Gail Cohen, Chairman and General Trust Counsel at Fiduciary Trust International, and Lecturer in the Wealth Management program, recently co-authored a report on guidelines for non-professional fiduciaries in managing a trust or estate in Trusts & Estates.
In Trusts & Estates, Cohen provides a checklist for family members, friends, and other non-professionals to follow when they assume the role of fiduciary.
"These considerations fall into four broad categories—carrying out administrative responsibilities; making legal judgments; exercising discretion; and complying with and maximizing tax laws." the article states.
Many, perhaps most, non-professional fiduciaries don’t have the knowledge and training of their professional counterparts to appreciate the potential liability associated with these various actions. They frequently act in a manner motivated by emotional or personal views rather than by experience with difficult family dynamics compounded by the technicalities of the law.
— Gail Cohen, Lecturer, Wealth Management
You can read the full article here. To read other articles by Gail Cohen, please click here.
Gail E. Cohen, Chairman and General Trust Counsel at Fiduciary Trust International, has over 30 years of experience in the area of trusts and estates. She is a member of Fiduciary Trust’s Management and Operating Committees and is also Chair of Fiduciary Trust International of the South.
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