Considering Family Members as Your Fiduciary?
Scottsdale Fiduciary, Phoenix Fiduciary, Sun City Fiduciary, Peoria & Glendale Fiduciary

Here are some questions you should ask yourself:

1. Does the relative have a strong personality, capable to handle a load of unfamiliar tasks, possibly with very short notice or no notice at all? Can the person respond and act in an organized fashion? In the course of administering a will or trust, the fiduciary has to meet a number of deadlines such as the estate tax return, fiduciary tax filings and periodic financial reports to heirs or beneficiaries.

2. Is the person an "administrator type", familiar with handling potentially large amounts of paperwork coming from banks, accountants, attorneys, government offices, pension plans, stock brokers, etc.? Can the person communicate efficiently and clearly with these organizations and with your heirs or beneficiaries?

3. Does the person have the time required to handle the administration? Depending on the size and complexity of a trust or estate, the time spent with the administration can be many hundreds of hours and go on for years. For someone holding a full-time job the additional workload can be overwhelming.

4. Does the person have the educational background and skills required to handle your assets, which can include real estate, life insurance policies, retirement accounts, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, loans, mortgages, income property, collections, antiques, etc.?

5. How has the person managed their own finances. Does he or she have an unblemished character and the moral fortitude to handle or have access to potentially large amounts of money?

6. If the person's ethics are solid and unquestionable, how confident are you that he or she will faithfully follow your instructions, even if the person should disagree with the instructions in your will or trust? Will your intentions be second-guessed and possibly re-interpreted by the fiduciary, or will your instructions be followed faithfully and your assets handled exactly like you have instructed?

7. How are your family dynamics? Is there mistrust, envy, animosity, or outright hostility between potential heirs or beneficiaries? Will the selection of your trustee automatically trigger a family feud because the rest of the family suspects favoritism? Consider that it takes just one person who thinks they got slighted, overlooked, or treated unfairly to end up in court and your life's work and savings will be gobbled up by attorney fees. If person you have in mind is well liked and respected by the rest of the family the chances for non-contended trust administration are much better.

8. If there is potential for legal challenges, will the person you have in mind be able to stand up for you? Does he or she have the backbone to defend you to make sure your wishes are followed and that the product of your life's work is managed and /or distributed the way YOU want it?

9. Can the person stomach personal attacks, false accusations, nasty attorney letters, and actually going to court to defend your will or trust? Is he or she likely to succumb to pressure from family? Will he or she throw in the towel if a legal dispute drags on for months or even years or when accusations become personal or when the attacking party has a particularly nasty attorney?

If you are not sure about the answers to any of these questions, the administration of your will or trust might be better served by a knowledgeable, independent, professional fiduciary.

As your private fiduciary, I would not be emotionally involved in family matters and therefore able to make unbiased decisions based strictly on the instructions you provided or the language in your Will or Trust.

Please call me if you have any questions or to discuss your personal situation.
We offer free confidential consultations.

Call: 602-334-4084
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