This is a question that comes up more than you might expect, and it is a genuinely good one. The short answer is yes, absolutely. But the longer answer is worth understanding, because the two roles are more separate than most people realize.
Two Trusts, Two Completely Different Roles
When you are serving as trustee for your parents’ trust, you are acting on their behalf. You are managing their assets, following the instructions they put in place, and fulfilling a legal duty to them as the people who created that trust. It is a position of responsibility, not ownership.
Your own living trust is an entirely different matter. As a Calabasas trust administration lawyer, one of the first things we clarify for clients in this situation is that being a trustee for someone else has no bearing whatsoever on your ability to create and manage your own trust. These are independent legal structures with no conflict between them.
You Can Be Trustee of Your Own Trust
In fact, in most revocable living trusts, the person who creates the trust (called the grantor) also serves as their own trustee during their lifetime. That means you are in complete control of your own assets, managing them just as you always have, simply under a legal structure that protects them and ensures they pass efficiently to your beneficiaries when the time comes.
So in this scenario, you could simultaneously be serving as trustee of your parents’ trust while also serving as the trustee of your own. The roles run parallel to each other and do not interfere.
What You Do Want to Keep Straight
While there is no legal conflict in holding both roles, there is one practical discipline worth taking seriously: keeping the assets and administration of each trust completely separate.
Your parents’ trust assets are not yours to commingle with your own, even temporarily, even with the best of intentions. Separate records, separate accounts, and separate decision-making for each trust is not just good practice; it is a legal obligation of your fiduciary duty to your parents.
Working with a Calabasas trust administration lawyer while serving in multiple trustee roles helps you stay organized, document your decisions properly, and protect yourself from any future questions about how each trust was handled.
A Moment Worth Recognizing
If you are serving as trustee for your parents while also thinking about your own estate plan, that says something important about you. You are someone who understands firsthand how much these documents matter and how much work goes into honoring someone else’s wishes. That experience makes you better prepared than most to make thoughtful decisions about your own plan.
Don’t let the busyness of managing your parents’ affairs become the reason your own plan gets pushed to the back burner. Your family deserves the same protection you are working to provide for them.
Let’s Get Your Plan in Place
If you are ready to establish your own living trust while navigating your responsibilities as a trustee for your parents, we are here to help you do both with clarity and confidence. Reach out to our office and schedule a consultation with a Calabasas trust administration lawyer, and let’s make sure everyone in your family is protected, including you.