Equipping Your Successor Trustee or Personal Representative

It’s a common scenario: Our client’s estate plan has been finalized, they signed all of the pertinent documents (Trust, Will, powers of attorney, memorial instructions, etc.), and they have come to our office for a brief meeting to pick up their document binder and flash drive.

At some point during their visit, they are likely to raise a few frequently asked – and important – questions:

• Should we tell our trustee (or personal representative) that we have named them to take care of our affairs
• Should we give them a copy of our estate plan?
• What should we tell them about our estate plan?
• What other information should we give them?

These are very good questions, and this article will describe the responses we generally offer.

Informing Your Trustee or Personal Representative. First, let’s define two important terms. If you have a Trust, you named a “trustee” to administer the trust assets in the event of your incapacity or death. In your Will, you named a “personal representative” to administer your property assets after your death. In the interest of brevity, this article will use “fiduciary” as a catch-all term to describe both roles.

As to informing them of their appointment, you should definitely let them know that you have named them to serve as your fiduciary. (Ideally, you would discuss it with them, and receive their consent, before you start the estate planning process.) 

Sharing Your Estate Planning Documents. In most cases, we recommend giving copies of your estate planning documents to the individual(s) you have appointed as your fiduciary.

However, you are by no means required to do that, and before you share with anyone copies of your documents, you should carefully consider the pros and cons. Here are a few:

PROS

• Efficiency. When the time comes for your fiduciary to assume their duties, they will have the legal documents they will need to act on your behalf.
• Clarity. If they have questions (and they will), they can ask you, and you or your estate planning attorney can respond.

CONS

• Privacy. There might be information that you do not want your fiduciary to know while you are alive. Also, if your fiduciary is also a beneficiary or heir of your estate, you might not want them to know what they (and others) will receive after you die.
• Second thoughts. Consenting to serve as your fiduciary might have been easy to do in the abstract, while you were alive and healthy, but seeing your actual estate planning documents might cause them to feel overwhelmed and inadequate to the task.
• Obsolescence. If you amend your estate plan, you would need to either provide your fiduciary with a copy of the amendment, or at least, notify them that their existing copy of the estate plan is no longer up to date.

Telling Them About Your Estate Plan. Whether or not you give them a copy of your estate planning documents, it’s a good idea to tell them about the major provisions of your plan – e.g., whether it contains a Trust or only a Will; important instructions regarding major bequests, special needs provisions, etc.; your wishes regarding health care and end-of-life decisions; and your memorial instructions.

You should also tell them where to find your estate planning documents and other important papers and information, and be sure they understand that your Trust or Will provides for them to receive “fair and reasonable compensation” for serving as your fiduciary.

Sharing Other Important Information. The list of important documents can go well beyond the contents of your estate plan. For your fiduciary to fully administer your estate, their needs for information might include the following:

How to reach your professional advisors

• Estate planning attorney
• Other attorneys
• Bank
• Investment advisor
• Tax professional
• Life insurance agent
• Home/auto insurance agent

Where to find your account credentials

• Online banking
• Banking software (e.g., Quicken or QuickBooks)
• Credit cards
• Mortgage account
• Investment accounts
• Retirement accounts
• Social media

Where to find other important documents

• Tax returns
• Personal property memorandum
• Life insurance policy
• Vehicle titles
• Funeral instructions

Other important information

• Combination to your safe (if you have one)
• Your social security number(s)
• Resources that will help them carry out their duties (e.g., see our Successor Trustee Handbook and Personal Representative Handbook

For your fiduciary’s benefit, we recommend keeping a “cheat sheet” with your estate planning documents that summarizes all of this information. Because one of the most challenging aspects of their role is the detective work involved in tracking down assets, liabilities, and beneficiaries, ensuring that your fiduciary has the information they will need goes a long way toward ensuring an efficient administration of your trust or estate.