Professional Fiduciary Services in Ann Arbor, MI

A fiduciary is anyone who “stands in your shoes” for purposes of making decisions. Often a family member or trusted friend can your fiduciary, but if you do not have someone you can appoint, a professional may be the next best option.

Taking on fiduciary responsibilities associated with serving as a trustee, personal representative, POA, guardian, or other role is a challenging task and a tremendous responsibility. If you are serving as fiduciary, Bassett Murray Law Group offers legal services to help you avoid missteps and potential liability.

When choosing a fiduciary for yourself, look to someone you can trust who has skills and ability to follow-through with the tasks you are entrusting to them. If you choose a professional fiduciary, look for specialized knowledge and experience as well as an intense level of commitment. Mistakes could cost you money, delay medical procedures or financial decisions, and land you in a care facility that is not best suited for your needs.

If you choose to work with a professional fiduciary, Bassett Murray Law Group offers a full range of fiduciary services. Our staff includes attorneys who know and can navigate the law. Our care manager, a masters level social worker, knows about local facilities, resources for transportation, home care and enrichment programs. Our paralegals are trained in identifying and applying for resources such as governmental benefits, as well as bill paying, and preparing annual accountings. And we have a 24 hour/365 day emergency on-call number, and a large network of financial advisors, accountants, maintenance staff, and realtors we turn to for their specialized services. Above all, our compassionate staff put your interests, safety, and quality of life first.

Whether you need advice about how to handle fiduciary responsibilities for someone else or you are looking for a professional to handle a full range of duties on your behalf, we would be more than happy to assist.

What Is a Fiduciary?

A fiduciary is a broad term for a person or institution with a legal and ethical obligation to act in the best interests of their clients. Often a family member or friend can serve as a fiduciary and can hire the assistance of Bassett Murray Law Group, accountants and financial advisors. However, in some cases, an attorney or other experienced specialist is hired to undertake the duties as a professional fiduciary.

A fiduciary manages another person’s financial affairs and makes decisions for them. Examples of those with fiduciary relationships include:

• Guardians: A guardian is someone appointed by the court to make decisions about another person’s welfare, such as housing and medical matters.
• Conservators: A conservator is someone appointed by the court to administer financial matters for an individual who is no longer able to do so on their own
• Trustees: A trustee manages the assets held in a trust for the benefit of trust beneficiaries and carries out the instructions of the grantor in the trust document. 
• Agents: An agent, also known as a patient advocate or attorney-in-fact, has authority under a power of attorney to act on behalf of someone for any number of broad or specific purposes.
• Personal representatives: A personal representative manages the estate of a deceased person. Their duties include inventorying and protecting assets, managing the requirements of the probate process, paying debts, and making distributions to heirs.

When to Consider Engaging Professional Fiduciary

Since a fiduciary is obligated to serve in the best interests of someone in a potentially vulnerable position, it is never a bad idea to seek out a professional who has experience and understands how to perform the duties properly. In particular, it is helpful to work with a professional fiduciary have someone in your circle of friends or family willing or able to serve.

Some scenarios where a professional-fiduciary may be desirable include:

• When a history of conflict among your intended beneficiaries makes it unwise to put one of them in charge over the other
• When you have family members, but they live far away
• When you are estranged from your nearest relatives
• When your nearest relative is a disabled adult child
• When there is a history of financial exploitation by your nearest relatives
• When you have a very small family and need a back-up in case you are the last one living
• When you have a complex estate or trust to administer including business ownership, beneficiaries out of the country, property in another state, or specialized trust provisions
• When your beneficiaries include a disabled individual

A professional fiduciary operates from an objective point of view and can sometimes be a good option to “stand in your shoes” when you no longer can do that for yourself due to disability or death.

Our Michigan Fiduciary Services

The professional fiduciaries at the Bassett Murray Law Group have decades of combined experience and expertise to handle all your estate planning and administration needs. We understand that providing fiduciary services often involves more than just financial decision-making but also requires consideration of a full panoply of life factors.

Need Professional Fiduciary Services in Ann Arbor, MI?

Managing the challenges of life’s needs can be mentally and emotionally exhausting. Whether you need advice serving as a fiduciary or need a professional to be your fiduciary, experienced guidance makes all the difference. The team at Bassett Murray Law Group is ready to assist with a variety of needs so that you are prepared to meet whatever the future holds.  

We serve clients throughout Michigan from our office in Ann Arbor. Call us at 734-930-9200 to schedule a consultation.