Dear Len & Rosie,

In 1993 my late husband and I went to an attorney and requested a Family Trust be drawn up for our family. My husband and I owned stock in a large corporation, and in 1993 the stock was retitled in the name of my husband and I as trustees of our family trust.

A few weeks ago I called the corporation to change my address and notified them that my husband is deceased. I asked them to remove his name from the stock certificate. They said they would send me a form to fill out and have my signature "medallion guaranteed", and that I had to send the form, along with a certified copy of my husband's death certificate, back to them. They also said I had to send the stock registered mail, insured at two percent of the stock's value. My question is why? We had the trust drawn up to cover all of this.

Mary

Dear Len & Rosie,

My mother has a revocable living trust. I am her sole successor trustee, and I'll take over after she dies. I have two brothers and a sister. My mother wrote her trust to give my younger brother only $1, because he was once convicted of marijuana possession and he never calls or visits. She thinks he is still a dope smoking pothead. What would have been his share is to be divided up among my cousins and the church.

As the trustee after my mother dies, am I able to ignore her wishes and give my brother his fair share of my mother's property? How difficult is it to change it the way I see fit? This is really bothering me because it's just not fair. I feel all of her children should be treated alike.

Suzanne

The Living Trust Myth

Trusts and Trustee Duties

Tillem McNichol & Brown