Dec 1, 2006 12:00 PM, By I. Mark Cohen, partner, Cohen & Burnett, PC McLean, Va.

By: By I. Mark Cohen, partner, Cohen & Burnett, PC McLean, Va.

An individual relative or friend might be more appropriate to serve as a trustee than a professional. In praising corporate trustees, commentators have identified three areas in which they can excel: cost, competency and conflicts between generations.¹ Agreed. And, yes, these advantages are especially apparent when there are multi-generational trusts worth on the order of $300 million.

But here's the rub: cost, competency and conflicts are not the right criteria to use when choosing between an individual and a professional trustee. Rather, the correct analysis looks at how well a candidate will fulfill the four jobs that a trustee has to do.

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