The Dangers of Co-Executors

A lot of clients want to name co-fiduciaries in their estate planning documents -- co-executors in their Will, co-trustees in the trust, co-agents in their powers of attorney.  There is a very good reason why this isn't always a good idea -- columnist Bruce Williams talks about it in this article.

The Illinois statutory forms for powers of attorney do not allow co-agents, and with good reason.  Co-executors or co-trustees can be used with success, but you need to have the right people for the job.  And I don't think I'd ever recommend having more than two executors or trustees -- that seems way too unwieldy.