What is a trustee and how do they relate to a Last Will and Testament

A trustee serves a very important function when it actually comes to administering your last will and testament. Well, you might be thinking as to why it is so important to even appoint a trustee. The answer to that question is that it is totally optional but it is very good practice to do this. Lets say that you have accumulated quite a bit of assets and have several beneficiaries who would essentially be entitled to portions of those assets. When you appoint someone such as a trustee to administer your Will once you are no longer living then they have the responsibility of making sure everyone gets what you have clearly stated that they get in your legal document. Now an issue that sometimes does come up is when the person that you appoint in your Will actually turns out to be not responsible. At that point there exists several options. One of the things that can be done when it seems that the representative is not performing their duties properly is to have the beneficiaries file with the courts for the removal of that individual. Although this is a difficult process and that is why I always recommend being very clear with the duties and ways of replacing a representative in your Will. Your beneficiaries would need to file with the court their grievances at which point the judge then will decide whether the that person should be relieved of their duties. One other thing to actually consider is the fact that you should have back-up individuals that would serve in the event that main person is not able to serve due to illness or death. This is good practice because otherwise there may be a situation where no one would be available to serve in that position.