What Happens When a Trust Fails Without a Backup Plan?

June 02, 2025•2 min read

A Real-Life Lesson on the Importance of Trust Protectors

Welcome to Story Time with Mark. Today’s story highlights a common issue that many families face when estate planning isn’t fully completed—or when a trust is created without enough thought to what might go wrong down the line.

Here’s what happened (names changed for privacy):

A son reaches out to an attorney. His sister had created a trust with their mother as the Beneficiary and also named her as the Successor Trustee. But after the sister’s sudden death, things started to fall apart.

The problem? Mom, the intended Trustee, is now in memory care and unable to manage the trust. Legally, she’s supposed to take over—but she can't.

The trust states that if the mom is not able or willing to act as Trustee, a bank is appointed to act as Trustee as a backup. However, the bank trust department decides they don’t want to be the Trustee of this trust and decline the appointment.

The son wants to step in and help pay for his mom’s care using the trust funds, but no one has authority to act.

So what happens next?

No Trust Protector = Court Time, Court Costs

With no alternate trustee in place and no mechanism to appoint one, the family has only one option: go to court.

Court means:

Time delays
Legal fees
Stress on the family

And during that time, Mom’s care doesn’t pause—expenses keep coming, and the family has limited access to the resources meant to cover them.

The Simple Solution: Include a Trust Protector

If the original trust had included a Trust Protector—a third-party with authority to step in when something goes wrong—this entire situation could’ve been avoided.

The Trust Protector could have appointed the son as the new Trustee without going to court, allowing him to access the funds and pay for Mom’s care immediately.

To watch the video, please visit this [LINK]

What’s the Takeaway?

When you’re setting up an estate plan, get it done by someone who knows how to plan for the unexpected. A trust without flexibility isn’t much of a plan at all.

At Advanced Legal Planning, we help families prepare for real-life situations—not just fill in the blanks on legal forms.