Can you name co-trustees?
California law allows you to actually name as many trustees as you like. If one of your co-trustees is unable to perform his or her duties for any reason, the remaining trustees may act alone in accomplishing the goals of the trust.
Can there be 2 trustees on a trust?
Trusts in California can have multiple trustees, not limited to merely two. California trust law requires that co-trustees act unanimously. The trust instrument may allocate certain powers to specific trustees. The allocation of powers among co-trustees does not have to be equal.
Can you have joint trustees in a trust?
When there are multiple trustees appointed to manage a trust, they are called co-trustees. Co-trustees typically share the same duties and powers, unless the trust document instructs otherwise. A trust is an estate planning tool that can hold your assets and pass them to beneficiaries in the future.
Is it better to have one or two trustees?
A trusteeship is best handled by one person being in charge. Also, the beneficiaries would have only one trustee to blame if there is a problem in the administration. We recommend that you name two successor trustees, but not co-trustees. One to be in charge and the other as a backup.
Are co-trustees a good idea?
Appointing co-trustees may seem like a good choice for many reasons. For example: Having two trustees can act as a safeguard, since there is a second person with access to records and responsibility for management and monitoring. In theory, having two trustees reduces the burden on each, since the work is shared.
What is the difference between trustee and co-trustee?
Trustees serve as managers in connection with mortgage loans, and they also serve as managers of trust relationships created for the ownership property. A successor trustee is a new trustee who replaces a previous trustee, while a co-trustee is a trustee that serves at the same time as another trustee.
Can a co trustee be a beneficiary?
Yes, a trustee can also be a beneficiary of a trust. It’s fairly common for a trust beneficiary to also serve as trustee. For example, in a family trust created by two spouses, the surviving spouse will almost always serve as both a trustee and beneficiary.
How many trustees should there be?
Choose people you can rely on to be your trustees and make sure they’re happy to take on this responsibility. You should have at least two trustees but can choose up to four.
Can a co trustee act alone?
Worse yet, under the default rules of California Trust law, co-trustees must act unanimously if they are to act at all. This means that one Trustee cannot simply break a deadlock by acting on his own. One of the Co-Trustees does not have the power and authority to act alone.
What happens if co-trustees disagree?
Under California Probate Code section 15642, if hostility or lack of cooperation among family member co-trustees impairs trust administration to the detriment of the beneficiaries, the court can end the gridlock by removing all of the co-trustees and appointing a third party to serve as sole successor trustee.
Are co trustees a good idea?
What happens to property not in a trust?
Legally, if an asset was not put into the trust by title or named to be in the trust, then it will go where no asset wants to go…to PROBATE. The probate court will take much longer to distribute this asset, and usually at a high expense.