Professional Trustee Services

First Foundation Bank is pleased to offer an integrated and comprehensive set of services through our closely aligned business affiliates that are all focused on meeting your needs in a personalized manner. Services provided to our clients are determined by their unique needs. Key reasons why you should use First Foundation Bank Trust Services include:

Asset Management-Benefits Include:

• Professional management of assets in conjunction with trust provisions, including assistance in establishing investment objectives with respect to income and growth for each trust.
• Oversight and management of Registered Investment Advisors.
• Annual or more frequent meetings with you, to ensure your account is fully diversified with all asset classes regardless of where they are held.

Accurate Recordkeeping-Benefits Include:

• Our recordkeeping services provide thorough documentation of all trust activities to provide legal defenses on trust actions over the term of the trust and beyond in one location.
• Professional recordkeeping and statements/notification to current and remainder beneficiaries as required by law.
• Upon death, our records are up to date, providing a fast preparation of the Federal Estate Death Tax Return (form 706), if deemed necessary.
• Our recordkeeping activities supply comprehensive tax data and accounting information to CPAs on a pre-agreed upon basis.
• Pay taxes, insurance and estimated income tax payments for individuals and trusts, if needed.

Trust Administration-Benefits Include:

• Professional management of income distributions and principal distributions of trust assets. (Irrevocable trusts have specific discretionary provisions that require care and documentation when making trust decisions.)
• A smooth transition period with no lag time in transferring assets or accessing funds if assets are currently under management with Successor Trustee at the time of a death. (You and your heirs avoid the up-to-three-months necessary to transfer assets if individual becomes incapacitated or dies.)
• Alleviating liability and criticism of individual trustees from other heirs and taxing authorities.
• Mitigating potential family conflicts when a corporate trustee acts as a neutral third party to all beneficiary requests impartially and according to the Grantor's goals. (This is especially useful with blended families or for trusts with unequal beneficiary distributions.)
• Providing automatic distributions from trusts to help with budgeting.

Tax Planning-Benefits Include:

• Managing taxes by assessing income needs and expenses while managing portfolio's short term/long term gains, losses and loss carry forwards.
• Recording cost basis, acquisition dates and providing current market values.
• Oversight and coordination of fiduciary tax returns for each trust. (Many trust agreements and family situations create three separate tax returns. This means that when combined with your personal returns, an individual trustee may be responsible for four to five tax returns a year.)

Personal Care-Benefits Include:

• Assistance in arranging in-home care and care providers when needed.
• Securing special care services for a beneficiary who has special needs.

For more information, download our Trustee Services information sheet (PDF)