Investment losses: Do you question the performance, objectivity or fees of your broker, trustee, or money manager?
Wills, Trusts and Estates: Do you wonder what your rights as a beneficiary are and whether the trust or estate is being administered properly?
Beneficiary rights: As a beneficiary of a trust or estate, you have important rights that should be explained objectively to you.
Surviving spouses: As a surviving spouse, most states, including Florida, give you important, and valuable rights which you should know about, that will affect you, and how an estate or trust may be administered.
Fiduciary fees: How is your trustee or executor being paid? Is the compensation reasonable? How can you question the fees being paid and do you have the ability to object to the fees if you desire?
Inheritances: Whether you are a beneficiary of an IRA, a bank account or an entire estate, you should know what you are entitled to and when you can expect it.
Litigation involving banks, trust companies, executors and trustees: If you have a question about how one is managing your money, your inheritance or your trust, have your rights explained to you.
Bad estate planning: If you believe that you did not receive good advice about estates, taxes or trusts, have your rights explained to you by one who understands those issues.
Trust administration: If you are a beneficiary of a Florida trust, you have many rights which you may not be aware of. Trustees owe beneficiaries a duty to account and also a duty to inform. Beneficiaries are entitled to a copy of the trust document and other information upon reasonable request. If you are a surviving spouse or income beneficiary, you should know about important investment and administration options that may favor you, including the "power to adjust" and the "power to convert" an income trust to a "unitrust." Have you requested funds from the trust or wonder how it is being administered? Talk to someone who understands how trust companies and private banks operate, including how their investment committees and "discretionary distribution" committees operate. Thinking about removing a trustee? One must look not only to the trust document, but also to statutory law and caselaw.
Prudent investing: Everyone knows that a fiduciary must be "prudent." But what does this really mean? If you have questions about your investment portfolio, your trust or your brokerage account, talk to someone who understands Floridašs prudent investor rule, including what type of investment strategy you should have, and what steps should be taken to consider risk, return and preservation of capital. Is your portfolio prudent?
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