How To Be A Trustee

Written in clear, conversational English, this book can help anyone understand how a living trust avoids the complications, expenses, and delays of probate at times of incapacity and death.

The Revocable Living Trust is an efficient and cost-effective estate planning tool, but settling a Revocable Living Trust isn't immediate, automatic, or free.In this booklet, you'll find seven steps that will take you from the moment you find out you've been named the trustee of your loved one's trust right through the day when all the money has been distributed and everyone is happy. These seven steps are all things your lawyer will tell you to do, so there's nothing secret in here. However, after your lawyer tells you these things, you have to go out on your own and get them all done. And--while you're out there on your own--your lawyer's clear direction will suddenly be fuzzy and hard to remember. That's where this booklet comes in. It's a step-by-step guide for family trustees written to guide you clearly and understandably so you can take care of your family.Steve Matteucci has degrees in Economics (BA), Law (JD), Taxation (LLM), and Theology (MDiv). He has been a lawyer, a trustee, and a pastor. As a lawyer, he wrote hundreds of trusts; as a trustee, he managed and settled many trusts; and as a pastor, he understands how hard it can be for families to deal with the business of death.

Written by two longtime Professional Fiduciaries, "Ethics for Trustees", A Guide for All Who Serve as Trustee, is intended as a guideline for everyone who serves as a Trustee of a Trust; Experienced or inexperienced; Attorneys, Fiduciaries, CPAs, Family Members and Friends, etc. Quotes and concepts have been drawn from personal experience, from the Professional Fiduciary Association of California (PFAC) Code of Ethics and from the most recent California Probate Code (2011). Review by an experienced Trusts and Estates Attorney: Ethics for Trustees is an excellent guidebook that draws together important resources and reference materials. It covers some topics few other writers have addressed, and the authors draw on wealth of personal experience. The writing is clear and concise. It is a valuable addition to my professional library. Meredith G. Alcock Trusts and estates attorney www.aalapc.com Review by an Independent Financial Advisor: Whether you are already serving as a professional trustee or considering taking on this role for the first time, we recommend this book. Serving as a trustee is a challenging responsibility. This book will help you understand what is expected of you and how to best meet the role of trustee. Troy B. Daum, CFP Principal Wealth Analytics www.WealthAnalytics.com The Authors: Jane B. Lorenz, CPA, CLPF has been practicing as a CPA since 1975 and started serving as a Professional Trustee around 1990. Marguerite C. Lorenz, CTFA, CLPF began working with Jane in 2003 and has been serving as a Professional Trustee ever since. This book is a labor of love. They know from experience the challenges facing todays Fiduciary, whether amateur or professional. Many professional Fiduciaries operate as sole proprietors, without partners or staff . Jane and Marguerite have benefitted so much from their partnership and business model, they feel good about sharing some of what they have learned. The Readers: Everyone who is in the Estate Planning Process can benefit from a better understanding of what their Successor can and should do. The documents alone do nothing. The selection of the appropriate Successor Trustee is vitally important, as this is the one trusted to fulfill the Estate Plan provisions. How can the right Successor be selected if the one choosing is not familiar with what the job entails? Reading this concise volume gives the reader just what is needed. Before one accepts the role of Trustee he/she should understand the liability, the ethical issues and the depth of responsibility. We believe that reading this book may prevent family upset and financial disaster.

This handbook offers clear and practical guidance for trustees of voluntary organisations. It offers basic information about the responsibilities of trustee boards, and straightforward advice on planning, getting funding, and management.

With samples and explanations of all the necessary documents, this guide provides everything readers need to know in order to dissolve and dispose of assets, understand legal and financial aspects of trusts, handle asset valuation, and more.

Planning for your family's future made easy! If you’re like most people, you want to be sure that, once you’ve passed on, no more of your property and money will be lost to the government than is absolutely necessary. You want to know that you’ll be leaving your heirs your assets and not your debts. You want to be absolutely certain that your will is ship-shape, your insurance policies are structured properly, and that every conceivable hole in your estate plan has been filled. And most of all, you’d like to do all of this without driving yourself crazy trying to make sense of the complicated jargon, jumble of paperwork, and welter of state and federal laws involved in the estate planning process. Written by two estate planning pros, this simple, easy-to-use guide takes the pain out of planning for your ultimate financial future. In plain English, the authors walk you step-by-step through everything you need to know to: Put your estate into order Minimize estate taxes Write a proper will Deal with probate Set up trusts Make sure your insurance policies are structured properly Plan for special situations, like becoming incompetent and pet care Craft a solid estate plan and keep it up-to-date Don’t leave the final disposition of your estate up to chance and the whims of bureaucrats. Estate Planning For Dummies gives you the complete lowdown on: Figuring out what you're really worth Mastering the basics of wills and probate Using will substitutes and dodging probate taxes Setting up protective trusts, charitable trusts, living trusts and more Making sense of state and federal inheritance taxes Avoiding the generation skipping transfer tax Minimizing all your estate-related taxes Estate planning for family businesses Creating a comprehensive estate plan Straightforward, reader-friendly, easy-to-use, Estate Planning For Dummies is the ultimate guide to planning your family’s future.

One of the most critical decisions a person must make when crafting a will or establishing a trust is whom to name as executor or trustee. Being chosen for these important jobs is an honor, and you must know how to perform the tasks correctly. With the help of this new book, The Complete Guide to Trust and Estate Management, you will understand the complex process of carrying out a person s final wishes. This book will provide insight whether you are a lawyer, accountant, financial consultant, spouse, adult child, relative, or friend; the simple, easy to understand language makes this book accessible to everyone. You will become familiar with many estate and trust management terms, such as beneficiary, probate, remaindermen, trust agreement, trust property, trustor, and trustee. In addition, you will learn the many duties and responsibilities of an executor, including the disbursement of property to the beneficiaries, collecting and arranging for the payment of debts, approving and disproving creditors claims, calculating taxes, filing forms, assisting the estate attorney, acting as the representative of the estate, inventorying and appraising the assets, and acting in the best interests of the deceased. After reading this book, you will know how to initiate probate; how to preserve the value of the estate; how to notify beneficiaries; how to send notices to the post office, banks, utilities, and credit card companies; how to file for Social Security, civil service, and veteran benefits; how to file tax returns; and how to file state death and federal estate tax returns. As executor, you will be responsible for settling the deceased person s estate and as trustee, you will be responsible for holding and administering the trust assets in the best interests of the trust s beneficiaries. Using this book as a guide, you can be assured that you will be prepared to properly perform the necessary duties entrusted to you. Atlantic Publishing is a small, independent publishing company based in Ocala, Florida. Founded over twenty years ago in the company president's garage, Atlantic Publishing has grown to become a renowned resource for non-fiction books. Today, over 450 titles are in print covering subjects such as small business, healthy living, management, finance, careers, and real estate. Atlantic Publishing prides itself on producing award winning, high-quality manuals that give readers up-to-date, pertinent information, real-world examples, and case studies with expert advice. Every book has resources, contact information, and web sites of the products or companies discussed.

A ground-breaking exploration of the changing nature of trust and how to bridge the gap from where you are to where you need to be. Trust is the most powerful force underlying the success of every business. Yet it can be shattered in an instant, with a devastating impact on a company’s market cap and reputation. How to build and sustain trust requires fresh insight into why customers, employees, community members, and investors decide whether an organization can be trusted. Based on two decades of research and illustrated through vivid storytelling, Sandra J. Sucher and Shalene Gupta examine the economic impact of trust and the science behind it, and conclusively prove that trust is built from the inside out. Trust emerges from a company being the “real deal”: creating products and services that work, having good intentions, treating people fairly, and taking responsibility for all the impacts an organization creates, whether intended or not. When trust is in the room, great things can happen. Sucher and Gupta’s innovative foundation for executing the elements of trust—competence, motives, means, impact—explains how trust can be woven into the day-to-day and the long term. Most importantly, even when lost, trust can be regained, as illustrated through their accounts of companies across the globe that pull themselves out of scandal and corruption by rebuilding the vital elements of trust.

Your loved one, or a professional may be your best option as your Successor (Trustee/Executor), but don't select anyone without reading this book first! Too many families are no longer on speaking terms because the chosen person did a poor job, or just did not fulfill the required fiduciary duties. "This little book saved our family from World War III, thank you!!" A. B., 86 years old. Ethics for Trustees 2.0 is for everyone who is getting their estate plan written, as every Trustor needs to select a Successor Trustee. This book is for everyone who serves as a Trustee of a Trust; experienced or inexperienced; Attorneys, Fiduciaries, CPA's, Family Members and Friends, etc., this book can help you better understand what is required to do the job well. Quotes and concepts have been drawn from personal experience based on serving as private professional trustees in California. This book is designed to stimulate discussion in our estate planning community, to emphasize the value of continuing education, and to encourage those who serve as a Fiduciary to do their best.