Personal Representative vs. Trustee: What’s the Difference?

Personal Representative vs. Trustee: What’s the Difference?

A reader writes in, asking:

“I’ve read your book twice, and FINALLY got my wife to face the reality that I’m likely to die before her (I’m 82, she’s 76)!

I love the simplicity of the book, however there is one topic I think needs some fleshing out: the text seems to use the terms Personal Representative and Trustee interchangeably. The functional roles seem a bit fuzzy.

Am I correct that the Personal Rep assists the surviving spouse on immediate-death matters (a short-term function), and the Trustee assists the surviving spouse (and beneficiaries) on post-death (trust) asset management (a long-term function)?

Additionally, am I correct that that a spouse, beneficiary, or friend could be qualified to be a personal rep, but a trustee has more responsibility and thus requires higher qualifications? Lawyers and CPA are so qualified, but they are too expensive to use continuously. Do you have any suggestions on this?”

The personal representative (PR) and trustee roles are analogous but they are definitely not interchangeable. (And to be clear, in my writing I do not use the terms interchangeably. If a given sentence refers to a personal representative, it means specifically the personal representative. And ditto for referring to a trustee.)

In short, the PR is in charge of administering the estate, whereas a trustee is in charge of administering a trust (if any). But they both have the job of managing the assets in question for the benefit of the beneficiaries in question.

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://obliviousinvestor.com/personal-representative-vs-trustee-whats-the-difference/