October 25, 2022

Don't Let Yourself Get Spooked by Your Existing Trustee!

Danielle and her siblings are young adult beneficiaries of a Trust and do not fully understand its terms, specifically the distribution provisions. The existing Trustee is a distant family member who is not experienced with administering a trust and who has never explicitly talked with the beneficiaries about the Trust’s terms. The beneficiaries are aggravated with the length of time the Trustee takes to answer questions and are often confused by the responses. They wonder what they should reasonably expect from the Trustee in the administration of their Trust.

A close friend hears the beneficiaries’ frustrations and introduces them to Piedmont Trust Company. The Piedmont team coaches the beneficiaries on what they should expect from an active, engaged, professional Trustee:

1. Reporting of current valuations of Trust assets;
2. Meetings about investments, often featuring conversations with managers;
3. Details about distribution requests and resulting decisions; and
4. Explanation of income tax returns and other administrative details of the Trust. 

Currently serving as Trustee of over 250 trusts, Piedmont is skilled and experienced in trust administration. Questions and requests are answered and decided locally rather than forwarded to a home office of a larger institution. Danielle and her siblings like the idea of replacing their existing Trustee with a boutique firm such as Piedmont with over 90 years of expertise focusing on families. To learn more about our fiduciary and family office services, please contact us.