Monthly Update for Administration of Trusts and Asset Management.
It is our hope that our Monthly Update will be helpful for you to better understand the administration of trusts and asset management from a Trustee and Investment Advisor’s viewpoint.
THAT HAD NOT OCCURRED TO ME
A client recently telephoned me with a question. While the question seemed pretty simple and straightforward, the more I thought about it, the more I realized it is a bit more involved than what one might expect. I also then realized that my monthly newsletters have not been very clear in answering her question. So, what was the question?
“Other than managing my money, what else do you do?”
Yes, she’s right. I can’t remember the last time I sent out a newsletter that actually mentions all of the services that we provide. So for those of you who may not be fully aware of all of the different services we can provide, here is a short summary.
MANAGED ACCOUNTS
We provide personalized strategies to meet your investment needs and goals, regardless, of whether or not you have a trust. We believe we provide an advantage over the investment advisors who work for large, institutionalized companies, because we do not sell any products or investment programs created by the very company for which the investment advisor works. We are independent and a fee-only firm.
Managing investment accounts is a significant part of our business.
IRA’S
We provide all custodial services, including accepting non-standard assets, and of course, investment management services, for individual retirement accounts.
GUARDIANSHIPS
We provide services as “Guardians of the Property” for minors and incapacitated adults. When serving as Guardian, in addition to asset management, we ensure that all income is received and all expenses of the guardianship are timely paid, all for the benefit of the minor or incapacitated adult.
PROBATES
Yikes! Hopefully you or your loved one’s estates will never have to be probated. But things happen. If a probate becomes necessary, we can serve as the Personal Representative (Executor) of the probate proceeding. On a side note, it is surprising about how many times people do not want to have a family member serve as their Personal Representative because they want to avoid the possibility of “the kids fighting between themselves”.
TRUSTEE OF TRUSTS
Most all of you know that we also frequently serve as trustee of trusts. What some people do not know, is that we can serve as trustee of the trust during your lifetime, in addition to serving as trustee upon your death or incapacity. As trustee, we manage all of the trust assets, which can be a very wide range of possible assets, such as real estate, rental properties, farmland, minerals, precious metals, etc., all in addition to managing investment accounts.
Also, more and more people today are leaving their trust assets “in trust” after their death, paying out income and principal to their kids over time rather than in a lump sum distribution upon the parents’ deaths. This helps assure the parents that the kids will not foolishly spend, be taken advantage of, or “lose” their inheritance. So, yes, we frequently serve as a trustee managing trust assets over a given period of time, or lifetime, for the benefit of beneficiaries according to the terms of the trust.
WealthTrust Oklahoma is the Oklahoma trust representative office of National Advisors Trust Company. We are independent and hold a federal charter. In addition to trust administration services, we offer investment management services through our firm, WTO Advisors.
Alyssa Kaiser, CTFA, has over 30 years of experience in trust, investment and banking industries and is President of WealthTrust Oklahoma. Alyssa may be contacted at (405) 241-1600 or by email at Alyssa@WealthTrustOk.com.
