Trust Management Software

What is Trust Management Software?

Trust management software is a specialized tool used to efficiently manage and administer trusts, estate planning, and fiduciary relationships. This type of software is commonly utilized by legal departments, accounting firms, financial institutions, trust companies, wealth management firms, and estate planning attorneys.

Trust management software streamlines the complex processes involved in overseeing trusts and estates. It helps organizations maintain accurate records of assets under management, fulfill their fiduciary responsibilities, comply with regulatory requirements, provide transparency to beneficiaries or clients, minimize errors and risks associated with manual processes, improve efficiency in managing portfolios, and enhance client service delivery.

Trust management software typically offers native integrations with tools such as accounting software to facilitate seamless financial reporting and compliance monitoring. It also often works in conjunction with document management systems to store important legal documents related to trusts.

While trust management software shares some similarities with estate planning software solutions due to overlapping functionalities and target user base (namely finance professionals), it focuses specifically on trust administration rather than broader aspects of wealth or estate planning. However, it's worth noting that some vendors offer integrated suites or modules that encompass multiple areas like portfolio management or tax compliance alongside trust administration features.

Trust Management Software Features

• Trust Accounting: Complete suite for managing every aspect of trust accounting including transaction recording & reconciliation, calculating interest income distributions or capital gains/losses.
• Record Keeping: Maintains comprehensive records about each trust’s structure details such as settlor/grantor information, beneficiary data, anddistribution history so you can track past transactions at any time.
• Estate Planning Tools: Provides tools for creating wills & testaments; drafting complex estate plans, and correctly distributing assets using automated templates based on the appropriate jurisdiction.
• Compliance Management: Automates compliance tasks like generating beneficiary statements or accurate tax filings consistently and staying compliant with all regulatory requirements through automated notifications & reminders.
• Document Management: Centralized repository for securely storing and organizing essential trust documents such as wills, deeds, trusts agreements, Powers of Attorney (POA), and other supporting documentation.
• Tax Calculation: Calculates taxes through native capabilities or integrations with taxation software solutions. Some software may  automatically calculate income distribution  based on pre-defined rules and local or federal tax rates/limits.
• Reporting and Analytics: Generate customizable reports including financial statements, performance measurements, beneficiary statements, or investment portfolio summaries to help analyze the overall health of trusts under management.
• Collaboration Tools: Allows multiple users to collaborate effectively on trust administration tasks by assigning responsibilities & tracking progress.

Trust Management Software Comparison

1. Ease of Use: Considering the complexity involved in managing trusts and estates, it is crucial to choose user-friendly software that doesn't require extensive training or technical expertise to operate efficiently.

2. Integration Capabilities: Look for software that can seamlessly integrate with your existing systems like accounting software or document management tools to avoid duplication of efforts or manual data entry.

3. Compliance Standards: Ensure that the trust management software complies with relevant regulations such as GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) if you handle personal data from clients residing in the European Union.

4. Scalability and Customization Options: Depending on your organization's size and needs, make sure the software can grow along with your trust management needs, while offering customization options to fit unique workflows or specific requirements.

Pricing Information

Pricing for trust management software varies depending on factors such as vendor, deployment model (cloud-based vs. on-premises), number of users, and additional features required. Starting prices for trust management software can range from $10 - $99 per month, with some vendors charging one-time licensing fees that can cost as much as $700 or more.

Free trials or demos are typically offered by most vendors. Higher-priced plans typically include advanced features like complex tax calculations, deeper reporting insights, and more robust integration capabilities.

It is recommended that interested buyers reach out directly to software providers to request pricing details tailored to their organization's requirements and obtain information about available support packages or licensing models.