A trust protector is a person who is appointed to exercise one or more powers to affect the trust and the beneficiaries’ interests. About half of the states currently recognize trust protectors. The Trusts and Estates Newsletter discusses two articles with opposing views regarding trust protectors. One article, “Why You May Need a Trust Protector”, by Tatiana Serafin (Barron’s Penta, Mar. 3, 2012), advocates trust protectors from a consumer’s perspective. The other article, “The Case Against the Trust Protector”, by Alexander Bove, Jr. (ACTEC Law Journal, Summer 2011), cautions attorneys when integrating a trust protector into a plan without warning clients of the need to impose fiduciary duties on the protector.
Trusts and Estates Newsletter agrees in part with both articles, emphasizing that it is important to strike a balance between flexibility and accountability. Trust settlors should certainly ask their attorneys about trust protectors, but attorneys should be clear about how a trust protector would be incorporated into the settlor’s agreement.
See John T. Brooks, Do We Need Protection From Trust Protectors, Trusts and Estates Newsletter, Mar. 28, 2012.
Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.)) for bringing this article to my attention.
