You may wish to keep your trust a private matter between yourself and your named beneficiary. However, this is an estate planning tool that may only function properly when employing outside help. For one, you may need to hire an attorney to help establish your trust document in the first place. Then, you may also have to call on an individual or institution to serve as your trustee to manage and administer your trust when you are no longer around to do so yourself. Lastly, you may go as far as naming a trust protector for your trust. With that being said, follow along to find out the powers given to a trust protector and how a proficient Putnam County trusts attorney at the Law Office of Andres D. Gil, PLLC can help you appoint the right individual to this very important role.

What is a trust protector?

In its simplest terms, a trust protector is a third-party individual who may be responsible for monitoring a trustee’s actions. That said, a trustee’s actions include managing and administering the assets funding a trust to its beneficiary, in a way that aligns with its grantor’s best wishes and the state’s estate laws. So, if a trust protector finds that a trustee is not fulfilling their duties properly, or is rather abusing their power, they may check them and step in as deemed fit.

What are the powers allotted to a trust protector?

The power allotted to a trust protector may depend on the type of trust document you have chosen to establish. But generally speaking, they may be granted the authority to take any of the following actions:

  • They may veto certain trustee decisions that work to the grantor’s and beneficiary’s detriments.
  • They may remove and replace an original trustee unable or unwilling to manage the trust adequately.
  • They may add or remove beneficiaries meant to receive the trust’s assets, and control how much they receive at that.
  • They may amend the trust’s provisions to adapt to the state’s changing estate laws or other altering circumstances.
  • They may review and approve significant investment choices with the trust’s assets before a trustee follows through.
  • They may serve as a mediator to resolve any disputes that may arise between a trustee and a beneficiary.

In the end, you may define the specific powers your trust protector is supposed to hold within your trust document itself. When doing so, you should keep in mind that your trust protector is not meant to suppress your trustee’s authority entirely. Instead, they should only intervene under exceptional circumstances where the safeguarding of your beneficiary’s best interests is found necessary.

There is no sense waiting any longer if you already know you wish to establish a trust document. So please reach out to a talented Putnam County trusts attorney from the Law Office of Andres D. Gil, PLLC today.