About Us

GSS Trust has provided professional fiduciary services since 1985. As a Washington Chartered Trust Company, our financial activities are regulated by the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (DFI). Our core services include Trust Administration, Probate Estate Administration, Powers of Attorney for Finance and Healthcare, and Contract Services for Financial Management and Care Management. In addition to private client relationships, we are often appointed by the courts to serve as Trustee for Special Needs Trusts and Settlement Trusts for Minor Children. We are also a Certified Professional Guardian Conservator Agency and in select cases, serve as Guardian and Conservator. Our financial records, accounting practices, and internal controls undergo an independent audit by an outside CPA firm annually.

With over 30 employees and over $500 Million in assets under management, we are the largest regulated trust company in Washington that offers in-house care management.

GSS Trust was founded in Seattle in 1985 by Tom O’Brien and Edward Gardner. Tom and Ed worked together at a nonprofit foundation providing fiduciary services to the public and decided to set out together to form their own business.

In the 1980s, GSS began as a guardianship agency, serving as court-appointed guardian for adults of advanced age or with disabilities and mental health conditions in need of financial and care management services. Due to its expertise in serving vulnerable clients, GSS quickly became one of the go-to fiduciaries trusted by the courts and legal community to serve as Trustee for special needs trusts and settlement trusts for minors.

As the Washington courts and legal community shifted their emphasis towards “less restrictive alternatives” to guardianship, GSS’s clientele became increasingly comprised of trust accounts and other private client relationships. Using its expertise and infrastructure developed from serving guardianship clients and court-monitored trusts, GSS developed core competencies in its primary service offerings of trust administration, probate estate administration, durable powers of attorney, and contract financial and care management.

In 2001, GSS’s owners decided to expand and purchased a competitor, Partners in Care. Since Partners in Care (PIC) had its own distinct brand and reputation, GSS elected to maintain PIC as a separate “sister” company. In 2023, GSS determined its clients and business would be better served under one corporate entity, and merged PIC with GSS to streamline processes and corporate governance.

In 2016 GSS received its Washington State trust company charter from the Department of Financial Institutions. Since receiving the charter, GSS has been increasingly appointed by families to serve on trusts and estates that historically would have been handled by a bank trust department.

In June 2026, GSS changed its name from GSS Trust to GSS Trust. The decision came down to something attorneys in our community had been telling us for years: the word “guardianship” was turning clients away due to its connotations as perceived by the public. The change to GSS Trust is also because guardianships only make up a small part of our practice, especially in comparison to trusts. In addition, we want to clearly identify ourselves as a trust company. Most importantly, we wanted to retain the name GSS, as that is how most professionals in the community have referred to us since our founding in 1985.