co-trustee

My sistere recently had her name added to my mothers
trust, as co_trustee. What does this mean?
(california)

JULY 30, 2001

DEAR MRMREBR:

Do you mean that the mother authorized and gave her permission to add the daughter's name as a co-trustee, or that the daughter did this on her own?

Trustees are responsible for managing a decedent's assets (money and property) while they are living or after they are dead, depending on the type of trust that is formed.

SINCERELY,

[email protected]

co_trustee

Mother gave her permission. Does a co-trustee have the power to change the asset distribution?

JULY 30, 2001

I am not qualified to answer this question. You would need to speak to a local attorney about this, or post your question on the website www.lawguru.com, or even post in on this website on the message board about Trusts.

I don't think that a co-trustee would be able to have much influence on changing asset distribution, but she might have a little power to do that. Since there are other co-trustees involved, all would have to agree, and anyway, they are generally supposed to follow the specific instructions of the trust owner (your mother) which specific instructions may already be recorded. It would depend on the circumstances and how well the trust was written.