Irrevocable living trust explained

I am a Florida attorney. 1. You would not take a fee if you were the trustee of your own trust as trustee. 2. You could take a fee if you were the trustee of an irrevocable trust but trustee fees are taxable income.

As Attorney Pippen indicated, you would not need to take a trustee fee for services to your own revocable trust. As trustee/grantor, you would retain full control over your assets and you would not NEED to take a fee. (There is little sense in paying yourself to manage your own assets.) If the trust is irrevocable, it would be VERY unusual for you to act as trustee, unless the trust was originally joint with your spouse or you are acting as trustee for your spouse's trust. Most of the time, even in that case, you would be the primary beneficiary, and you would not need to charge for your services. You would also not WANT to do so, because as Attorney Pippen noted, this would be taxable income to you. Receiving an inheritance would not be taxable, in most cases. James Frederick