Chris Hibbard's LTM E-Newsletter - September/October 2026 - Choosing a Trustee For a Child's Trust

Christopher R. Hibbard, ChFC^®, CRPC^®, CFS^®

Vice President, Wealth Management

Teachers Investment Services

Located at Teachers Federal Credit Union

5439 Sunrise Highway

Holbrook, NY 11741

Phone: 631-698-7000 Ext. 6020

Email: christopher.hibbard@lpl.com

CRPC conferred by College for Financial Planning.

September/October 2026

Choosing a Trustee For a Child's Trust

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Naming your spouse as trustee provides essential familial insight and continuity, but you must carefully balance these advantages against possible risks. Consider these questions. How well do you and your spouse communicate about finances? Trusts are complex. They require handling investments, taxes, and longterm wealth strategies. If you and your spouse disagree on these issues, naming them as a trustee may cause conflict. Also, consider whether they have the knowledge or experience to handle these tasks.

Does your spouse have the time for this commitment?

Serving as a trustee is demanding. Are they prepared to handle this role with their existing career, family, charitable, and personal obligations? An overloaded trustee may become stressed, leading to poor decisions that could affect your child's financial well-being.

Could emotions compromise judgment?

Managing a trust can strain family bonds. Your child might sense favoritism or feel the effects of a parent-trustee's emotional choices. Contrasting parenting styles or values between spouses complicates trust management. Your trustee must act impartially, prioritizing your child's best interests.

How strong is your relationship?

Divorce or conflict may impact your spouse's ability to stay impartial as a trustee. What if you disagree about distributions or stop speaking? Consider how this affects your child's trust. Does your spouse share your long-term vision for your child? The trustee must align with your goals for your child's lifestyle and education. Otherwise, their decisions may differ from your intent.

Your trusted advisor can guide you through these questions. You may find that appointing a neutral party, such as a professional trustee, another family member, or a close friend, as trustee or co-trustee with your spouse is the best choice.

In 2025, appointing a trusted advisor or professional trustee as co-trustee or executor was the second most popular strategy (56% of respondents) for preventing high-net-worth family conflict— up 13 points from 2024.*

*Source: 2025 Trends in Trust and Estate Planning, wealthmanagement.com.

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Christopher Hibbard is a financial advisor with, and securities and advisory services are offered through LPL Financial (LPL), a registered investment advisor and broker-dealer (member FINRA/SIPC). Insurance products are offered through LPL or its licensed affiliates. Teachers Federal Credit Union (TFCU) and Teachers Investment Services are not registered as a broker/dealer or investment advisor. Registered representatives of LPL offer products and services using Teachers Investment Services, and may also be employees of TFCU. These products and services are being offered through LPL or its affiliates, which are separate entities from and not affiliates of, TFCU or Teachers Investment Services. Securities and insurance offered through LPL or its affiliates are:

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