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Trust your family's legacy to Schwab Personal Trust Services.

Introduction

Our professionally managed trust services, offered through Charles Schwab Trust Company (CSTC), provide the expertise, dedicated relationships, investment management, administration services, and flexibility you need to help provide peace of mind for your loved ones.

Who should administer your trust?

why schwab

You've built a solid financial foundation for yourself and your family. A trust helps to protect and manage your assets, ensuring your legacy can support your loved ones now, and in the years to come. 

Whether you're working with an attorney to update a current trust or to create a new trust, one of the most important decisions you can make is who'll administer it. The trustee you choose must be able to impartially manage your trust assets throughout the full term of your trust and have a solid understanding of the legal complexities and administrative duties required. 

Given the depth of responsibility, time commitment, and expertise this role requires, a corporate trustee can be an excellent choice. 

What are the benefits of a corporate trustee?

Working with a corporate trustee like Charles Schwab Trust Company not only lifts the administrative burden from your family, but also offers the advantages of:

  • Fiduciary objectivity. As a fiduciary, we'll administer your trust in a professional and impartial manner.
  • Professional trust experience. We have the expertise to carry out all the duties of a trustee, including the investment of trust assets, administration of your trust in accordance with its terms, professional and timely recordkeeping, and preparation and filing of trust income tax returns.
  • Continuity. We can provide seamless, responsive trust administration and trust portfolio management for as long as your trust endures.
  • Favorable trust situs. We administer trusts under Nevada law, providing potential tax and administrative advantages, regardless of where your trust was established. 

What type of services does Charles Schwab Trust Company provide?

A team of our trust professionals will be assigned to your trust to provide a variety of trust services. In addition to serving as a point of contact for your beneficiaries, your team will also provide:  

Administration services

  • Income and principal distributions according to the trust document
  • Preparation and filing of fiduciary federal and state tax returns
  • Accurate and timely accounting, recordkeeping, and reporting 

Investment management services

  • Professional investment management of your trust assets, including portfolio adjustment to meet changing market demands
  • Flexible investment options—including the ability to allow a named investment fiduciary to manage the trust assets—for clients with $10 million or more in assets at Schwab 

Some frequently asked questions.

A trust is a legal relationship in which one or more persons or entities (trustees) holds legal title to property and manages it for the benefit of one or more persons or entities (beneficiaries).

Please note you must work with an estate planning attorney to draft and create your trust. Schwab can assist with administering your trust once it has been created but does not establish trusts on your behalf.

A corporate trustee is a professional institution—such as a trust company—that is legally authorized to act as a fiduciary in managing and administering a trust. Unlike an individual trustee, a corporate trustee provides a level of professional expertise and impartiality without placing responsibility on your loved ones. 

Depending on your specific goals, you can choose to appoint CSTC to serve your trust in one of two ways:

Immediate appointment (now): You can appoint CSTC to serve as your sole trustee or administrative trustee immediately. This allows you to delegate the complex fiduciary, administrative, and investment management tasks to our specialists today.

Future appointment (successor): You can name CSTC as your successor trustee. In this role, we would step in to manage and protect your trust assets only in the future, such as in the event of your incapacity or death.

If you'd like to talk to a personal trust services professional about your needs, we're here to help. You can email us or call 877-862-4304 to learn more. 

To help you and your attorney prepare, you can download our Personal Trust Planning Checklist and Standard Trust Provisions. 
 

Explore more about trusts and how Schwab can help.

Ready to get started?

If you would like to discuss how Schwab can provide professional trustee services for your personal trust, email us or call 877-862-4304.

This information is for general informational purposes only and is not intended, nor should it be construed, as tax, investment, or legal advice. Charles Schwab Trust Company does not provide legal or tax advice. Consult with your legal counsel and tax advisor about your particular circumstances.

Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. ("Schwab") is affiliated with Charles Schwab Trust Company (CSTC), the corporate trustee for Schwab Personal Trust Services (SPTS) and Schwab Wealth Trust Services (SWTS). Schwab may introduce clients to CSTC but does not evaluate whether SPTS or SWTS is appropriate for each client or recommend SPTS or SWTS for any particular client. It is the client's responsibility to ensure that CSTC meets his or her trust needs and to conduct any due diligence that may be required before engaging CSTC.

​Schwab and Schwab Wealth Advisory, Inc., a Registered Investment Advisor and an affiliate of Schwab, both earn compensation from CSTC for services provided in connection with SPTS or SWTS. CSTC may invest trust assets in a wrap fee program or make use of investment advisory services which are sponsored by Schwab and/or in which Schwab affiliates provide discretionary and non-discretionary investment recommendations. Schwab and its affiliates earn compensation for assets selected or recommended by Schwab-affiliated advisors, including management fees for Schwab affiliate mutual funds and shareholder servicing fees for mutual funds that are participating in the Schwab Mutual Fund OneSource® service.   

Schwab Financial Consultants who introduce you to CSTC will receive compensation if you choose to use SPTS or SWTS. CSTC receives fees in connection with the administrative trust services or the investment management services as permitted pursuant to the terms of the trust instruments.   

In selecting a trust service, you should consider whether to combine trust administrative services with trust investment management services and whom to select as a trustee. Third parties may offer similar trust administrative or trust investment management services, or both, at different costs.   

Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.; Schwab Wealth Advisory, Inc.; and Charles Schwab Trust Company are separate but affiliated companies and subsidiaries of The Charles Schwab Corporation. 

This information is for general informational purposes only and is not intended, nor should it be construed, as tax, investment, or legal advice. Charles Schwab Trust Company does not provide legal or tax advice. Consult with your legal counsel and tax advisor about your particular circumstances.

Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. ("Schwab") is affiliated with Charles Schwab Trust Company (CSTC), the corporate trustee for Schwab Personal Trust Services (SPTS) and Schwab Wealth Trust Services (SWTS). Schwab may introduce clients to CSTC but does not evaluate whether SPTS or SWTS is appropriate for each client or recommend SPTS or SWTS for any particular client. It is the client's responsibility to ensure that CSTC meets his or her trust needs and to conduct any due diligence that may be required before engaging CSTC.

​Schwab and Schwab Wealth Advisory, Inc., a Registered Investment Advisor and an affiliate of Schwab, both earn compensation from CSTC for services provided in connection with SPTS or SWTS. CSTC may invest trust assets in a wrap fee program or make use of investment advisory services which are sponsored by Schwab and/or in which Schwab affiliates provide discretionary and non-discretionary investment recommendations. Schwab and its affiliates earn compensation for assets selected or recommended by Schwab-affiliated advisors, including management fees for Schwab affiliate mutual funds and shareholder servicing fees for mutual funds that are participating in the Schwab Mutual Fund OneSource® service.   

Schwab Financial Consultants who introduce you to CSTC will receive compensation if you choose to use SPTS or SWTS. CSTC receives fees in connection with the administrative trust services or the investment management services as permitted pursuant to the terms of the trust instruments.   

In selecting a trust service, you should consider whether to combine trust administrative services with trust investment management services and whom to select as a trustee. Third parties may offer similar trust administrative or trust investment management services, or both, at different costs.   

Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.; Schwab Wealth Advisory, Inc.; and Charles Schwab Trust Company are separate but affiliated companies and subsidiaries of The Charles Schwab Corporation.