We often get the question, “Should we name more than one child as a co-executor or co-trustee?” In the end, it’s a personal choice as to whether you do or not, but here are some things to think about.
- Who will really do the work? Often if there are two people named to administer an estate, we all know that one of them will end up doing all the work. (Kind of like group projects at school.)It may be because one child has more time, lives closer, likes dealing with paperwork, or any number of reasons. But if you know one child will end up doing the work anyway, then why not just name that child to begin with?
- Do you need a watchdog? One reason to name two people is to make sure that one of them does not do something bad, like steal money. But ask yourself, is that really a true concern for your family? If so, maybe that child shouldn’t be named at all. Or maybe in your case, naming two people really is a good idea.
- Naming two people creates extra work. If you name two people, then often both of them will need to sign financial and legal paperwork. If one of them lives out of town or is hard to reach, will it be a burden to track them down every time a signature is needed?
- Naming co-executors or co-trustees can result in deadlock. The good thing about co-executors or co-trustees is they help watch each other. The bad thing is if they truly don’t agree on what to do, then you have deadlock — and in some cases it may take a court to resolve the dispute. This may be one reason to have a Trust Protector also listed in your estate planning documents.
- Naming two people can result in procrastination. If you name co-executors or co-trustees, what if both of them say, “You do it,” and they end up procrastinating and neither of them do it? Sometimes it’s just better to have one person who knows it’s their job to get things done.
Whether you name co-executors or not is a personal preference and choice. There’s nothing really wrong with it, but unless there’s a good reason, our firm usually leans away from recommending it.
We do however always recommend adding a series of alternate agents to serve if the person listed first, or even second, is unable to act.
