Many people think that only the wealthy can afford the added expense of an institutional administrator (i.e., a bank or trust company).  It is true that institutions charge fees to manage the assets and the distribution of those assets to the beneficiaries, but the truth is that most wills and trust agreements allow for the executor or trustee to charge a fee for their time – even when the trustee is a family member and beneficiary!  So the better question might be this:  How Efficient and Painless Do I Want My Estate Administration To Be?

If you have money and assets to be given to specific people or charities, an institutional administrator could save your entire family angst and help to:

-Minimize intrafamily arguments, jealousy and resentment
-Avoid emotional and financial burden on the family member asked to serve
-Control the costs (most institutions have a set fee schedule tied to the value of the assets, not what someone believes their time to be “worth”)
-Reduce the risk of uncollected, lost, or mis-valued assets

A professional administrator has specific training and experience in locating, collecting, valuing, liquidating and distributing a wide variety of assets.  They are also adept at navigating the sometimes-fractious conversations about common disputes, including family “loans” and holiday ornaments (not a joke – personal property disputes are a primary source of pain and resentment).

Whatever the size of your estate, it is your legacy. No one wants their memory soured  by squabbling or worse: litigation. The expense of a lawsuit will undoubtedly dwarf whatever fee is charged by an institutional administrator, and the scars left by litigation sometimes take years to heal.