In a recent WSJ WealthManagement article, Charles Redd, a St. Louis based attorney, notes that planners spend much time on tax avoidance matters when putting together an estate plan, but that’s less of an issue for many estates because of higher tax thresholds and other rule changes. Rather, the issue planners should spend more time on, but often don’t, is “fiduciary selection”, or “who would be most qualified and effective in the roles of trustee and successor trustees.” Even the best-designed plan will fail if the trustees aren’t appropriate, he writes on WealthManagement.com, “and they could even blow up entirely.”
