An initial trustee is the decision maker that immediately starts managing the trust’s property. You may choose to be the initial trustee of a revocable living trust. However, for some types of irrevocable trusts, you will need to select someone else to be trustee.
The successor trustee is the next in line to manage the trust. This person may need to act because the initial trustee becomes incapacitated, dies, or resigns.
You can have one trustee handle the entire trust or you can name a separate trustee for any subtrusts that you later create. For example, you may name your children as the trustees for the subtrusts that are created for their benefit at your death. In this instance, there may be several trustees acting once the subtrusts are created. However, they will only be responsible for their separate trust.
