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Tom Meaglia, ChFC®, AEP®,

CLU®, CRPC®, MSFS

Chartered Financial Consultant

Investment Advisor Representative

Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor

CA Insurance Lic. #0567507

 

Meaglia Financial Consulting

2105 Foothill Blvd., #B140, La Verne, CA 91750

 

Toll Free: 800-386-3700

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Email: tom@meagliafinancialconsulting.com

Website: www.meagliafinancialconsulting.com

September/October 2026

Choosing a Trustee For a Child's Trust

Human Resource is finger choose The wooden doll represents the employee of the company line up on business document and them represents new employee, search job, job career. Corporation concept.

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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Thomas Meaglia is an Investment Adviser Representative of Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC, dba, Fusion Capital Management, a registered investment adviser that only conducts business in jurisdictions where it is properly registered, or is excluded or exempted from registration requirements. Registration as an investment adviser is not an endorsement of the firm by securities regulators and does not mean the adviser has achieved a specific level of skill or ability. The firm is not engaged in the practice of law or accounting.
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