The person who makes decisions about the money or property in the revocable living trust is called the trustee. If there is more than one, they are co-trustees. A successor trustee may also be named and acts only if a trustee can no longer fulfill that role.
Can husband and wife trustee?
You can be trustee of your own living trust. If you are married, your spouse can be trustee with you. Most married couples who own assets together, especially those who have been married for some time, are usually co-trustees.
What is a co-trustee of a living trust?
When there are multiple trustees appointed to manage a trust, they are called co-trustees. A trustee manages and administers a trust, including selling and distributing trust property, and filing taxes for trust income when necessary.
Can you have two trustees on a living trust?
There is no limit to the number of trustees a grantor can name in a trust. There are, however, practical considerations involved with naming trustees, such as experience in trust administration, trust tax, knowledge of the trust grantor’s wishes and issues that can arise when naming an individual person as trustee.
What is the difference between a trustee and a co-trustee?
A trustee is an individual or company that serves a managerial function in connection with some type of property. A successor trustee is a new trustee who replaces a previous trustee, while a co-trustee is a trustee that serves at the same time as another trustee.
Do both co trustees have to sign?
Joint trustees usually both are required to sign, but if the trust authorizes one signature, it would govern.
What happens when one co-trustee dies?
When the trustee dies, someone else must take over since a trust can’t operate without a trustee. If there was a co-trustee, like with a joint trust, the surviving co-trustee typically becomes the sole trustee (unless the grantor specified different terms in the trust agreement).
Is it good to have co trustees?
Appointing co-trustees may seem like a good choice for many reasons. Having two trustees can act as a safeguard, since there is a second person with access to records and responsibility for management and monitoring. In theory, having two trustees reduces the burden on each, since the work is shared.
Can a parent be a co-trustee of a trust?
The parent is the trustee while alive. For these purposes, let’s assume that the parent is a widow. She is the mother of four living children. She names two of her four children as successor co-trustees of her trust. These two are to assume the obligations and responsibilities of the trustee at their mother’s death.
What happens when there are three co-trustees in a trust?
For example, if one trustee wants to sell some property and distribute cash and a co-trustee wants to retain the property, there is a stalemate. If there are three co-trustees, the majority prevails, so an odd number of co-trustees are not such an issue in regards to disagreement.
When to make your spouse a co trustee?
If you’ve just remarried, making your spouse a co-trustee will probably be necessary if you plan to add jointly owned assets to the trust. It will also enable your spouse to manage the assets if you’re incapacitated.
When to use co personal representatives or co trustees?
A client walks in who wants to create a trust or will and who has two (or more) children. When we get to the question of who will handle the business of a client’s will or trust, the client almost invariably says “I want all of my children to serve together as Co-Personal Representatives (or Co-Trustees or Co-Executors) of my estate.”
