My parents thought they had all their ducks in a row for their children and grand children once they passed. This is what is most shocking to find out. It is not all what it seems obviously.

The attorneys charge a good fee for drawing up a living trust for you, then they cash in on it when a death does occur. They either charge you a percent of the estates value or a minimum of $10,000 or more to act as an administrator of the trust.

I guess this is one way attorneys get some of their income. My mother, who is still very sharp minded had no idea that it would cost them this kind of fee when one of them passed. She was in the hospital when this meeting took place and couldn't sit in on the meeting. She had a cardiac problem just on Monday and had to be taken by ambulance to the hospital. She came home in 3 days.

Once she learned of what had happened she was very aggravated and will be talking to this attorney on Monday. I feel sorry for that gal once mom gets to speak her mind.

What an education I got a few days ago after learning of this.

I am going to seek another legal counsels advisement before any decisions are made.

My wife's parents set up a living trust because they wanted a special needs child provided for after their deaths. When the first one died everything stayed the same with the surviving spouse in charge of the trust. When the second one died there was not a penny in attorneys fees. My wife was the trustee and divided property according to the trust among 4 children, with a certain percentage of the estate staying in the trust to provide for the 5th special needs child. There was not probate, it was very simple.

People pick their own fiduciaries when making an estate plan. If you want to make an attorney your trustee, then you will pay for it, but that is your choice. My parents had some of their estate in a trust. That trust is till in existence. My dad has been dead for years. My mother wanted her attorney to be the trustee and he gets 5% of everything that comes out of the trust and she is happy with that because that is her choice. Trustees are fiduciaries that have legal responsibilities and it is not free money.


A lot of people never bother to get durable powers of attorney for when they are alive but not able to take care of their own affairs. Then the court has to pay a conservator about $200 hour to do it for them. Waste of money? Yes but completely avoidable. Other people want to have an attorney paid to do that and don't mind the expense and actually name an attorney as their power of attorney in their estate plan. If the estate is worth a lot it can be a reasonable expense to keep family members from swarming the assets, which happens frequently.


Whatever decisions your parents made when they set up the trust, they likely made for a reason and because it made sense to them at the time.