Bowing out of trustee duty, claiming Social Security benefits and other financial tips

Liz Weston

Sun, Mar 16, 2025, 3:00 AM 4 min read

Dear Liz: My hubby agreed to service arsenic successor trustee for his brother’s surviving spot respective years ago. My brother-in-law besides added maine arsenic a backup. My brother-in-law’s fiscal concern has gotten precise analyzable and we would similar to beryllium removed arsenic trustees. How bash we spell astir this removal? My hubby has asked his member to spot the lawyer who drafted the spot truthful they tin some sermon the change, but his member has ignored this petition for respective months.

Answer: A successor trustee’s relation is akin to that of an executor. Both are charged with settling someone’s estate. Being asked to service is an honor, since the idiosyncratic choosing you is saying they expect you volition enactment with honor, integrity and prudence. But you can’t beryllium forced to serve, adjacent if you initially said yes.

Your brother-in-law whitethorn person already named different alternatives. If not, a tribunal tin name someone. This would undermine 1 of the benefits of a surviving trust, which is to debar a court’s engagement successful settling an estate. But that’s yet your brother-in-law’s occupation to solve, not yours.

Before you bail, though, recognize that arsenic successor trustee oregon executor, you don’t person to beryllium a ineligible oregon taxation expert. You tin usage the estate’s resources to prosecute radical to assistance you — and successful each but the simplest estates, you astir apt should.

Of course, fiscal complications tin pb to different complications — household fights, disgruntled heirs and truthful on. You whitethorn nary longer person the vigor oregon willingness to look specified difficulties. If that’s the case, you’ve fixed your brother-in-law the heads-up helium needs to marque different arrangements.

Dear Liz: My hubby worked for the postal work for implicit 30 years and retired with a pension. He does not person capable years moving successful the backstage assemblage to suffice for Social Security. Since we present person the Social Security Fairness Act, is helium eligible to person a percent of my Social Security? I cognize spouses who ne'er worked and ne'er contributed are capable to person Social Security payments based connected their spouse’s earnings.

Answer: If you’ve already started Social Security and he’s astatine slightest 62, helium should present beryllium capable to assertion a spousal payment based connected your enactment record.

The Social Security Fairness Act ended the windfall elimination proviso and the authorities pension offset. These 2 provisions had reduced oregon eliminated benefits for implicit 3 cardinal radical who received pensions from jobs that didn’t wage into Social Security. Those affected volition spot their benefits summation oregon person benefits for the archetypal time, positive they’ll person a one-time retroactive outgo reflecting the summation dating backmost to January 2024.