My clients often struggle with picking the right trust trustee for their revocable living trust.This is understandable given how important it is to make the right choice for your family. As parents, you work hard to provide for the financial security of your children. You may be busy planning how you will teach them financial responsibility, for college, to help them with future career goals, and more. If your children are minors when your estate plan is enacted, it is important that you trust the person who will carry out your plan. It is up to you whether the guardian nominated to care for you minor child will also control your children’s finances or whether another party, a trustee, will handle the financial aspects of their inheritance through a trust. As with guardian nominations, it is important to consider who you trust in this position. There are some overlapping factors to choosing a guardian and a trustee. Of course, you want someone who has the best interests of your children in mind and someone who will work faithfully to execute your wishes. However, there are also special factors to consider when thinking about your trust. The successor trustee is a critical player in your estate plan and will step in to act after your incapacity or death. For the duration of the trust (until your child is no longer a minor or until the age conditions of the trust end) the successor trustee will work to fulfill your wishes by controlling the assets of the trust. You can indicate in your trust that trustee should allocate assets for college, to start a business or pursue an internship, provide a down payment on a home, or other matters important to you and your family. Using discretion, trustees act out your intentions for the benefit of your children. Depending on the age of your children or the conditions of the trust, this might be an arrangement that will last for many years. Therefore, it is essential to select the right person for this job. Here are some factors to consider.

• Willingness: It is always a good idea to ask an individual before naming them a successor trustee. While many people want to help, this is a potentially long-term commitment and one not without complications. Depending on the magnitude of the work involved or the size of your estate, it can be a time-consuming obligation.
• The complexity of your estate: The more complex an estate, the more you should consider how financially savvy your potential trustee is. The person you choose should have a basic understanding of estate planning and tax laws. And more importantly, your potential trustee should be willing to collaboratively work with an attorney or a tax professional during the administration process.
• Age: Because trusts created for minor children are often a long term relationship, many parents planning their estates look to potential trustees who are in their own generation or even younger so that the same individual can serve the lifetime of the trust.
• Location: This can be a tough job for an out-of-state family member or friend. If a competent, qualified choice is close by it may be easier for them to maintain a relationship with the child or see what changing needs exist.
• Good working relationship with guardian: Perhaps you’ve selected someone to care for your minor child and another person who will be in control of the purse strings. A good, collaborative relationship between those parties can make things easier for everyone.

You may already be considering a family member or friend, financial planner, CPA, or attorney. There are further options available. You might pursue a co-trusteeship so that decisions are made by more than one party. If your assets are substantial, you may look into a corporate trustee with a trust protector or advocate also chosen by you.