Who to select as successor trustee of your living trust

One of the important decisions a person or couple needs to make when creating a living trust is who to designate as successor trustee when they die. This article, which includes two real cases with names changed to protect the innocent and the guilty, is intended to help you select the successor trustee, or perhaps make a change with a trust amendment before it’s too late.

The moral of story in both cases is the same, so let’s say it right from the beginning: Don’t name as trustee a person who has financial problems:

Case #1

Mabel, a wealthy widow, had two children, Beulah and Gertrude, who we...