Navigating the Minefield of Fiduciary Service: A Primer on the Current Landscape of Trustee and Executor Responsibility

It is an honor to be selected as an executor or trustee, but that service comes with significant legal obligations. In this presentation, attorneys Yolanda Kanes, Jamie BW Stecher, and Judith Benkov examine many important legal and practical issues that executors or trustees confront, and present cautionary lessons from recent case law concerning fiduciary conduct. They also cover management responsibility over assets, obligations to estate and trust beneficiaries, and strategies to avoid internal disputes and litigation.

Learning Objectives:

I.     Understand the Executor's authority over estate assets

II.    Untangle creditor obligations and identifying tax exposure

III.   Identify parameters of Executor and fiduciary responsibility

IV.   Avoid the pitfalls of distribution