Trusting someone or some organization to take care of valuable property is a reassuring means of protecting hard-earned assets. Typically, these people or organizations excel and deliver as promised. There are some occasions though, in which the trusted betray their promises and agreements, and end up causing harm or damages. In the case of having entrusted a trustee only to be betrayed, it can cause frustration, anger, and confusion. Fortunately, there are directions and steps to be taken that can ensure that your damages or any harms are remedied and set straight.
A trustee can be one person or it can be an entity such as a firm. Depending on whom you have appointed as a trustee, their responsibility will generally tend to revolve around fiduciary duties to ensure your best interest and success.
Trustees hold legal titles of any given assets or group of assets for another person, called a beneficiary. These legal titles are granted by means of a trust, a type of agreement between two parties. The trustees are intended to ensure that the wishes of the grantor or trustor are carried out properly and completely. As such, a trustee is tasked with the responsibility of properly managing any assets of the trustor. Importantly so, trustees are obligated to fulfill fiduciary duties, which always must be executed in the best interest of the trustor, and not the trustee.
There are many signs that a trustee breached their fiduciary duties, oftentimes revolving around a trustee approaching assets as though they were their own, and not acting in accordance to their agreements.
First, it is important to assess the damages from the breach of fiduciary duties. Oftentimes, profits could have been lost due to the trustee’s poor handling of assets. Lost profits due to negligence or recklessness are breaches of fiduciary duty, and as such can be accounted for in the damages. Out of pocket costs are clear and simple evidence revealing a stark contrast between the values paid and values received.
The first step to properly and efficiently forming a breach of fiduciary duty claim involves defining and highlighting the duties of the trustee. Organizing the specific duties agreed upon with the trustee is crucial to forming a proper claim. The detailed duties will determine the extent to which damages will be awarded. Secondly, the breach must be identified. Which of the listed duties did the trustee fail to perform properly or fully? This can involve detailing any neglect or misappropriation of funds. Finally, the last step is to detail the damages or harms incurred by the trustor; this will wrap up the claim by showcasing how the breeches affected the trustor.
Being betrayed by a trustee can be discouraging and frustrating. Having experienced any loss from this betrayal, it might seem like hope is lost. Fortunately, we are here to help you. At SAC Attorneys LLP, we care about honoring your agreements and ensuring they are fulfilled. If you have any questions regarding breach of fiduciary duty, please do not hesitate to call our team of corporate law attorneys at 408-716-3492 today.