autotech78
New member
My grandmother is 88 years old. When my grandfather passed away decades ago, his will set up a trust with some of their assets to minimize estate taxes. I believe it is called a Credit Shelter Trust. Grandfather's will named a bank and my grandmother (his wife) as co-trustees.
My grandmother is not happy with how the trust is invested, and asked me for advice and help.
The bank named in the will was a small, local bank with whom they had a long and good relationship. That bank was bought out by a larger bank, which was purchased by another bank, which merged with another bank, and so on. The trust is now at one of the big 5 national banks.
1) The bank is charging her 1.5% of assets yearly to manage. Is there any hope of negotiating that fee to be lower? As co-trustee, does she have any leverage?
2) The bank is investing in expensive assets, some of which are questionable for her circumstances (see below). As co-trustee, does my grandmother have any power to force the bank to change investments? The average expense ratio of the 20 funds held is about .80%.
3) As co-trustee, can my grandmother move the trust to another bank? Moving it could save tens of thousands of dollars yearly. Every bank has told her that is impossible. How would she do that? Would it require a lawsuit?
This trust has a long and ugly history of excessive fees, excessive trading, and poor investment choices.
Thanks for any advice.
P.S. Example of how it's invested: Driehaus Active Income, Boston Partners Long/Short Research,
AQR Managed Futures Strategy, E-TRACS Alerian MLP Infrastructure, etc.
My grandmother is not happy with how the trust is invested, and asked me for advice and help.
The bank named in the will was a small, local bank with whom they had a long and good relationship. That bank was bought out by a larger bank, which was purchased by another bank, which merged with another bank, and so on. The trust is now at one of the big 5 national banks.
1) The bank is charging her 1.5% of assets yearly to manage. Is there any hope of negotiating that fee to be lower? As co-trustee, does she have any leverage?
2) The bank is investing in expensive assets, some of which are questionable for her circumstances (see below). As co-trustee, does my grandmother have any power to force the bank to change investments? The average expense ratio of the 20 funds held is about .80%.
3) As co-trustee, can my grandmother move the trust to another bank? Moving it could save tens of thousands of dollars yearly. Every bank has told her that is impossible. How would she do that? Would it require a lawsuit?
This trust has a long and ugly history of excessive fees, excessive trading, and poor investment choices.
Thanks for any advice.
P.S. Example of how it's invested: Driehaus Active Income, Boston Partners Long/Short Research,
AQR Managed Futures Strategy, E-TRACS Alerian MLP Infrastructure, etc.