No One Ever Told Us That: Money and Life Lessons for Young Adults

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

DON'T BE A TRUSTEE OR AN EXECUTOR*

I put an asterisk after this chapter title because obviously professionals such as lawyers, or bankers, will serve in these roles. But my purpose in writing this book is to make my readers look at their lives in some unconventional ways, ways that might make things easier and smarter for you to avoid pitfalls you could never have anticipated.

I learned this lesson to avoid acting as a trustee or as an executor of anyone's estate early and the hard way. Unfortunately, the hard way is what teaches us the best. My parents had best friends in Chicago, a couple smart and successful, the husband in manufacturing, the wife in retail, focusing on women's fashion at the high end. The husband died and she eventually remarried. She had two daughters, both very different. One went into business, primarily real estate. The other you could call a hippie, living a nomadic life, having a child out of wedlock, and eventually becoming a midwife. Their mother asked me, she thought, to protect her daughters, whether I would act as executor of her will when she died. The real estate daughter would get her bequests outright; the midwife's money would be in trust, with me as the trustee. “Of course,” I said. “My parents loved you guys. And I love you. It would be my pleasure to make sure your girls have peace of mind and security.”

When you say yes to something that may be years away, you tend to push it into the future and out of your mind. But time ...