Martin M. Shenkman ■ Media

The following discussion is intended to help guide you through one of the most important decisions concerning your estate plan and estate planning documents: who you will name to serve in the important positions. While this can be a simple…

In most estate plans, even those for modest estates, positions or roles you may name people to fill include: In a more complex plan, for example, a plan including a comprehensive irrevocable trust, it could include an array of positions…

The persons you might select for each role in your estate plan could include a number of different possibilities. Below are some of the more common relationships or categories of people named. Your options, however, are not limited to any…

Who you select to serve in each fiduciary or other capacity might be affected by other steps you might take. For example, you might trust your sister implicitly and know she is prudent and honorable. However, you also know she…

Introduction. A seemingly infinite number of factors might affect the decisions you make on who to name in each position in your estate plan. Identifying and weighing these factors may be more art than science. But it is essential to…

First ensure that the potential fiduciary is made aware of his or her role. While this may seem obvious, it is a step that many people neglect when naming fiduciaries and others. You should ask each person whether they have…

There could be many different tax and legal obligations that a person you appoint in your estate planning documents might have to address. The most obvious might be that a trustee of a trust has to file income tax returns…

Coordinating the various positions in your estate plan and the individuals named in those positions is a daunting task, and you might have a conversation with all named people to emphasize that they will need to work together. Even if…

One of the most important, and sometimes most difficult, decisions you can make in your estate plan is choosing who to name or appoint to each of the many positions in your plan. Choosing a guardian for a minor child…

Records and Communications. The fiduciary is responsible for maintaining trust records regarding any actions the fiduciary may take. For a trustee, this may include any data collected from expenses paid, distributions made, income earned, and any other action taken in…

While there are many common positions to name people for, there are many less common positions that might be helpful to your documents or plan or to your achieving your goals. The responsibilities, liability and other considerations will vary dramatically…