Legal Expertise

LEGAL TRAINING AND KNOWLEDGE ARE MANDATORY IN PROPERLY ADMINISTERING A TRUST, SINCE TRUST ADMINISTRATION WILL NECESSARILY REQUIRE THE LEGAL INTERPRETATION OF INSTRUCTIONS AND LEGAL COMPLIANCE WITH TAX AND TRUST LAWS.

Every officer and vice president at Providence First Trust Company has graduated from an American Bar Association accredited law school, with a full degree for the practice of law necessary in any jurisdiction in the United States. Though the trust officer is not your personal attorney, that officer is your personal trustee, capable of understanding and interpreting the myriad of issues that may arise in your estate plan.

The examples of why a trustee needs to be legally trained are many.  For example, trust administration will always involve some form of taxation, either income tax, gift tax, estate tax, generation skipping tax, property tax, excise tax and possibly even foreign taxes. Also, trust administration will always involve interpreting language commonly found in trust agreements, and putting those words into practical day to day work.

In latter case, consider some examples of common legal phrases found in trust agreements that are misunderstood without proper legal research as to their interpretation:

• distributions for the health, education and welfare of a person

• distributions of income only, or net income of the trust estate

• support for a person in accordance with the general standard of living

• distributions for the special needs of a person with a physical handicap

• distributions to parents of minor children, as much as is needed beyond the support provided by the parent

• distributions for the general maintenance of the person

• distributions taking into account all other funds available to the person

Interpreting what those phrases mean in specific situations necessarily involves interpreting trust laws and practice.  At Providence First, your trust officer will have the legal training necessary to administer your affairs incompliance with all laws and taking advantage of all legal benefits.  It is our belief that every trustee should have that qualification in order to properly serve you and your estate.

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