Serving as Trustee – An Honor or Burden?
Posted on August 4, 2026
When a Minnesota mother agreed to serve as trustee of her parents’ Florida-based trust, she saw it as an opportunity to help carry out her parents’ wishes and support future generations of her family. Like many people asked to serve in this role, she felt honored by the trust and confidence placed in her.
After doing some research on the role, she discovered that being a trustee is much more than an occasional responsibility – and in this case, complicated by living in a different state.
Like countless working parents, her days are already full. Between her career, children’s activities, family obligations, and the endless demands of daily life, finding extra hours in the week is often a challenge. Adding trustee responsibilities to an already packed schedule introduced a level of commitment and time she had never fully anticipated.
Not only this, but when the time comes, she will need to be able to clear out and sell a home in Florida, sell her parents’ vehicle and have valuables appraised and liquidated or distributed to heirs. Many people assume serving as trustee mainly involves making a few financial decisions. In reality, trustees are also responsible for overseeing trust assets, reviewing requests from beneficiaries, coordinating with accountants and advisors, maintaining records, handling tax matters, and ensuring the trust is administered according to its terms.
Even for someone who is highly organized and financially savvy, these responsibilities can become time-consuming and overwhelming. That’s why considering serving as “co-trustee” in partnership with a professional trustee, also referred to as a corporate trustee like Florida Trust, can be an ideal solution. As a family member, this Minnesota mom understands the personalities, needs, and circumstances of the beneficiaries. She knows the family history and appreciates the values that shaped the trust in the first place. The corporate trustee will be responsible for overseeing the sale of the Florida home, cataloguing and selling or distributing the contents, and managing much of the administrative and technical work, such as, investment oversight, trust accounting, tax reporting, compliance requirements, and beneficiary communications. The co-trustee arrangement allows everyone to benefit from the strengths each party brings to the table.
Perhaps even more important, a corporate trustee provides consistency and continuity. Family members’ lives change. They move, retire, face health challenges, change careers, or encounter personal circumstances that make serving as trustee more difficult over time. A corporate trustee remains in place regardless of life’s unexpected turns, providing stability for beneficiaries and ensuring the trust continues to operate smoothly for years or even decades.
Corporate trustees also offer something that can be difficult for family members to maintain: objectivity. When a family member serves as sole trustee, decisions can sometimes become personal. Requests for distributions, disagreements among beneficiaries, or differing opinions about investments can create tension within even the closest families. A corporate trustee approaches these decisions from a neutral position, guided by the trust document and fiduciary responsibilities rather than family relationships or emotions. It’s a partnership that helps protect both the beneficiaries and the family member serving as trustee.
As couples or individuals consider their estate plans, it’s worth remembering that naming a trustee is one of the most important decisions they will make. While a family member may seem like the obvious choice, the reality is that trust administration requires significant time, commitment, and expertise.
A corporate trustee can provide valuable support and peace of mind whether they are serving in a sole capacity or alongside a trusted family member. They help ensure that a family’s wishes are carried out with consistency, objectivity, and care for decades or generations to come.
Discuss Your Trustee Options
Serving as trustee can be a significant commitment. Our Trust & Estate Services team can discuss whether an individual trustee, corporate trustee or co-trustee arrangement may be appropriate for your family.
Jason Chiklakis
Vice President, Trust Services
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