Avoiding Common Trustee Mistakes

							                                 Avoiding Common Trustee Mistakes

If you've been named or nominated as the trustee of the trust, you should know that your job will
require you to perform your duties responsibly and within the bounds of the law. If you fail to act
accordingly you may run into some serious legal difficulties. Here are several potential pitfalls that
trustees may fall into if they are not careful.

Treat beneficiaries fairly
This potential pitfall is often problematic for adult children who have been named trustee of their
parent's trust. You must be able to treat all of the beneficiaries fairly, and you cannot take advantage
of your position by excluding others or unfairly dividing trust property. Your job as a trustee makes you
a fiduciary, meaning you have to do what is in the best interest of all the beneficiaries, and not favor
one over another.

Keep thorough records
As the manager of the trust property it's your duty to maintain thorough and accurate records. You
must be able to account for any time you use trust property for trust purposes, as well as keep track of
any bills paid, maintenance performed, expenditures, and anything else related to the operation of the
trust.

Hire an attorney
Every state has specific laws and rules which apply to how a trustee must perform his or her duties.
Even experienced financial managers and other professionals who may have had dealings with trusts
before need to have an experienced attorney ready to provide legal guidance or they risk exposing
themselves to legal trouble.

Experienced estate planning attorneys Port St. Lucie FL of the Robert J. Kulas, P.A. offers estate
planning and business planning resources to residents of Port St. Lucie FL. To learn more about these
free resources, please visit www.kulaslaw.com/ today.