Becky Cholewka: If you choose to have a trust, one of the most important decisions that you are going to make is who is going to act for you as your successor trustee.
They are the ones that are not only going to be able to manage and control and invest the monies that you have, that are in your trust, but also make the decisions of how to spend that money within the trust.
You need to make sure that person is trustworthy, number one. You need to make sure that they are going to follow your wishes, and that you’ve spoken to them so that you’ve been able to share your wishes with them.
It’s not a light decision to make and, again, it shouldn’t be a decision based on birth order. Meaning, just because your oldest son is your oldest son, doesn’t mean this might be the right position for him to take.
You really want to think about who’s good with money. Who’s good at working with financial professionals, for example, to invest properly those monies for you?
Who’s someone good at paying their own bills in a timely manner, would be another thing to consider. Who’s someone who can also take questions from other family members, and keep them updated as to formal accountings that need to happen every year?
Think about those types of skills when you’re determining who is going to be your trustee of your trust.
