Your estate plan is key to ensuring your assets will be distributed according to your wishes when you die. One of the most significant aspects of your estate plan, however, isn’t to whom the assets will be distributed but who will oversee their distribution. The trustee you choose will play a significant role in managing all of the financial aspects of your estate after your death, so it’s wise to consider this decision carefully.

Your first decision in choosing a trustee is whether you’ll designate an individual or a professional (such as an attorney or accountant) trustee. Many people reflexively choose an individual — such as a close friend, spouse or other family member — because they think someone who’s close to them will be best equipped for the responsibility. However, this isn’t always the case, especially with large, complicated estates.

Also, the trustee is responsible for ensuring that all estate planning documents, including your last will and testament, are executed objectively and without bias. The personal feelings of close friends and family members may make it hard for them to accomplish this.

If there isn’t a close friend or family member who you believe is capable of handling trustee duties faithfully and objectively, you could designate a professional trustee instead. You’ll benefit from professional investment management and estate settlement experience while also minimizing the potential impact that family dynamics and emotions could play in the fulfillment of your wishes.



Your professional trustee will be subject to strict fiduciary regulations that ensure decisions are made in the best interests of your estate — not any particular individual or beneficiary. By designating a professional trustee, you can be assured that your estate plan will be executed objectively and unemotionally.

Many bank trust departments and trust companies provide professional trustee services. In addition to handling estate settlement, they may offer other professional services such as investment, financial and tax advice. In addition, they can usually tap into a network of other professionals that can be helpful in the estate settlement process.

Of course, professional trustees charge a fee for their services that typically ranges between 1% and 2.5% of the value of the estate’s assets annually, depending on the size of the estate. So, cost should be a factor in deciding whether to designate an individual or a professional trustee.

If yours is a small and relatively simple estate, and you have a close friend or family member who’s both equipped and willing to serve as trustee, this could be your best option. However, if your estate is large and complex, or you don’t have any good options for designating an individual trustee, you could be better off designating a professional trustee.

There’s a third “hybrid” option: You could designate both a professional trustee and an individual who’d share estate settlement responsibilities and serve as co-trustees together. While there’s potential for this to lead to conflict, if you carefully allocate responsibilities, it could be a way to ensure that you have the best of both worlds. For example, the trustee could handle the more complicated administrative and investment duties while the individual trustee takes care of simpler routine tasks such as paying outstanding bills and taxes.

One of the best gifts you can provide your heirs is the certainty that any assets left to them will be distributed properly and fairly. The right trustee is essential to ensure your estate will continue to be well-managed into the foreseeable future. We can help you determine the best trustee option for your situation.