Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Christine Fletcher writes about managing trusts and estates. If you serve as trustee for a friend or family member, you understand ...

Elderly persons often sign new estate documents, including trusts and trust amendments. Certainly, all persons with competence and without improper influences have the right to leave their property to ...

What happens when the trustee’s work takes more time and effort than anyone anticipated? And how much, if anything, should a family member be paid? Trustee compensation lacks clear rules; most family ...

In the world of wealth management and generational wealth transfer, legal and financial complexity should be managed by skilled professionals. However, there’s no need to sacrifice the personal touch ...

Royce Ramey, CFA, is co-CEO of Versant Capital Management, a multifamily office in Dallas and Phoenix serving ultra-high-net-worth families. Trusts are a powerful tool for families to transfer their ...

When a trust is created, three distinct roles define how it functions: the grantor, the trustee and the beneficiary. The grantor sets up the trust and contributes the assets. The trustee manages those ...

Choosing a trustee is one of the most important decisions that clients make for their estate plans. Some trust powers may be critical for tax planning — but giving those powers to the wrong person as ...

An incident of the trustee’s duty to be generally prudent, to account (or report) to beneficiaries, and to refrain from breaches of the duty of undivided loyalty, such as engaging in unauthorized self ...