inTRUST
JAMES M BENEDEK
JD MBA CFP® CLU®
PROFESSIONAL INDIVIDUAL TRUSTEE
INDEPENDENT
UNBIASED
inTRUST | James M Benedek, a Professional Individual Personal Trustee in Florida, offers a sensible and liberating trust administration alternative to institutions and family members as trustees.
inTRUST clients find key value working with Jim especially when uncommon needs surface and an insightful and impartial personal attention is needed.
THE ADVANTAGE
of Professional Individual Trustees (Independent Trustees) over corporate/bank trustees and family members or
other individual trustees.
PROFESSIONAL INDIVIDUAL TRUSTEES ARE
HIGHLY RESPONSIVE
Meaning, that they do not have high account loads and are able to return phone calls quickly
and make decisions promptly. They do not need to wait weeks for a trust committee to render a decision.
Typically
HIGHLY EXPERIENCED
They have well defined policies and procedures, and utilize some kind of accounting/reporting system
to maintain accurate records.
INSURED
A family member trustee is not. This assures that in the event of a problem, there will be resources available to recover from a loss.
INDEPENDENT AND UNBIASED
Having no personal ties to beneficiaries which would make it difficult to say “no” to improper or unqualified requests for principal distributions.
TYPICALLY CHARGE LOWER FEES
than their corporate counterparts as they have far less overhead expense.
FLEXIBLE and CREATIVE
They are usually willing to take much smaller trusts than most corporate trustees, and are often willing to take less attractive trusts such as Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts (ILITs) and Special Needs Trusts (SNTs), and many even take on the personal roles of Trust Protector, power of attorney and health care surrogate.
LONG TERM RELATIONSHIP and CONTINUITY ORIENTED
There is no “turnover” in the trust officer role; that is, the Professional Individual Trustee is not an employee who must often move to a different company to get a promotion, but instead does trust administration as a business, a service, and a career.
ABOUT
JAMES M BENEDEK and inTRUST
James M Benedek has been in the trust and financial services business for more than thirty years. He received his BA, MBA and JD from Washington University in St. Louis. He currently holds the CFP (Certified Financial Planner), CLU (Chartered Life Underwriter) designations and he is a Certified Independent Trustee. Jim is a member of the Missouri Bar and teaches financial planning courses at Miami Dade College to prepare students to take the CFP exam.
He initially worked in St. Louis for a trust bank that is now part of Bank of America. SunTrust recruited him to work in business development in their Miami office. He later worked for SmithBarney/Citigroup/Morgan Stanley as the trust specialist for the South Florida region. The role involved working with financial advisors and their clients, assisting with the development of their estate plans, and facilitating trust administration for clients through Citigroup Trust.
When Citigroup sold Smith Barney to Morgan Stanley, they ceased offering the trust services that supported the financial advisors. Jim was able to open a consulting practice where he offered corporate trustee services to financial advisors. In select cases, Jim will serve as the trustee or co-trustee on a trust. He is able to offer a higher level of service to clients who prefer to work with an individual rather than a corporation. Jim partners with experienced trust professionals and financial advisors to deliver investment management and tax services. Fees are dependent upon the size and complexity of the trust case and are always competitive.
" I have known Jim for a number of years and have enjoyed working with him. He's a consummate professional who has a deep knowledge of the trust and estate business."
Phil Morrissey
Managing Director
Naples Wealth Planning
James has over 30 years of trust administration, trust advisory, and trust business development experience. He acts as a trust consultant to trustees, and is an individual trustee for many clients of advisors. I have known and worked with James for nearly 30 years in my capacity as a trust tax manager for SunTrust Bank in Miami and in my own tax preparation business. We share many mutual clients and my experience in working with James has been excellent. He has strong people skills and works well with others. James has the consummate character of professionalism and expertise in his field.
Justin LaBarbera
LaBarbera Enterprises
Tax Preparation business
Jim has a very high level of knowledge of Trusts and administration. He has a very good reputation in the community and is involved in numerous charities and organizations, and is well known for his professionalism. I have worked with Jim on numerous matters, including a $1.7 million trust administration and several ILITs. Jim has the highest level of integrity, honesty and professionalism.
David A. Shulman, Esq.
Ginsberg Shulman, PL
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
WHAT OTHERS SAY ABOUT JIM'S WORK
ESTATE AND CHARITABLE PLANNING READS
Stephan R. Leimberg is a source of inspiration and technical knowledge for all fiduciaries.
Topics include:
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Estate Planning
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Financial Planning
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Retirement Planning
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Charitable Planning
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Business Planning
Software, including
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NumberCruncher 2020.01
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QuickView 2020.00
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Retirement Plan Analyzer 2020.11
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Charitable Financial Planner 2020.10
GAME CHANGER - THE CAREER PROFESSIONAL INDIVIDUAL TRUSTEE
by Richard Trumpler TEP
PERSONAL TRUSTEE ROLES - Trust Tri-furcation - the New Norm
by Richard Trumpler TEP
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