As a trust officer, people often ask me how my legal experience comes into play in my day-to-day job. They don’t often understand the role that a trust officer has and how you might use your legal experience in that career. I have found what I’ve learned from practicing law in a previous career has been very helpful in helping me represent and advocate for clients.

I think of course as an attorney you learn the technical side of the business. You learn how to understand, interpret and draft documents for people. What you don’t always see is the other side of that which is during the administration of a trust and how your words actually come into play when you’re working with a family.

I find it very interesting to be on the other side of that document interpreting it and helping people either better plan ahead of time working with their attorneys in the drafting so they know what they really want to happen will happen once their gone or sitting beside them administering documents for their family and making sure that the words that are crafted are handled in the way that they would want to.

At Caldwell Trust Company, I am actually surrounded by seasoned professionals with lots of initials behind their name, MBA, CPA, PhD, CFA, but what I’ll tell you is the common thread among all of the professionals there, is that they truly care about their clients.

One area where we really try to help facilitate things for our clients to the extent that they’ll let us is helping them really communicate with their families and to really educate the next generation on the psychology of wealth and money. We have really found that giving money or leaving money to people that either aren’t prepared to handle it or not educated in how to handle their finances can truly be a disservice. There is nothing better than sitting down with the family, parents, grandparents, talking with them and helping them really understand how they want them to succeed in life and how the planning they have done is so instrumental  in making that happen. I find that it is truly out of love for the family and making sure that this money doesn’t become a hindrance to them but really helps them achieve the success that they can in life.

I’ve found that people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. So even though a lot of our day is spent interpreting documents or working with complex investment solutions for our clients, what we really do is get to know them and their families and empathize with what they’re trying to do with their lives. I think that’s what sets Caldwell Trust apart. We really are able to have the flexibility and the freedom to be creative with our clients and really help them achieve what they want to with their plans.

Caldwell Trust Company

Caldwell Trust Company is an independent trust company with offices in Venice and Sarasota, Florida. Established in 1993, the firm currently manages over $800 million in assets for clients throughout the United States. The company offers a full range of fiduciary services to individuals, including services as trustee, custodian, investment adviser, financial manager and personal representative. Additionally, Caldwell manages 401(k) and 403(b) qualified retirement plans for employers.