Attorney's Bank as Trustee? Just Say No
I met with a potential client last week, to talk about revisions to her estate plan. We reviewed her current documents, which show a local bank as successor trustee of her living trust. This struck me as odd, as the woman (a widow) has three grown children and a fairly short, fairly easy-to-handle list of assets (house, investments accounts, insurance). According to the woman, her previous attorney had an affiliation with the local bank, and placed the trustee language into the document on his own. The woman hadn't met with anyone from the bank (other than the attorney), and hadn't seen their fee schedule -- basically, she didn't know anything about the bank.
To me, this is a huge conflict of interest, and really no different from the attorney naming himself as trustee. Actually, it's no different from the attorney leaving money to himself from this woman's trust.
I've said it before and I'll say it again...
Q: What time is it when your attorney seeks to name himself or an entity with which he's affiliated in your estate plan?
A: Time to find a new attorney, and time to report your old attorney to the Illinois ARDC.
