Q: Are trust management services available and feasible for estates worth about $500,000?
I'm thinking about setting up a trust but don't know anyone I want to trust to be a trustee, so I'm looking for options. I've heard that trust management services are expensive and primarily for the wealthy. Would appreciate suggestions.
A:
This question comes up quite often.
Most of the time the person making the trust will be the initial trustee and designate others to serve after their death or incapacity. Whether hiring a professional trustee is feasible or not depends in part on how long you want/need trust oversight. So a professional trustee liquidating assets and disbursing in less than a year would be significantly less expensive than a professional trustee managing assets for say 20 years for the benefit of grandchildren / great-grandchildren.
While very few trust companies seem to want to administer trusts under $1Million we know of a few Maryland attorneys who actually do this for fairly reasonable pricing. It may be helpful to set up an estate planning consult with an attorney of your choosing and bring this up as a part of the conversation.
While not legal advice or a substitute for sitting down with an attorney I hope the above is helpful.
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