Rest in peace for the deceased and relief for the living – Helping A Widow with Her Husband’s Trust Execution

Country/Region: China
Case Type: Trust Execution

BACKGROUND
• Before he could tell his wife the details of the family trust, Mr. Su died.
• The existence of a situation that is contrary to the content of the trust.
• Mrs. Su is still mourning to the point that she can hardly hold herself.
• Mrs. Su’s English is very limited.

The couple had been together for 20 years, and their life was as calm and flowing as the water of West Lake. However, despite the fact that Mr. Su had set up a family trust for a rainy day, he passed away before he could explain the details to his wife. Still mourning the loss of her beloved, Mrs. Su was at a loss as to what to do with all the legal paperwork, so she turned to Tsang & Associates for help.

KEYS TO SUCCESS
Mrs. Su is still in mourning over the loss of her beloved, and is not aware of the specific practices of her husband on the family trust during his lifetime, but only intuits that it would be the best policy to transfer his trust account to her name for her own execution. In this way, it was difficult for us to obtain other information or documents related to the trust from Mrs. Su. We had to find another way to get the trust from the lawyer and other relatives who set up the trust for Mr. So. Through the phone conversations, we learned that Mr. So had appointed a trust company to manage the trust during his lifetime and named his wife as the primary beneficiary. Thus, Mrs. Su’s request to transfer the trust account to her name was in complete contradiction to Mr. Su’s instructions. While it would be a good idea to contest Mr. Su’s wishes in court, we hope that we can have the best of both worlds – comfort for the living and comfort for the past.

Initially, Mrs. So refused to have the trust managed by an outside trust company and insisted that the trust and its assets be transferred to her name, claiming that she had been verbally instructed to execute the trust by Mr. So before he passed away. We acted as an emotional advisor to Mrs. So and advised her that it was in her best interest to follow Mr. So’s wishes and that he had appointed a trust company to execute the trust so that she would not have to worry about the execution of the trust while experiencing the loss of her husband. After hours of consultation and many phone calls, Mrs. So finally understood Mr. So’s good intentions and made the best and most beneficial arrangements for her, and finally agreed to have the trust company execute the trust.

OUTCOME
Instead of complying with Mrs. Su’s initial request to have Tsang & Associates execute Mr. Su’s trust, we evaluated the entirety of the family’s situation and provided the family with the best of both worlds. We helped Mrs. Su to clear up the complicated legal paperwork of the trust, and she expressed her gratitude for our “client-first” spirit. Through Mrs. Su’s case, our firm had the opportunity to act as an emotional advisor to family members and friends who were going through pain and suffering. In the end, Mr. Su’s wishes were honored and the trust was executed; Mrs. Su slowly recovered from the loss of her husband and will be well provided for for the rest of her life; and we earned the trust of a new client and added to the warm family of Tsang & Associates.

Since death is inevitable, it is important to plan ahead. Setting up a family trust is one of the best options for making proper arrangements after leaving this world.

When setting up a trust, it is advisable to have all the relevant parties present, especially the primary beneficiary, preferably with the assistance of a professional lawyer and trust management company. Readers who wish to set up a trust are welcome to contact Tsang & Associates.

*To protect customer privacy, customer names are pseudonyms.