Yesterday, I met with a client in our Mandeville office to establish a Louisiana Revocable Living Trust. One of the primary concerns that came up was the client’s nervousness about naming either of her two children as the Successor Trustee of her trust and the Executor of her will. Her fear arose from the fact that her kids often butted heads, and she didn’t want them to have to work together to settle her estate, nor did she want them to feel that she was favoring one over the other.
The solution we came up with was to name a neutral 3rd party as Trustee and Executor. This way someone removed from the emotion in settling the estate could make fair and unbiased decisions when it came to settling the estate. We did designate a portion of the estate to go to this third person as compensation for their work as Trustee and Executor, and the client left feeling she had arrived at the fairest solution possible. So if you are having trouble deciding which, if any, of your children will manage your estate when you are gone, consider naming a neutral 3rd party to manage the administration of you estate. To figure out the best way to set up your Louisiana Estate Plan to prevent in-fighting amongst your children, call (504) 274-1980 in the Metairie and New Orleans Area or call (985) 246-3020 in Mandeville, Covington, Slidell, Houma, Thibodaux, and surrounding areas.