Be a trustee — good or bad idea?
This article questions whether today who should be trusted to handle a families estate: a financial institution or a trusted advisor? Since there has been a declining trust and viability in financial institutions, one might be better off with a trusted advisor.
It is tempting, with so much shifting sand in the financial services marketplace, to consider the relationship between a trusted advisor and his or her firm as more comprehensible: the trusted advisor is still accessible by phone; the family and the trusted advisor have a good working relationship; and the trusted advisor knows the firm’s succession plans. Nevertheless, the selection of that trusted advisor as trustee ought to be fully vetted for its advantages and disadvantages, its opportunities and risks.
A trusted adviser and his or her client, after many years of sharing business and family issues as well as a common perspective, often develop a personal relationship that extends beyond their professional one. It is understandable in that case for the client to name his trusted advisor in his estate plan as his trustee. The client wants the trustee to guard a whole host of goals and dreams which go beyond the preservation of the assets/wealth. The client/donor believes that his trusted advisor understands him; that he has the wisdom to incorporate the donor’s most important values, spoken and unspoken.