What do Trustees do?
Trustees manage your assets, handle day-to-day financial matters and ensure a smooth transition of assets to your heirs. We are held to the highest standard of care, “a fiduciary duty,” when following your written wishes.
A trustee’s duty includes understanding and following the terms of the trust, managing clients’ assets, maintaining or selling a residence, managing a commercial property, and ensuring the timely filing of tax returns. These are some significant examples, and there may be more depending on your estate.
A trustee should also be able to communicate clearly and on a regular basis with beneficiaries. It is important to keep everyone informed as to the activities performed on behalf of the estate to elicit trust and provide peace of mind. There is a potential for conflict over the decisions a trustee may make. It is essential a trustee is skilled enough to work through any conflict.
The role of trustee is a highly significant one given the breadth of financial and legal duties. Who should provide your trustee services, given this important role? There are many questions to ask such as:
- Does the trustee have specific knowledge and experience in acting in this role?
- Does the trustee have the time to work with my estate and my heirs?
- What happens if there is a mistake, do they have insurance or are bonded to protect my estate?
- Who would the trustee turn to if there are questions or problems arise?
Why work with us?
Bishop Fiduciary Services, Ltd. has over 20 years’ experience providing trustee services to high net worth clients throughout Contra Costa County, Alameda County and the entire Bay Area. We act as your trustee or executor. We have the experience to work with complex family estate plans, coordinate services with trusted family advisors and communicate with heirs.
We provide trust services for a variety of trusts including Living Trusts, Irrevocable Trusts (such as Bypass or Exemption Trusts, QTIP Marital, Charitable Trusts, Life Insurance Trusts and Special Needs Trusts). We also provide administrative services for additional estate planning vehicles such as FLP’s, LLC’s.
We work with highly skilled service providers including investment advisors, CPA’s, realtors, and care management firms. We have the flexibility to work with clients’ trusted advisors. We require regular reporting from all service providers to ensure needs and goals stay on track. We provide timely, professional communication to all interested parties.
Each family is unique, and they need expert and guided trust and financial services. Our passion and purpose are clear: A commitment to working with clients and making sure to follow their estate plans according to their wishes.
We invite you to contact us to discuss your particular needs. It would be our pleasure to provide referrals as well as review your estate plans to make sure you are “trustee ready.”