Other Services

Advisor to Layperson Fiduciaries

Select Fiduciary Group provides advisory services to layperson fiduciaries who remain or have been appointed as trustee of a trust who lack either the time, inclination or requisite skill set to properly fulfill their responsibilities for administering the trust, but do not wish to completely relinquish control by designating a successor to themselves.  For example, an elderly surviving spouse who is the sole surviving trustee of a family trust may be overwhelmed by all of the responsibilities that arise after the death of their spouse, yet not be comfortable handing over control of all of the trust assets to a third party trustee.  Select Fiduciary Group professionals can advise trustees as to their responsibilities and assist them in fulfilling their obligations.
Examples of the types of advisory services offered are:

  • Notifying appropriate parties of the change in circumstances and/or the appointment of a successor trustee.
  • Marshalling of assets
  • Segregation of assets into multiple trusts if required
  • Liquidation of assets if necessary for liquidity or distribution to beneficiaries
  • Wealth management
  • Ongoing distributions to beneficiaries
  • Re-designation of beneficiaries of non-trust accounts, such as retirement accounts or annuities.
  • Collection of information required for estate tax or income tax returns.

Personal Representative for the Advanced Health Care Directive

A professional from Select Fiduciary Group acts as an agent under your Advanced Health Care Directive (AHCD) to ensure that your health care providers understand and respect your expressed preferences for treatment.  Whether you prepare a formal estate plan or not, everyone should have an AHCD prepared which specifies what steps you want health care providers to take in administering and/or managing your care in the event you are not able to personally communicate your wishes.

The AHCD will specify what types of treatments such as diagnostic testing, surgeries, cardio-pulmonary resuscitative measures or mechanical life support you want administered and under what circumstances in order to preserve or prolong your life.  You can also designate your preference for organ donation upon your death.

By executing an Advanced Health Care Directive, you avoid putting your family, friends or agents in a position of having to guess what you would have wanted them to advise your health care providers to do in the heat of the crisis.

Take the time to discuss your preferences with your family and your designated agent so they are informed about your end-of-life decisions and are able to work together as a team to facilitate your wishes when the time comes.  Make sure that the appropriate parties have a copy of your AHCD and that one is readily available in your residence for emergency personnel who will provide it to attending physicians at the hospital.

Executor in a Will

Most people name a family member as Executor of their Will.  However, in some instances, individuals  don’t have any family members to designate or those that have been designated are either not willing or able to serve or are no longer living.  In those instances, a professional from Select Fiduciary Group will serve as Executor of your Will if you have not created a trust or possess assets that exist outside of your trust at the time of your death.  If you do not designate a contingent Executor of your choice, the court will appoint an Administrator to administer your estate.

Pour-Over Provision

Most Wills will include a “pour-over” provision if a trust also exists which allows the Executor to pour over assets with a combined value of up to $150,000 (as of 2016) into the trust which in most cases eliminates the need for a court supervised probate process.  This process is simplified when the designated trustee of the trust and the Executor are one in the same.

Probate Litigation

Select Fiduciary Group provides professional consulting services to attorneys representing both beneficiaries and fiduciaries in probate litigation. We provide a cost effective way to conduct discovery and provide expert testimony as it relates to issues of compliance, competence or conflict on the part of acting fiduciaries.

Examples of litigation services that we provide include:

  • Reviewing books and records maintained by the fiduciary and evaluating them for completeness and consistency
  • Reviewing contracts entered into and transactions carried out by the fiduciary to determine impartiality and potential for self-dealing
  • Reviewing investment policy and performance and evaluating compliance with the trust provisions and the standards set forth in the Uniform Prudent Investor Act
  • Reviewing impartiality on the part of the fiduciary with respect to complying with the trust’s provisions for meeting the needs of the various beneficiary classes (income versus remainder beneficiaries)
  • Evaluating the adequacy and accuracy of accountings and status reports provided to the probate court

Real Estate Services

Our expertise and flexibility enables clients to continue owning real estate rather than having to sell holdings to create liquidity, which would typically be required by a corporate trustee.

Select Fiduciary Group provides real estate transactions, financing and property management services to clients who own residential and commercial real estate. We have 30 years of experience in the real estate field.

Examples of real estate services we provide include:

  • Transaction brokering
  • Financing and refinancing
  • Acquisition and disposition
  • Transaction due diligence
  • Property management

Note: services listed above may be provided directly or through real estate brokers and property management companies.