4 Ways Trust Services Simplify the Hard Parts

Key Takeaways:
  • A trust company can take on many of the day-to-day responsibilities that come with caring for an aging loved one.
  • Some of the tasks a trust company can handle include paying bills, managing properties, coordinating healthcare, and organizing assets. 
  • Having a trust company’s support can help you improve the quality of time you spend with your loved one.

 

It can feel like an honor to care for a loved one. But it can also become a source of stress, as you may be asked to wear several hats. No longer are you simply the son or daughter or neighbor; you’re the appointment scheduler, the accountant, the property manager and then some.

You may not have time for these extra responsibilities or worry you aren’t doing them correctly. And if you’re unable to fulfill the role, perhaps due to distance, you may experience feelings of guilt.  

But there are certain hats that only you can wear. Embracing these and securing support for the others can free you to fill your role as their loved one. 

At the end of the day, it’s not about paying the electric company or scheduling a doctor’s appointment. It’s about maximizing the quality of the time you get to spend with your loved one. 

Here are some of the ways in which a trust advisor can simplify your caregiver role.  

  1. Easing the Burden of Paying Bills 

Paying a loved one’s bills can feel like a full-time job. This is especially true if your loved one has several subscription services that are tied to different accounts or payment methods. Organizing and keeping track of these can be overwhelming. 

Delegating this task to a trust advisor can help to ensure all bills are accounted for and paid by the deadline. This can happen in a variety of ways. 

When we serve in this role, clients often opt to have their mail and bills forwarded directly to us. In other instances, we have access to their online banking. To keep them in the loop, we send a monthly statement showing bill pay activity. 

Bringing in a trust advisor to handle your loved one’s bills can do more than free up your time. It also can keep you from having to talk about money during the precious time you spend with your loved one. You can feel confident knowing your loved one’s bills are taken care of, and your loved one won’t have to worry about burdening you with this task.  

2. Taking Care of Property Management

If your loved one has multiple properties, or unique assets or farms, managing these can require a significant amount of time and energy. A trustee can step in to help in several different ways. This could include anything from taking care of property tax or insurance payments to scheduling and overseeing maintenance activities. 

Knowing a trustee is handling the needs of your loved one’s properties means you won’t have to take time out of your life to manage this task. This can be especially beneficial if you live in a different state. You won’t have to worry about visiting the property or making sure its bills are paid. Instead, you’re free to focus on supporting your loved one.

3. Providing Coordination of Care 

It can be difficult to know where to turn for your loved one’s healthcare needs. What’s more, scheduling and tracking these appointments can be difficult to manage. 

You might be surprised to learn that a trust company can help coordinate and manage your loved one’s healthcare needs. But this is a role to which we’re accustomed.

Whether your loved one needs home health, companion, senior or hospice care, we can help to coordinate it. We’ve done the research, we know the providers and we know how the process works. Through our experience over the years, we’ve compiled a network of trusted local providers on whom our clients rely.  

With the support of a trust company, you won’t have to feel like you’re alone in this process. You have someone who can call the doctors, set up appointments and ensure your loved one is in the right place. You can feel confident in your decisions and, most important, in the care your loved one receives.   

4. Organizing Assets 

It’s not uncommon for people to forget where their bank or retirement accounts are located. This can make it hard for you, the caregiver, to get their affairs in order. 

To take this task off your plate, a trust advisor can sit down and review past tax returns to start pulling your loved one’s financial life together. The advisor will provide you with a statement of assets so you’re aware of what exists. They can also make sure your loved one’s assets are properly titled and beneficiary designations are up to date. 

Having a trust advisor organize your loved one’s financials can be especially beneficial given the prevalence of elder fraud. According to the FBI’s 2023 Internet Crime Report, individuals age 60+ lost a combined $3.4 billion to fraud worldwide in 2023 alone.

Keeping tabs on your loved one’s accounts can help you better identify and protect against instances of fraud. Making sure beneficiaries are up to date can also help to ensure your loved one’s wishes will be respected. 

Your role: Be there for your loved one.

You may not think of a trust officer or registered investment advisor as someone who can look after your loved one. But this is part of what we do. It’s a rewarding aspect of our job, and we are uniquely positioned to do it well. 

With our support, you’re able to be fully present for your loved one in a way no one else can be. 

Looking for support for you or your loved one? 

If you’d like to explore how we could help you be there for your loved one, let’s start a conversation. Reach out to an Adams Brown trust advisor today.