It is often a good idea to choose a professional trust management company to be the trustee of your trust. However, you need to be careful and pick the right company to make sure that you are getting a good deal on costs and fees.
If you place a lot of assets in a trust, then you may not want a family member handling the trust after you pass away. You might prefer the services of a professional trustee.
Many financial services companies have trust departments that offer this service. However, the price for managing these trusts is not always clear.
Generally, the costs depend on how much the assets in the trust are worth. The more assets, the greater the cost to manage the trust.
Trust companies do not always make it easy to understand what the total cost is though. Some offer one flat cost to handle everything while others add a lot of fees to handle things like tax preparation and other basic trust administration details.
The key thing to remember is that almost all of the costs are negotiable. If the company wants your business bad enough, they will be willing to negotiate on their fees.
Barron’s has more on the fees in a recent article titled “Trust Costs Go Up; Get Ready to Negotiate.”
Consider having your estate attorney go over the costs of trust management with you. Your attorney can help you find the right deal.
Attorneys are also good negotiators, so he or she can negotiate on your behalf with trust companies to make sure that you get a better arrangement.
Reference: Barron’s (February 28, 2015) “Trust Costs Go Up; Get Ready to Negotiate.”
To speak to an attorney who can negotiate on your behalf contact us at www.ssslegalconsultancy.com.
Published on: 04-Apr 10, 2015
