As parents age, the fierce determination to remain independent can begin to yield to the desire for help. Sometimes it’s energy level, sometimes it’s sight, and sometimes it’s the realization that paying the bills and sifting through paperwork is simply more of a project than it used to be. Whatever the reason, it’s important to find estate planning techniques that maintain the degree of independence desired, while transferring some of the responsibility. It’s also beneficial to create an easy transition for transfer of additional responsibilities as that’s desired.

The third-party trustee revocable trust, combined with an individual checking account, payable on death to the trust, is an excellent technique for accomplishing these goals. This way, the grantor of the trust can still have access to funds in the checking account, preserving the sense of independence and freedom. When out to eat with friends or at the grocery store, the individual can still write a check, or can cash checks to have cash on hand without requesting this from the trustee each time that cash is needed. Often the trustee of the revocable trust simply maintains a certain base amount in the individual's account so liquidity is available. The individual or trustee may pay as many or as few personal bills from the trust account as is fitting at the time. Version 18 of Trust Plus makes it easy to implement this technique. The Version 18 third-party trustee checklist includes a letter 'Payable on Death (POD) instruction letter to the bank' under the asset transfer letters section, to make it easy to structure the account to be held in the grantor's individual name, with the POD to the trust. This way, post-mortem, all assets are still run through the trust.

The Third-Party Trustee module in Version 18 makes it easy to name someone other than the grantor as the primary trustee of the trust. Additional accounting phrases have been added to allow for various options in trustee accounting to the grantor(s) and/or beneficiaries, all language has been changed to accommodate the third-party trustee, and asset transfer documents and letters, as well as supporting documents, are all integrated for consistency throughout when a third-party trustee is utilized. This module is a great way to use the revocable trust, to take the pressure off of the grantor, yet retain the sense of independence that comes from being able to write a check.