Michele

Dear Michele,

It’s easy to understand why would do not want to become your brother’s keeper after your mother passes away. He’ll come after you for everything he wants or needs without regard to what his trust can afford. He will be resentful everytime you tell him no, and if his trust runs out of money, he’ll blame you for spending it on him too quickly. Being a trustee for a spendthrift relative can be a thankless task.

You should talk to your mother about this. It will be better and less chaotic for her to deal with this now than for you to have to deal with finding a new trustee after your mother’s death. Many banks and brokerage firms have trust departments that can serve as the trustee of your brother’s trust. Or, your mother could appoint a private professional fiduciary to serve as his trustee.

If she cannot make up her mind now, she may be willing to amend the trust to allow you to name a trust company or professional fiduciary as trustee upon her death. You can still be the successor trustee of her trust in charge of dividing the trust between you and your brother. At the end of trust administration you would simply distribute your brother’s share to the person or company you select to be his trustee.

If your mother is not willing to deal with this, you can still resign as trustee over your brother’s trust after your mother’s death. The next successor trustee in line will take over. If there are no other successor trustees named, then you can petition the court to appoint a trust company or professional fiduciary as the new trustee.

Len & Rosie

Len Tillem and Rosie McNichol are elder law attorneys. Contact them at 846 Broadway, Sonoma, CA 95476, by phone at 996-4505, or on the Internet at www.lentillem.com. Len also answers legal questions each Saturday and Sunday, 4-7 p.m., on KGO Radio 810 AM.