Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Florida

We have a living trust and a reverse mortgage and our two daughters are joint benefactors of our small estate. Can we change this to make one of our daughters the administrator and if we would have to go through probate? Can we do this ourselves? Thank you,

Marlene


Asked on 10/05/09, 1:51 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Richard Stoffels Stoffels Law Group

The answer to the first part of the question is that you can name anyone that you desire to be the successor trustee (the person that manages the affairs of the trust after the original trustees either die, become incapacitated or resign). As to whether you can do this yourselves, yes you can, but I would not advise it. It is clear from your question that your understanding of the trust, how it works, and how it is drafted, is limited. That does not mean you are not able to, just that you don't at the present. Since you lack some of the knowledge about your trust that you would need to do the work yourselves, I can't advise you to go that route. I think that the small sum that it would take to have an estate planning attorney amend the trust in such a manner as you desire would be worth it for the peace of mind it gave you. As for the probate portion of your question, it depends on how your assets are titled, and whether the trust is funded with those assets.

Good luck to you.

Read more
Answered on 10/05/09, 4:05 pm


Related Questions & Answers

More Probate, Trusts, Wills & Estates questions and answers in Florida