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To effectively serve as a trustee, it's crucial to understand your fiduciary duties. Even trustees with the best of intentions can create liability for themselves by being unprepared for the job or by not fully understanding their obligations. Learn more about some of the common mistakes family trustees make that can lead to lawsuits and other costly consequences.

Unlike trustees, who have very specific fiduciary duties spelled out for them in our trust laws, beneficiaries don’t have much guidance to help them in the role of beneficiary. Our answers to these frequently asked questions should help provide guidance on how to be a good beneficiary and your rights as a beneficiary under Michigan law.

Serving as a trustee for your family can be a valuable experience for you, while also providing an important service to your family. But before you accept the position, make sure that you understand the role you will play for the family and are willing to accept the responsibilities and liability that come with it.

The role of a trustee has evolved significantly over the 21st century, and today’s trustee needs to recognize that a trust is rooted in a human relationship, not just a legal one. When selecting your trustee, there are seven traits to keep in mind when selecting the right one for you.

Social media and other digital accounts have a life of their own. Managing them is one aspect of managing a deceased person's digital estate. Sometimes the problem is simply closing an account while other times, you hope to gain access to a loved one's accumulated photos, videos, or other important files. To help manage your digital accounts and plan ahead, know the rules governing Google accounts, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Dropbox.

Many affluent parents have concerns about the impact a significant inheritance could have on their children. If you're not ready to give the bulk of your estate to charity but you are concerned about the potential impact of inherited wealth on your children, there are other options. They include timing the cash distributions, adding general statements of intent to your estate plan, establishing incentive provisions in your trust—and even creating an incentive trust.

A private family trust company (PTC) often serves as an excellent governance framework and corporate structure for a virtual family office (VFO) by providing integrated, holistic oversight of fiduciary, investment, tax, philanthropic, governance, and other activity. Learn more about how and why families choose to form a VFO around their PTC, the concept of a VFO Manager, the benefits of a PTC-VFO structure, and roles within a typical structure.