Can beneficiary of trust change the trustee?

[MikeRobinson29]

North Carolina

Please tell me if the beneficiary of a trust can appoint someone else as trustee.

What happened was my father left everything to my mother and died last year. Before he died he had appointed my grandfather as trustee. Last month my grandfather resigned as trustee and appointed the lawyer as trustee that helped them with the will and trust paperwork.

My mom now wants to me to be the trustee since I am her son and can help her manage her money and guide her.

I need to know if there is any way the lawyer can deny our request and how do we go about the transfer? I am visiting from California later this week to meet with the lawyer and my mom.

Thank you in advance.

 

[Dandy Don]

A beneficiary can NOT change the trustee, but can have significant input as to suggesting a replacement/successor trustee.

First thing you need to do is to read a copy of the actual trust to see what the language/instructions say about successor or alternate trustees--your father may have already suggested the names of people he wanted to serve in that capacity or he might not have made any provision at all. Also try to find out what type of trust it is.

The clerk of the court gets to appoint and approve trustees, so you also need to be consulting with the trustee attorney about this (or perhaps get a second opinion from another trust attorney). It would be preferable if your mother, as the trust beneficiary, brought up this topic with the trustee, perhaps by politely asking "What would happen in the event that you, the attorney trustee, could not serve as trustee due to illness or death? What provisions are in place to name a successor trustee, or how is that done?" You yourself could bring up this topic also, but it would seem a bit forward and trustee might assume (rightly or wrongly) that you are implying he is incompetent and that you are out to "get his job". First, butter him up by thanking him for all the work and time and effort he has already put in into managing the trust and you and your mother should get some type of idea as to what investment vehicles he has placed the assets in--are they in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, money market accounts, etc.

Also try to get some idea if this trustee just has background only as an attorney or what other financial qualifications/experience does he have? This attorney/trustee will probably have a great influence on naming who the successor trustee is, so if you play your cards right he can amend the trust to add your name to be successor/alternate trustee if he likes you and feels you are business savvy enough to handle the job.

You can informally advise your mother about managing her money, but any official decisions about the trust assets can only be made by the trust attorney but your mother can make suggestions about what she thinks should happen and the trustee has a responsibility to at least listen to her and consider her ideas and then approve or reject them.

 

[MikeRobinson29]

Thank you

Thank you Dandy Don,

I was hoping you would reply. I have read your posts and I do appreciate your comments. Please disregard my previous post (same question).

I am meeting with the trustee lawyer this week and have already done the things you say, being thankfull and buttering her up for all of the help she has done so far, but I'm a businessman so that is always the way we deal with people.

Thank you.

 

[MikeRobinson29]

To Dandy Don

Dandy,

I wanted to ask you about the following:

"your father may have already suggested the names of people he wanted to serve in that capacity"

*I believe he might have added an uncle of mine, and my mother would not want him watching over her affairs and does not trust him, does she have any choice on the matter if so?


"Also try to find out what type of trust it is"

*what types are their, what am I looking for?

Thanks for your help.

Sincerely,

Michael Robinson

 

[Dandy Don]

Living trust, revocable trust, irrevocable trust.

First you need to see exactly what if anything the trust document says about alternate trustees. Then if there is any objection, something can be mentioned at the time of your meeting. If she objects she does need to state her objection so a compromise or alternative selection can be suggested.