Should You Be Your Own Trustee? Pros, Cons, and Alternatives - Davies Law Firm
Episode notes
From Davies Law Firm - Should You Be Your Own Trustee? Pros, Cons, and Alternatives looks at whether serving as your own trustee makes sense for a revocable living trust in Syracuse, New York. Most people who establish a living trust act as trustor, trustee, and beneficiary at once, allowing them to manage bank accounts, real estate, and investments exactly as before, with a successor trustee stepping in only upon incapacity or death. The description explains how New York law treats trustees, including the fiduciary duties and the Prudent Investor Act that apply once an irrevocable trust with other beneficiaries is involved.
Frederick P. Davies of Davies Law Firm, founder of Davies Law Firm, has presented more than 1,000 seminars on living trusts and estate planning, while partner William P. Davies holds a Heckerling LL.M. in estate planning from the University of Miami, and together they guide clients across Onondaga County and Central New York through decisions about who should manage a trust and when. The discussion covers the benefits of self-trusteeship, including control, cost savings, privacy, and flexibility, alongside the drawbacks that can surface when an estate involves extensive investments, active businesses, or family conflict.
The material also addresses when a professional trustee or corporate trustee may be a better fit, how a co-trustee arrangement can serve as a middle ground, and how the Onondaga County Surrogate's Court handles disputes involving trustee conduct. It reviews how to choose a reliable successor trustee, the recordkeeping duties trustees owe under New York law, and how a trustor can remove or replace a trustee under EPTL § 7-1.16.
Listeners will come away understanding the differences between self-trusteeship, professional trustee arrangements, and co-trustee structures, along with the New York rules that shape each option. Davies Law Firm, based in Syracuse, encourages anyone weighing these choices to schedule a telephone conference to discuss their revocable living trust, successor trustee planning, and overall estate goals across Central New York.
Davies Law Firm
210 E Fayette St, Syracuse, NY 13202
(315) 472-6511