Did You Not Notice? Protecting Lawyers and Trustees from Beneficiary Complaints

Fiduciary accountings are easy to read when you understand the story they tell.

The internet has brought many advances to our lives. The world wide web, emails, blogs, cloud computing, social media and other online accounts are a common way to communicate with family and friends, manage finances or operate a business.

California recently enacted its decanting statute. The new law allows an authorized fiduciary to modify the terms of an irrevocable trust without the beneficiaries’ consent or court approval. Nevertheless, the settlor’s intent must be preserved, and no beneficiary can object. Here’s how the law compares to the Uniform Trust Decanting Act (UTDA) and other state decanting statutes.