***Why do you Need to Use Trained Independent Trust Consultant if you Feel the Need for a Trust?

Trusts and Trust Companies have existed for hundreds of years. Trusts existed back in the days of Rome, and became popular in England when the knights left their properties in the care of someone they trusted while they went away to fight in the Crusades. Trusts provide a continuity of service to those who have a need for a relationship built upon a confidence and on legal protection. Trust laws vary among the different states and countries. There are many different kinds of trusts. The premise, however, is the same in every jurisdiction and in every type of trust. The law provides certain protections and assurances that the person who sets up the trust can be assured that their wishes will be carried out and fulfilled.

Most people don’t understand trusts. In fact, most of your financial advisors cannot explain the specific roles of the various parties to a trust. Only a person trained in trusts can clearly explain what a trust is and how it works. Most trust officers working for a trust company can help you with this. In addition to our own trust officers here at Summit Trust Company, we also have relationships with trained Independent Trust Consultants. These are financial advisors and insurance agents who have worked with us in the past and have gained the kind of knowledge and experience that will help you to understand trusts and how they can work for you.

How important is it that you work with a trained Independent Trust Consultant? Usually it can be quite important, and quite beneficial. While experienced attorneys are the only professionals that can legally draft a trust, an Independent Trust Consultant can help you with the basics of how a trust works and what you need to do to prepare the information that the attorney will require. This can be a real time saver for you, and for the attorney, and usually saves you money in the process.

How important is the choice of a Trustee for your trust? The fact is, if you are like most families that have a trust, it is probably a Living Trust, and you are probably the trustee of your own Living Trust. Who could be better than yourself, to act as trustee of your own Living Trust? On the other hand, what happens when you become unable to act as your own trustee? Here is where you need to make a choice. Most of you would choose either your spouse or one or more of your children. That is the norm, and works well almost every time.

Of course, if you have no other person that you can trust to be your successor, then maybe a Trust Company might be your choice. Your Independent Trust Consultant can help you with that. But there may be other issues involved in your particular set of circumstances that could cause you to desire a Trust Company right from the beginning.

While Living Trusts are really a good thing to have, and probably serve the great majority of families well, you might also have an estate large enough, or complex enough, to want to have either an Asset Protection Trust or a Dynasty Trust, or both. One helps with protecting assets from litigation and other perils, and the other helps to perpetuate an estate without being diminished over the generations by estate taxes.

Whatever your needs, it is most important that a structure be put in place that will assure that your needs and desires be achieved. It may require working with a trust company. Most of you have never worked with a trust company, and may not understand the role of such an institution. Indeed, most people don’t need a trust, much less a self-trusteed Living Trust. If you have just a few assets and don’t mind having some exposure to the probate process at your death, then a Last Will and Testament might be your choice.

If you have an estate that you want to protect for heirs and it will need some professional assistance, then a Trust Company might by your choice. In our case, most of the new relationships that we establish with people such as yourself come to us through Independent Trust Consultants and Attorneys. By the way, if you don’t know one of these professionals, we can help you find one. For us, it is most important that some professional be your guide, because this professional knows your particular needs and situation, and can help us to understand your objectives clearly.

Utilization of trusts begins with working with an advisor who has knowledge of trusts. The Independent Trust Consultants with whom we work generally will form a team, including an attorney and one of our trust officers, and perhaps an insurance agent or a financial advisor, and possibly your accountant. The process begins with an assessment of your goals and desires for your assets and business interests, and the current structure of your estate and asset protection plan.

A trained Independent Trust Consultant knows what to look for, and has the benefit of experience and the support of professionals in trust law and administration. The Independent Trust Consultant will have training in data gathering, document collection and preliminary analysis to assess needs. They are trained in a routine so that nothing is missed, and those people with whom you wish to share your data are completely inrformed. The consultant is trained as a team leader and has software systems to back up his process.

Don’t under-estimate the value of the Independent Trust Consultant. Sometimes it is the minor details that, if ignored, can create real problems out in the future. That is why your trained Independent Trust Consultant should maintain a constant vigil to watch for changes in your situation and help you anticipate problems and head them off before they become unmanageable.

As you can see, we at Summit Trust Company are very encouraged when we know that a client is working with a trained Independent Trust Consultant. We can feel that you are in good hands and that your needs will ultimately be reflected in the trust documentation and in the future relationship that we have with you and your professional advisors.

Please seek professional assistance to help you in the achievement of your objectives, and choose carefully the professional team of experts for all of your planning.

George P. Brown Ph.D.