The Credo of One Professional Trustee
I believe that the transition from generation to generation can be a blessing and not a curse. We often have a greater power than we believe to influence this outcome.
The most important asset of a family is each individual member of the family. The journeys of all the family members becomes a holy tapestry. A trustee best honors the person who funded and created the trust by following the trust document to empower the beneficiary.
Some trustees stop at being financial conservators. While this preservation function is foundational, if it is not tempered by a creative force, it often causes pernicious problems, including the demoralization of the beneficiary and, over time, the undoing of the family. Rather, the goal should be a balanced and enlightened stewardship.
The most important stewardship activity of the trustee is to help cultivate, enhance, empower — and wherever possible, to transform — each beneficiary to fully live in joy and realize all his chief aims.
The family should be better off for the work the trustee does. The trustee lightens the load of the family by doing his job meticulously with a high sensitivity for each family member. The trustee needs to execute the trust faithfully and accordingly to the law and best practices.
The trustee should seek excellence in performing his job. And his job is to be #2, a personne de confiance.
Families vary in the amount and frequency of involvement they prefer. Whatever the actual volume and velocity, they all deserve informative and respectful communications as well as confirmation that the trust continues to run smoothly, appropriately, and consistently with their needs and with family traditions.
Photo by Jessica Rockowitz on Unsplash© 2012 – 2023 Daniel P. Felix, all rights reserved.
