Your Trustee Duties: Here Is What You Need to Know (Pt. 1)

November 25, 2014 Posted In Breach of Fiduciary Duty,Trust Administration,Trust Disputes,Trusts
by Colorado Estate Matters

Being a trustee is a big responsibility that comes with both ethical and administrative obligations. Although you do not have to have an attorney inform you of these obligations or help you comply with them.  If you try to administer a trust on your own (especially when you may have some other significant obligations in your life and/or you may not be familiar with administering trusts), you can:

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  Are you a trustee? If so, here is what you need to know about your trustee duties. Call us for experienced help administering a trust.

  End up mismanaging the funds or assets of the trust

• Be accused of breaching your fiduciary duties
• Being sued and held personally liable for your mistakes with administering the trust.

To clarify some of the essential obligations that come with administering trusts and to minimize the chances that you will make mistakes, in this three-part blog series.  We will point out some of the main trustee duties you will need to know about when you are administering trusts. If you have questions about or need any assistance with your trustee duties, don’t hesitate to contact the Denver trust attorneys at Colorado Estate Matters, Ltd.

Your Trustee Duties: The Ethical Obligations

When you agree to serve as a trustee, the primary ethical obligations that you have accepted and agreed to comply with as you administer the trust include:

• Being impartial – When administering the trust, the trustee should never promote or advance the interests of any one party or beneficiary at the expense of another.
• Being loyal to serving the interests of the trust – Specifically, this means that trustees should not advance their personal interest at the expense of the trust and its interests.
• Being prudent and careful when administering the trust – In other words, the trustee agrees to always make decisions and act in the interests of the trust and the beneficiaries when administering the trust.

For our continued discussion of trustee duties, be sure to look for the upcoming second and third installments of this blog series!

Denver Trust Attorneys at Colorado Estate Matters, Ltd. can help you with your Trustee Duties.

When you are ready for help administering a trust or dealing with any estate planning matter, you can turn to the trust lawyers at Colorado Estate Matters, Ltd.We provide a thoughtful, comprehensive approach to our clients’ estate planning, elder law and other legal needs.  We take pride in helping each of our clients and their families find the best solutions for them.

While this means that we provide personalized attention at every step of the process, it also means that our clients can rely on our Denver trust attorneys to always be competent, caring and professional while providing them with the highest quality legal services at affordable rates.

Contact Us Today

We can discuss your estate planning needs and different options during our consultation. To schedule this meeting, call us at (303) 713-9147 or email us using the contact form at the top of this page.

From our offices in Denver, we serve clients throughout the southwest and southeast Metro Area, including (but not limited to) people in Highlands Ranch, Littleton, Castle Rock, Parker, Aurora, Greenwood Village, Englewood, Centennial, Wheat Ridge, Golden and Arvada.