What Is a Trust Protector?

In your pursuit of establishing a valid and enforceable trust document, you may have already been informed of the necessity of naming a trustee. Specifically, a trustee is an individual or institution you call on to manage the assets funding your trust to benefit your designated beneficiary. Well, you may not have heard about the role of a trust protector yet, which may arguably play an equally important role in the managing of your trust. With that being said, please continue reading to learn more about a trust protector and how one of the experienced Butler County trusts attorneys at Heritage Elder Law & Estate Planning, LLC can help determine whether appointing one is necessary.

What should I know about a trust protector?

Essentially, a trust protector is a third-party individual who you may give the authority to oversee the actions of your appointed trustee. That is, they may monitor that the trustee is working toward meeting your trust’s terms and conditions and protecting your beneficiary’s best interests along the way. This serves as a checks and balances system, so to speak, that prevents your trustee from becoming too powerful to the point that it prohibits your intentions and wishes from being met fully.

Under what circumstances is it best to appoint a trust protector?

You must know in your heart of hearts that you can depend on your trustee wholeheartedly, which is likely why you gave them this responsibility in the first place. Yet, it does not hurt to give yourself an extra layer of protection by appointing a trust protector to oversee them. At this time, you should not worry about whether doing so would hurt or offend your trustee. Rather, you must feel certain that this is the best move to make under the following circumstances:

• You consider your estate plan to be a complex one that requires additional oversight (i.e., you have an offshore trust, a trust meant to last multiple generations, etc).
• You predict that significant, personal changes might occur and your estate plan must pivot drastically (i.e., you expect changes to your family dynamic, like grandchildren).
• You anticipate your appointed trustee and beneficiary will have disagreements based on their history of conflict (i.e., you need someone to serve as a mediator).
• You have concerns that your appointed trustee may become mentally incapacitated at a pivotal time (i.e., they are older than you, they have a family history of dementia, etc).
• You are worried that your trustee is not well versed in the legalities of your trust document (i.e., you need someone to adapt your trust to future changes in tax laws or estate laws).

There is no sense waiting any longer if you already know you wish to establish a trust document. So please reach out to one of the skilled Butler County estate planning & probate attorneys at Heritage Elder Law & Estate Planning, LLC today.