I’ve got the co-trustee blues

[Papa Charlie]

Oh man, me too. Relatives-in laws start fighting over the little ****.

That is what happened when my wife's mother passed away. One of the sisters was living in the house and the executor of the estate. She refused to do anything regarding the house or assets for over two years. Then after the housing market dropped out she bought the other siblings out. They would have gatherings of the three sisters, leaving my wife out and divide up jewelry and other items between them.

My wife was the one that took care of her mother and grandmother in their last few months. It is sad what my wife endured from her family. To this day, they rarely speak. It took my wife 5 years to get her pictures as a child from her sister.

I have always said that my wife's three sisters are the Stygian Witches and that she must have been stolen as a baby and adapted. Loved her mother and her grandmother, they were both wonderful ladies and I miss them very much.

 

[bill70j]

FWIW, we spent good money on a two-attorney firm that specializes in living trusts. A friend referred them to us. So we signed up for a "free" seminar that included lunch at a local hotel. We took the bait -- and would do it again.

The living trust puts everything in a single place -- all the way from from named successor trustees to wills to advance care directives to detailed lists of financial accounts and valuable possessions. Plus the attorneys stay on top of state and federal tax laws as they change from one administration to the next, and will amend the trust as necessary to protect the assets. These guys maintain the "master" of the trust.

We have no kids, so had to think through whom we wanted as successor trustees, their alternates., as well as beneficiaries. All of those folks live far away from us but the successor trustees have a copy of the trust, so if we die together unexpectedly, or we both become incapacitated, they will know who needs to do what, and how to get in touch with the attorneys.

This was a big one time investment, but we are glad we did it, and are especially pleased with the attorneys who guided us through the process.

 

[Beckerkumm]

Just be aware of what you really need. I've seen people with less than 1M in assets and a 60 page living trust they paid 5K for that is really just a marketing tool for attorneys. Like any profession, there are attorneys and accountants who create complex documents that people don't understand ( creating an annuity for the provider ) and promote them as some cutting edge estate plan when they are really lipstick for a 60 page pig. Do your homework and generally beware of free lunches as there are none. Dave

 

[Janderso]

new ID and need a return filed unless you can get Ed Jones to transfer directly from mom's trust to the new accounts as of her date of death

The trust is currently in mom's SS#. I assumed we would just split the shares from the trust account into our EJ account and my brother's new account.
As I understand it, a snap shot of the value of the shares is taken on the day of her death and any growth from that date is how capital gains are determined if the shares are sold?
I'll know more by Friday as we meet with our CPA and EJ this week.

 

[Janderso]

Just be aware of what you really need. I've seen people with less than 1M in assets and a 60 page living trust they paid 5K for that is really just a marketing tool for attorneys. Like any profession, there are attorneys and accountants who create complex documents that people don't understand

I think your statement is absolutely true.
I'm convinced they go out of their way to legal speak the documents so you have to go back for them to deal with it.

 

[bill70j]

Just be aware of what you really need. I've seen people with less than 1M in assets and a 60 page living trust they paid 5K for that is really just a marketing tool for attorneys. Like any profession, there are attorneys and accountants who create complex documents that people don't understand ( creating an annuity for the provider ) and promote them as some cutting edge estate plan when they are really lipstick for a 60 page pig. Do your homework and generally beware of free lunches as there are none. Dave

Thanks, Dave. Good advice.

In our case the attorneys were recommended by a friend, and we did a lot of research on the firm after that yummy free lunch.

Our living trust is long and it's comprehensive, and it took a number of sessions to complete it, including adding text that my wife and I developed. I think I understand it - as complex as it is - and I think the price we paid is commensurate with the value of our assets, low as it may be.

I think your statement is absolutely true.
I'm convinced they go out of their way to legal speak the documents so you have to go back for them to deal with it.

I think it is up to a client to make sure everything is understood, including all the legalese. If someone pays a good sum for a document they don't thoroughly understand, and they signed it and had notarized, then that's on them.

 

[Papa Charlie]

I know this is a hard question to answer, probably the right answer will be "It Depends!". But what does it cost to put together a Trust, assets less than $1M?

 

[tq60]

For single person less than 2 k, for a couple less than 3k.

There are some firms that specialize in this and it is very simple.

Email a link to a general set of questions.

A conference call to discuss it.

A second call to confirm understanding and information.

Meeting to sign and done.


After if you have 401k stuff you add trust to them as cheaper for you to do this than lawyer.

Sent from my SM-G781V using Tapatalk

 

[bill70j]

For single person less than 2 k, for a couple less than 3k.

There are some firms that specialize in this and it is very simple.

Email a link to a general set of questions.

A conference call to discuss it.

A second call to confirm understanding and information.

Meeting to sign and done.


After if you have 401k stuff you add trust to them as cheaper for you to do this than lawyer.

Sent from my SM-G781V using Tapatalk

We are a couple and this cost is in line with what we spent. We dealt with a two-attorney estate planning LLC and structured the agreement on a fixed fee basis.

But our process was more involved, including several face-to-face meetings with the estate planning attorney, and four or five drafts before we got all the documents just the way we wanted them. We also spent a good amount of time reviewing the documents with our successor trustees and their alternates and also making sure that all of the assets had proper beneficiary designations.

It took nine months to complete the process. We started in March when our LLC sent out a flyer for a free rain maker four hour seminar/lunch-- and we finalized the trust in December of that same year.

 

[Larry$]

I was executor of my Dad's estate. A few stocks held by E Jones, two small houses and 40 acres of farm land. His wife, Mom, had died 3 years earlier. I going through his stuff I found stock certificates that my mother had inherited from a brother. 4 companies, none of the large amounts. I went to a lawyer since I didn't know what I was doing. Total value of the estate was determined to be about $1.1M. The local Jones office agreed to transfer the shares to my name when my sister & I went there together. She was getting compensating amounts from somethin else. When we went to sell the houses there was a hassle over the way the paperwork had been handled in the past. More lawyer fees. The rental house required evicting a nonpaying renter. She got a lawyer and made all sorts of wild claims. It ended up taking 6 months to get her out, more fees. The Jones office only transferred two of the stocks to my name. When I went to find out why the man I had dealt with had been fired. The new guy couldn't find any record of my dealing with them. Back to the lawyer. It took a long time to get any were with that process. End result was without any records Jones couldn't/wouldn't do anything about it. I contacted the stock companies and had my mother's address change to mine. The lawyer sent the companies what he said was required but they said he didn't. More fees. In the end I still get a very small check every 3 months for the dividends, in Mom's name. Lawyer said it would cost more than the stocks were worth to take it any further. Getting the 40 acres sold also brought up more fees to fix some title issues. Did I mention, I hate lawyers!