When it comes to your estate plan, you have a lot of important decisions to make. One major decision, if you choose to establish a trust, is to choose your trustee.
According to CPA Journal, the trustee controls your trust.
Strong sense of judgment
Your trustee has the responsibility of administering your trust. They should be fair and compassionate. The trustee has to ensure the proper handling of your trust. They operate and control it. You have a lot of flexibility when it comes to establishing a trust. You can create various terms for distribution. The trustee follows your rules to the letter and has to make decisions based on fiscal responsibility and what you consider important. Your trustee has to be able to handle the responsibility of tax filings and distributions.
Easy to trust
Not only should you be able to trust your trustee to carry out your wishes, but your beneficiaries need to trust him or her also. Unlike an executor of a will, a trustee remains in charge of the assets until the trust distributes all of the assets. Depending on your trust, this may happen quickly or it may happen over the course of years. Trustees begin their job when the assets enter the trust. Your primary beneficiaries have to work with your trustee, so you need to ensure that the trustee gets along with the beneficiaries and that the beneficiaries can trust your choice.
While some people choose a professional CPA, financial advisor, or other trustee, others choose family members. For example, if you have a financially savvy child or relative, you may ask him or her to be the trustee.