How Do We Find an Independent Trustee for Special Needs Trust?
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Question:
I am involved with a special needs trust that seems to require an independent trustee, and because of possible conflict between two residuary distributees (after the prime beneficiary’s death), neither would be a good choice to serve as trustee even if an independent trustee were not absolutely necessary. (The beneficiary is fairly independent but the trust is there to protect about $450,000 left by his mother as supplemental support to his monthly SSDI receipts.) There is no one else related to the situation or the people involved that would be a good choice for a successor trustee. What do you advise?
Response:
It sounds like you need to go with a professional trustee. This can be a bank, trust company or a lawyer who provides this service. Some nonprofits also provide this service for special needs trusts. This will add some expense to the trust administration, but much less than the cost of maladministration.
It also sounds like special needs experience could be helpful and some professional trustees are reluctant to take on special needs trusts because they can involve a different kind of work and expertise than that with which they are comfortable. A local special needs planning attorney could advise you on what services are available in the beneficiary’s community. There are two principal organizations of such attorneys, the Academy of Special Needs Planners and the Special Needs Alliance (a long story as to why there are two separate organizations for such a relatively small specialty.) Here are links to their websites:
https://specialneedsanswers.com (This site also includes a list of pooled disability trusts around the country. Many of the nonprofit organizations that run these trusts also act as trustees of individual special needs trusts.)
https://specialneedsalliance.org
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