Trustee Investing TrapsTrustee Investing Traps

In the book Dune, Leto advises a young Paul, “Knowing where the trap is—that’s the first step in evading it.” Serving as a trustee is a great honor and a great responsibility. Often, trustees are family members or close friends of the individual creating the trust, and they want to help those they care about. However, they’re often unaware of the duties and responsibilities that come with the role and investing trust assets. Even the most experienced professional trustees can be vulnerable to lawsuits from disgruntled beneficiaries. Let’s explore a trustee’s duties and outline some common traps and pitfalls relating to investing trust assets and, importantly, the actions a trustee can take to mitigate risk.

A big part of trustee duties wi...