Many parents in the position of putting together their legacy plan, their asset protection plan or their estate plan will contemplate how they can involve their current family members including their children in the process.
Automatically choosing the oldest child to serve as your personal representative executor and successor trustee is not always the most appropriate solution for each family. Relying on a motion or presuming that the oldest child is the one who should automatically handle these responsibilities of the estate administration and trust management can be a problem.
The responsibility can be a significant amount of work for someone who is not prepared for this opportunity and the complicated estate can go on for up to one or two years or longer.
Choosing the person or child most capable of handling the responsibilities associated with the position and someone who has the right capacity to assume the role is strongly recommended. You do not always have to rely directly on a family member to carry out this important task. In fact, it may make more sense for you to use the services of a professional. Consulting with a knowledgeable estate planning attorney is one of the most critical steps that you can take in this process.
Sitting down with an estate planning lawyer can help you review your current documents as well as determine who should serve in the roles of executor, successor trustee, and personal representative.
