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an estate plan that includes a revocable living trust is an excellent way to protect yourself and your loved ones upon your passing or in the event that you become unable to manage your own affairs but you may not have considered just how important a successor trustee is this is tilden wisketti of the miss getty law group and before i forget if you'd like help putting together an estate plan give us a call at 888-224-9615 or visit us online at estateandlegacy.com as opposed to other estate planning options a revocable living trust gives you the ability to keep control of and enjoy your accounts and property during your lifetime and to maintain privacy in how the accounts will and property will be managed it will probably also save your loved ones the time and financial burden of going through probate to ensure that your estate plan works as it should when you're no longer able to make manage your own affairs it's important that you that your backup trustee also known as a successor trustee understands the successors trustee's role duties and responsibilities and just where to go when help is needed when does a successor trustee take over well if you have a revocable living trust you're most likely familiar with the idea of a trustee a trustee is an individual or an entity that's in charge of managing investing and handing out money and property to the appropriate people you and possibly your spouse if you're married will most likely act as the initial trustees of your revocable trust as long as you're able however there will likely come a time when you are no longer able to act as a trustee in which case the person you've named as your successor trustee will need to step in when you're unable to make your own decisions well before your passing there may come a time when you are no longer able to make the decisions or handle day-to-day tasks associated with managing investing or handing out the trust accounts and property this is sometimes referred to as incapacity when incapacity occurs the loss of control can be scary if you've named a reliable successor trustee however this individual or entity will be able to step in and make sure that the trusts accounts and property continue to be managed invested and used for your well-being during your life without court involvement just because you're not serving as the trustee does not mean that you will stop being the beneficiary when you pass away obviously you'll no longer be the person managing investing or handing out the trust money in property when this happens your name to successor trustee will step in to manage invest and use the trust money and property for the benefit of those people that you've chosen your beneficiaries although you no longer will no longer be the trustee if you have properly documented your wishes and your trust they'll be carried out by the trustee without the court's involvement there could come a time when you no longer want to be one of the man the one managing the trusts accounts and the property in this instance you could choose to resign as the initial trustee and allow your successor to step up and pick up where you left off or you could allow your successor trustee to act with you as a co-trustee because you're still alive the successor trustee will be managing investing and using the trust accounts and property for your benefit and anyone you've named in your trust to benefit from the trust accounts or property even if you've named a professional company as your success successor trustee allowing them to act while you're still alive and and mentally aware can be a great way for you to see how that successor trustee handles that responsibility so long as you're still mentally able to do so and the trustee allow and the trust allows for it you can fire your successor trustee if they don't don't perform their duties as well as you would like and they'll and you can appoint someone else so what are a successor trustee's duties and responsibilities well although your successor trustee will have control over the trust accounts and property the successor trustee also has legal duties and responsibilities that must be adhered to in general your successor trustee has a fiduciary duty to administer the trust solely in the interest of the beneficiaries and to deal with them impartially as a fiduciary they're held to a higher standard of care additionally the successor trustee cannot use any of the trust accounts or property or the for their own benefit or for any purpose not express expressly listed in the trust also unless specifically authorized by the trust document the successor trustee cannot enter into any transaction that would create a conflict of interest between the successor trustee and the trust or the trust beneficiaries so how can you prepare a success prepare your successor trustee well there's three steps first make sure your estate planning documents are up to date creating an estate plan is a great first step in making sure your wishes are carried out however it's crucial that you keep your estate plan up to date because your successor trustee will have to rely on the trust written terms and do not want to give you do not want to give your successor trustee faulty or outdated instructions secondly when reviewing your trust make sure that the individual or entity is selected as your successor trustee is still the one you want and that the individual entity can still act on your behalf it's also a good idea to make sure that your backup trustee is named for your successor trustee in case something happens lastly review the beneficiaries of your trust and what their what they're to receive are the amounts and timing of the property distribution still what you want a beneficiary circumstances can change quickly and it's important that your wishes are carried out as intended on the topic of the financial power of attorney it's important to review the your financial power of attorney to make sure that the person name to handle the accounts and property that you that are owned by you individually is still able to act in some instances your successor trustee and agent under financial power of attorney may be the same person but if not you want to make sure that these two individuals can work well together should something unexpected happen in the future also although health care documents such as medical powers of attorney advance directives living wills and hipaa authorizations they primarily focus on medical matters they may have a substantial impact on financial matters handled by the successor trustee if you're expecting medical bills to be paid from accounts owned by the trust it's important that your successor trustee have access under hipaa to receive your medical information and to talk to the professionals if any questions are arise during the payment process additionally you should review the other health care documents to make sure that they accurately reflect your wishes and to ensure that you've done a thorough review of all of your estate planning documents remember discuss your estate plan with your successor trustee the next step in preparing your successor trustee is to discuss your estate plan with that successor trustee whether your successor trustee is a family member a close friend or a professional trustee open and honest communication is necessary you can tailor this conversation to meet your needs and your comfort level if you want to keep the majority of the details private until your death you can at least start the conversation by letting the loved one or know or the corporate trustee know that you've chosen him or her to serve as the successor trustee of the trust where to find those necessary documents and which advisors like their your estate planning attorney your cpa financial advisors insurance agents where those people are and who how to contact them once they've assumed that role this will abide avoid having your named success or trustee be surprised by this new role and will help guide them with the initial steps they need to take if you would like to disclose a little more information you could give your successor trustee a general overview of your estate plan and discuss who will receive the accounts and property without disclosing the exact amounts the focus of this discussion is to communicate the goals of your estate plan and alert the successor trustee to any special circumstances that may need to be addressed and that they need to consider lastly if you decided that you want your successor trustee to have full access to all the information and to be ready to step in at a moment's notice you could sit down with your successor trustee and go through each of your documents depending on your comfort level this may be a great time to get the rest of your loved ones involved too we're happy to also sit in on your meetings to facilitate and answer questions that may arise this is very common for clients to want their attorney to do that you may have already taken the first step by including a revocable living trust in your estate plan because we never know what the future holds now is the best time to start having discussions with your successor trustee about your wishes and intentions i hope that you found this video helpful if you'd like to discuss your estate plan or creating a legacy plan give us a call at 888-224-9615 or visit us online at estateandlegacy.com also if you like this video please like it and share it with others who may have find it useful