong communication skills is absolutely essential in order to avoid a lengthy probate process that can result in extra costs for your beneficiaries.
Efficiency
Lastly, you want to choose a trustee who you know is efficient and can manage your revocable living trust in a productive way. They should have some administrative skills with a high standard of care to ensure every step of the process is done correctly and thoroughly.
Get in Touch With an Estate Planning Attorney Today
If you want to get started on your revocable living trust, reach out to an experienced estate planning attorney at Legacy Law Group in Spokane, Washington. Contact us today at 509-315-8087 to speak with one of our attorneys to get the process started.
