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What's the Difference Between a Trustee and a Power of Attorney? | #AskAmity Episode 7 - YouTube
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Hey everyone! Welcome to another episode
of The Ask Amity Show!
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My name is Edmund.
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I'm Jennifer.
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I'm Cindy.
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--And we're the attorneys here at Amity Law Group
in Rosemead, California.
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Today, the topic is: What is the difference between
a trustee and a power of attorney?
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You know that's a very common question that a lot of
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our clients ask us, especially when we're
setting up their living trusts, preparing their
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durable power of attorney and so I
think this is a very good topic
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for us to talk about today.
So Jennifer, would you like to start?
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--Sure! So I think the first thing we need to talk
about is the difference between
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the trust and the power of attorney. So the
trustee is the one that you appoint for your trust.
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And the power of attorney,
obviously, the agent is for your power of attorney
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for financial matters. So, the
trustee that you appoint is when,
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let's say you're in a disabled condition or
you pass away, then you appoint somebody
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to help manage your trust assets, right?
The power of attorney only comes into
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play when-- during your lifetime. So not
when you pass away but maybe when you're
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disabled and you can no longer handle and
manage your own finances.
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Then in that situation, your power of attorney agent can take your power of attorney document and
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go to the bank and, you know, sign off on
your checks, pay your taxes.
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And there's a long list of financial matters that they
can manage for you during your lifetime
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but with the trustee, it's when you are
still-- when you're either disabled, or
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you passed away then the trustee comes into
play. And they manage your trust assets.
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So trust assets only.
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Cindy?
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--And your power of attorney agent typically can
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handle your assets, your affairs,
your financial affairs
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that aren't necessarily in the trust, but a
lot of times our clients do end up
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having assets that are outside their
trust. So that would fall into the
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the privy of the agent(s) for the power of
attorney.
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A lot times there are things
that you can't really place in the trust,
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like who's going to file your
taxes while you're,
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while you're still alive and not quite gone,
or maybe disabled.
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And that person can sign on your behalf.
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--Yeah, I think the important thing
to think about when you're...
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regarding this trustee and power of attorney issue is,
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the whole point of this is to make
sure that if something happens to you,
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you know, whether it's disability or
death, you want to make sure that you've
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appointed someone beforehand that you
trust to manage your assets,
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make sure that your kids, your spouse,
are taken care of.
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Someone who's responsible, someone...
whether or not it's your friend,
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whether or not it's your CPA, or just
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a family member, or even your child.
You want to make sure that you protect
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yourself beforehand and have someone
that you trust to manage all your affairs.
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--And a lot of times the agent of the power of attorney, or the trustee,
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they are the same people, that's fine!
Sometimes they're not.
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But if they are, then that's fine too.
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--Yeah, and a lot of times we would advise our
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clients to, you know, pick one,
two, or even three. So for example,
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you'll have a primary trustee, a primary
power of attorney, and if they can't serve,
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then at least you have second options
and third options. So the first one could
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be your spouse. The second one,
if your spouse can't or won't act,
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then it could be your children or it could be
your niece, your nephew, or anyone that you trust.
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So, I think the takeaway of this
episode is, not only knowing
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the difference between a trustee and a power of attorney, but to make sure that you plan ahead
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and appoint someone that you trust to make
your decisions on your behalf, if necessary.
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Alight, well that's it for this episode!
Thank you for joining us.
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If you have any questions that you'd
like us to answer about estate planning,
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just leave a comment below and we'll
try to answer it on our next show!
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See you then!
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