Trustees - Rights and Duties
Legal Advice About Your Rights and Duties as a Trustee
Being named the trustee of a trust means exactly as the word suggests: The trust's creator has entrusted you with the fiduciary responsibility to administrator and distribute according to the specific terms of the trust and Texas law.
Trustee Duties and Rights
If you are the trustee or administrator of a trust, don't assume things will always go smoothly. Yes, you have rights that will protect you from malicious litigation, but you must also understand that you may be handling millions of dollars in assets. Direct heirs and extended families will be relying on you for their financial security.
When a person establishes a trust, it is like writing a personal law about protecting the assets in the account. As a trustee, you have a legal responsibility to strictly follow the spirit and the letter of that mandate. You may face civil and criminal charges if a beneficiary proves that you have breached your trust.
We advise and represent two general classes of trustees:
- Individual trustees such as a spouse or next of kin
- Corporate trustees who come to us when they have a problem
Our principals, staff lawyers and of counsel attorneys have been involved in trust law steering committees for the Texas legislature for the past 30 years.
If you have been asked to serve as a trustee or administrator for a trust, get the legal facts about your rights and responsibilities. Ikard & Golden has been serving trustees and administrators since Frank Ikard and Alvin Golden founded our firm in 1992. Probate and estate planning has always been our only area of legal practice. Our clients include trustees of many of the largest trusts in Texas.
Three factors that govern the rights and responsibilities of a trustee:
- The specifics of the trust instrument
- Texas trust code
- Texas case law
General Duties of Loyalty as a Trustee
- Duty to protect the trust assets
- Duty to act prudently
- Duty of impartiality
- Duty of confidentiality
- Duty of good faith and fairness
Contact our offices in Austin to learn more about ways we can help you protect yourself from disputes and litigation. We represent trustees and administrators of significant trust accounts throughout central Texas.
