I know it is a sample of one, but my brother's parents-in-law used an institutional trustee (a bank I think) and things were a nightmare after the father-in-law died. I don't know details of the provisions of the trust (which probably make all the difference), but the institution did all they could to not provide much to the surviving spouse. They wanted to keep the lucrative management fees.
In another case (not an institutional trustee situation), a friend's dad used his estate attorney as trustee (big mistake). The attorney convinced the aging (and likely cognitive declining) dad that his son (my friend; an only child) was a spendthrift (he isn't) and needed an annual sum rather than a lump sum. My friend (in his 70's at the time) ended up suing the attorney (3k miles away) at substantial cost to get a lump sum settlement and ended up with a fraction of what his dad had bequeathed. My guess is that the attorney got to keep the present value of the annuity stream the fees would have represented.
I'd like to think there are good/fair institutional trustees out there, but like financial advisors, the trick is finding one.
In another case (not an institutional trustee situation), a friend's dad used his estate attorney as trustee (big mistake). The attorney convinced the aging (and likely cognitive declining) dad that his son (my friend; an only child) was a spendthrift (he isn't) and needed an annual sum rather than a lump sum. My friend (in his 70's at the time) ended up suing the attorney (3k miles away) at substantial cost to get a lump sum settlement and ended up with a fraction of what his dad had bequeathed. My guess is that the attorney got to keep the present value of the annuity stream the fees would have represented.
I'd like to think there are good/fair institutional trustees out there, but like financial advisors, the trick is finding one.
Statistics: Posted by K72 — Sat Sep 06, 2025 11:01 am — Replies 18 — Views 961