Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

We do not offer investment management services.  Therefore, we do not compete with financial advisors.  We work with them by providing fiduciary support, including trust administration and record keeping.

In our administrative role as a chartered fiduciary, it is our responsibility to objectively follow the guidelines established in the trust document.  Before agreeing to manage a trust, Santa Fe Trust consults with the trust client, his or her attorney and financial advisor to review each party’s respective responsibilities.  Within the guidelines of the trust document, applicable law and our internal policies, we allow financial advisors to have discretion over the trust client's investment portfolio.

Financial advisors who work with Santa Fe Trust maintain their relationships with our trust clients.  We provide financial advisors with the knowledge and data they need to keep our clients well informed.  We also make every effort to allow financial advisors to deal with their preferred broker or custodian to minimize trade processing changes.

We do not provide investment management services.  We work with outside financial advisors who, like us, specialize in their area.  As a chartered fiduciary, we oversee the investment activities of the trust’s financial advisor to ensure the trust assets are being invested in accordance with the guidelines set forth in the trust document as agreed.

Choosing a trustee is the most important decision when implementing a trust.  The legal requirements of trust management are complicated, time-consuming and impose a great deal of responsibility and potential liability on trustees.

Unlike individuals, chartered trustees like Santa Fe Trust never die or become incapacitated.  These entities carry fiduciary liability insurance to protect trust assets and invest heavily in specialized trust accounting software and computerized systems to improve efficiency while keeping administrative costs low.

Chartered trustees employ professionals who know how best to deal with the complex tax, legal and accounting issues that must be addressed on behalf of beneficiaries.  Chartered trustees are also audited regularly to assure compliance with the state and federal regulations designed to protect trust clients.

Santa Fe Trust was founded as an independent trust company.  We focus solely on trust administration and recognize the importance of the individual’s ability to choose.  We specialize in trust and related administration.  When we are appointed trustee, your trust will be assigned to an experienced, responsive administrative team.

In today's complex financial world the best service providers specialize.  As we do only trust and related administration, we work with outside investment, legal, tax and insurance professionals who specialize in their respective fields.  We encourage our trust clients to work with specialists to develop the most acceptable trust documents.  We then can act to ensure proper and prudent trust administration and realization of the goals our trust clients set when creating trusts.

Because we work with many different outside investment, legal, tax and insurance professionals, our clients often enjoy the flexibility of using their preferred qualified advisors or we can provide references to professionals who may meet your unique needs.

We are regulated by the Financial Institutions Division (FID) of the State of New Mexico, which examines corporate operations and individual trust accounts on a regular basis.  We carry errors and omissions and directors and officers liability insurance and we fidelity bond all our employees.  We segregate the trust account assets of our clients from our corporate assets and often contract with appropriate insured and regulated institutions to hold cash and other trust assets of our clients in our behalf.  We conduct regular reviews of client trust accounts to ensure that administration is in accordance with sound fiduciary principles and terms of the governing trust documents.

We use state-of-the-art trust accounting software and services to provide our clients with easy-to-understand account statements, detailed year-end reports and timely disbursement checks. Please click here to view a sample Account Statement.

We outsource our tax return preparation work either to independent certified public accountants or a national tax return preparation service that specializes in fiduciary tax return preparation.  If you do not have an accountant to prepare the returns for your trust, we will use our national service or assist you in finding a qualified preparer in your area.  Regardless of who prepares a trust’s returns, we take responsibility for the preparer’s work and sign the returns in behalf of the trust.

No.  We cannot practice law and do not prepare trust documents.  However, if requested we can consult with clients’ attorneys in drafting or amending trust documents to be administered by us.  We can also make recommendations to our client’s attorneys regarding administrative provisions that we believe will facilitate our administration of the trust.

Disclaimer: SFT engages in this activity for internal risk management purposes only.  Any comments or suggestions SFT makes to counsel are not to be considered legal opinions of any kind and may not be relied upon by any party for any purpose.  Attorneys who are drafting any documents SFT reviews must exercise their own independent legal judgment in accepting or rejecting any recommendations made.  Santa Fe Trust does not draft legal documents, provide legal advice of any kind, or guarantee or endorse the work of any attorney in any fashion or for any purpose.

Yes.  Although we are headquartered in Santa Fe, New Mexico, we are legally permitted to act as a trustee for individuals in most states.  Financial advisors and trust clients should contact us in advance to determine the legal issues before we are appointed to serve as a trustee or successor trustee in any client's trust documents.

First, we will review the trust document to determine if the trust can be transferred to us.  If the trust is transferable, we will then advise you and your advisors on the procedures for perfecting the transfer.

We are generally appointed as the trustee or co-trustee in a trust relationship.  However, we can provide trust administration services under contract to a trustee who retains us as an administrative agent.

Certain services are required of any person or entity acting as a trustee.  If one chooses to serve as his or her own trustee or to appoint an inexperienced family member to the trusteeship, Santa Fe Trust can act together with that lay trustee to perform administrative duties and responsibilities.  In such agency relationships, our fiduciary liability will be limited and we will rarely accept investment management oversight duties or responsibilities.  The trustee who hires us on an agency basis will be legally liable for the ultimate quality of our work product and administrative performance, as well as the investment activities of whomever the trustee hires to perform investment management.

We provide fiduciary, administrative and record-keeping support for all types of personal trusts (both revocable and irrevocable) including:

• Asset protection trusts
• Credit shelter trusts / Bypass trusts
• Family trusts
• Incentive trusts
• Marital trusts
• Q-tip trusts
• Residuary trusts
• Generation skipping transfer trusts
• Estate settlement trusts
• Dynasty trusts
• Special Assets Trusts
• Custodial Trusts
• Irrevocable Life Insurance trusts (ILITs)
• (Existing) Private Annuity Trusts (PATs)
• Court-created trusts
• IRAs and IRA conduit trusts

We charge an asset-based fee on all accounts for which we provide fiduciary, administrative and record-keeping support, except for irrevocable life insurance trusts, for which we charge a flat annual fee.  Please Contact Us to obtain a current fee schedule.

Depending on your unique needs, certain types of trusts may best serve your interests.  When you call us, we will ask a few questions to determine which of our team members can best discuss your needs.  Please Contact Us to get started.