Los Angeles Probate Sirkin Law

When you need a professional trustee in Los Angeles, you must consider several issues. One aspect of your selection process is the experience of the private trustee in the Los Angeles area. Next is the cost of hiring a professional trustee vs. the cost of hiring your family member as a trustee.

There is a cost v. benefits analysis involved in picking a trustee and you must analyze the benefits v. the costs as in any business decision.

Tips and Questions about costs of a trustee:

1. Do you charge on an hourly basis or on a percentage basis?
2. Does the trustee need to hire an attorney or is the trustee licensed as an attorney? When you hire a private trustee, your trustee can hire an attorney to advise him or her about the legal aspects of trust administration. Sometimes, the trustee is an attorney. This generally results in one fee, as opposed to two fees, where the trustee acts as his own attorney.
3. If you are selecting a family member as a trustee, will the other family members respect his or her decisions? The cost of a family member trustee whose decisions are not respected can be high as it may result in trust litigation.
4. A benefit of a private fiduciary as a trustee is that he or she has great experience and has all the resources to manage the family’s trust and can hire financial advisors to allow the trustee to make good financial decisions for the trust.
5. Private trustees can handle trusts that only have real estate as assets. Bank are generally reluctant to accept trusts that solely own real estate.

To discuss your trustee needs in revocable trusts and irrevocable trusts, call Mina Sirkin for referrals to private trustees and to discuss the nature of trustee obligations and duties in Los Angeles. Call 818.340.4479